It’s been almost two years to the day since we posted our Homemade Beeswax Wraps tutorial and over that time, we’ve fine-tuned the process.
Well, more specifically, Pete has. Here are his top tips on how to make a perfect beeswax wrap at home. If you haven’t already done so, please read our original tutorial first, or what follows won’t make much sense.
Tip #1: We’ve found pure cotton sheeting to be the best material for our wraps. What you’re after is a fine weave cotton that can absorb as much wax as possible without ending up with big patches of solidified wax on the surface. The more wax the fabric can absorb, the longer the wrap will last. As an added bonus, sheeting is colour-fast, which is very important. We use Sheridan sheeting offcuts that I bought from Reverse Garbage 20 years ago for the wraps we give away, and our old bedsheets for the ones we keep. Wash any new fabrics first, as you won’t be able to launder them again after the wax is added.
Tip #2: Use pure, uncoloured beeswax foundation sheets. We currently buy these via mailorder from E. C. Tobin in Raglan, NSW (who are wonderful to deal with!), but it’s only economical to purchase from them in bulk because of shipping costs (I usually buy 40 sheets at a time). If you’re looking for just a couple of sheets, try local candlemaking or beekeeping suppliers.
Tip #3: Cover your ironing board with an old bedsheet or towel. We also use extra large sheets of parchment paper to minimise seepage onto the board (a common brand here is Glad Bake, but we buy extra wide rolls of a commercial brand from Harkola). If you don’t have access to really large parchment sheets, you might want to cut the size of your wax sheets down a bit.
Tip #4: Each foundation wax sheet is enough for between six to eight layers of fabric, depending on the thickness of the cloth you choose to use. The Sheridan offcuts are perfect if folded seven layers thick. As the wax sheets are 8″ x 16.5″ (20.5cm x 42cm), we cut the fabric into 58″ x 18″ (147cm x 46cm) strips. Often we will use two lengths of 29″ x 18″, as we’ve found them a bit easier to handle than one giant piece of fabric.
Tip #5: Fold the fabric CONCERTINA STYLE (ie. accordion fold). This makes it massively easier to unfold at the end, and also ensures you don’t end up with too many thick folds for the wax to soak through. Lay the sheet of wax on top…
Tip #6: Pay attention to which side of your parchment paper is facing the wax, or you could end up with wax all over the iron (we learnt this the hard way). Place the fabric and wax between the two sheets of parchment, making sure to leave a margin for the wax to seep out.
Tip #7: Set the iron to DRY (not steam) and preheat to COTTON. Starting in the centre, use the iron to melt the wax into the fabric. Don’t push hard at this point. The goal is simply to melt the wax gently into the fabric – this could take a few minutes. If you push too hard the melted wax will be forced out before it’s had a chance to soak through. Keep going until the honeycomb pattern has disappeared and you can see that all the fabric up to the edges and corners is wet from the wax.
Tip #8: THIS IS PETE’S TOP TIP! Once the fabric is fully soaked with wax, start from the centre and gently try to “squeeze” the wax out by ironing towards the outer edges. Push/scrape slightly with the side of the iron until you see wax seeping out onto the parchment. This will ensure that you’re not left with large white patches of wax on the finished wrap. So basically the principle is: soak the fabric with wax, then gently push out the excess. Work around all four sides of the folded cloth.
Carefully peel back the parchment – you can see below how the surplus wax has been squeezed out…
Tip #9: very carefully lift the waxed fabric (it will be wet and hot) by the corners (if you’ve folded it concertina style, it should unfold as you lift) and wave it around to cool it down a bit. It will become manageable very quickly. Lay it over the back of a chair or on a drying rack to cool completely. The wrap below was 18″ x 29″ – we had two of them layered under the wax sheet, both folded 3½ times to make a total thickness of seven layers.
Tip #10: I wrap the sheets in my rescued Reverse Garbage paper to keep them from drying out. They also keep well stored in a reusable plastic box.
Tip #11: Clean the parchment sheets by ironing the excess wax onto a spare piece of fabric – over time, you’ll collect enough surplus wax to make another wrap.
Tip #12: If you can sew, turn the leftover scraps into a little drawstring bag!
The advantage of making the wraps in this way is that you end up with a much longer sheet than is commercially available, which is useful for wrapping everything from loaves of sourdough to snake beans. Oh, and they also cost a tiny amount compared to bought beeswax wraps – the ones we made from our old bedsheets cost us less than $1.50 each for a huge 29″ x 18″ wrap! 💚🌿
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
My neighbor made them for me and we are still using them! Thank you.
Will send this on to her.
The chances of me making my own beeswax wraps just got so much higher. I have seen recipes using pine resin, jojoba oil and beeswax pellets… it looked so fiddly. Your process resembles how I refresh mine… those I have bought. Note… I have never had to refresh the beeswax wrap you gave me… they are done so well.
I love beeswax wraps. We are so lucky our local Shoalhaven council runs free classes about once a month. A different process to yours but very easy and effective and we came home with one wrap. I sourced all the products locally. Quality wax and cotton offcuts from Spotlight, spent about $50 and made enough wraps in 3 sizes (1 big enough to wrap a loaf) for 4 families. I rinse them after use hang them to dry overnight then fold them into a basket in the fridge till next time. Our innovative council also runs composting classes, worm farm classes, furoshiki wrap classes; all freebies, all include a take home something (except compost LOL). It’s marvellous to see young and old participants keen to look after our precious planet.
This is amazing! Thank you for sharing
After thinking about making beeswax wraps for ages your post has spurred me on to attempt them. Thank you. I probably sound very dumb but where would I buy parchment paper? I live in the Northern Rivers.
Merle, it’s available at the supermarkets where it’s known as Glad Bake. There are some commercial brands as well. Have fun with these! xx
Many thanks Celia for solving my dilemma! I always have a big roll of Glad Bake in my pantry which means all I have to do now is to track down the wax. Thank you so much again xx
PS
The starter you sent me is still performing beautifully and my three grandsons have had such fun making sourdough pizzas and sourdough waffles. You are always fondly remembered whenever I feed or use it.
Following your original tutorial for beeswax wraps I have used ‘fat quarters’ from the quilting department in the hobby shop to good effect. I will try to find foundation sheets as grating the blocks of beeswax is a faff! Wonderful site Celia – so inspiring- thank you x
Celia I’m still using the one you gave me for my lunch. It’s still really good and it’s used nearly everyday. Thank you!
I live in the UK, and spent a small fortune buying commercially produced wraps to put in my daughters Christmas stockings (not sure if you have a similar tradition!). I am inspired to have a go making my own after reading your tips, providing I am able to source the wax sheets over here!
Thank you.
Sascha, they’re often sold for making (rolling) candles as well. I had a quick look at amazon uk and found this one, but obviously I haven’t bought from them so can’t recommend. I think you’d be looking for “unwired foundation sheets” in pure beeswax. Good luck! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beeswax-Shallow-Unwired-Foundation-Sheets/dp/B00JST8A1U
That’s basically the process I use to make my own cloths, with the exception that I have beeswax pellets. You’ve reminded me that I have an old iron that has a scratched bottom, I shall keep it and use it exclusively for my beeswax cloths!
Celia: I hope I can get what I need here. Our little province can be lacking in quite a bit at times.
I am praying for your fires and that you are not in the danger zones.
Thanks Charlie, we’re safe. You can usually find beeswax foundation sheets from candle making supplies – online if not in person. Try amazon or eBay if you get stuck but make sure you get natural uncoloured sheets.
Hi Again Celia: I clicked on notify me of new comments via email. A confirmation came in the mail and I clicked on the link. This message came up.
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Hi Charlie, thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately my blog is hosted by WordPress, so I don’t have any control over how the notifications work. Hopefully this is a temporary glitch on their part! x
I have made my own wraps using the oven method and beeswax pellets. I have a special paint brush to make the sure the wax is evenly distributed. I wonder if I could use the pellets I have and do it this way, I might give it a go.
If you look at our original tutorial, there are a couple of videos using this method and pellets. We discovered the wax sheets purely by chance and they’re just much easier to manage.
This is a great idea – we need more reusable packaging rather than throw away plastic ones.
Industrious as ever! The only note of caution is to be aware of the inks and dyes used on the fabric as someone who worked in the fabric printing industry told me that some are far from food safe and he’d be wary of wrapping his food in some fabric. Not sure that it’s a major problem but it might be worth checking out. Or of course print your own :)
Yes, that’s why sheeting is good – we’ve found it to be colourfast when the hot wax is soaking in. I wash all fabrics first to check! I wouldn’t actually use home printed fabrics though – or batik or anything crafty or designer. I think you want something designed for heavy duty wear and tear!
Fabulous!!
Thanks Celia these look great. I have just grabbed my dried sourdough starter from the fridge (Leo son of Priscilla) but I can’t find your notes on the blog on how to activate it. it’s been awhile since I baked bread but now seems the perfect time.thanks
Hi Kate, give him small feeds of white bakers/bread flour and filtered water, say 1/4 cup each time and roughly three times a day until he’s bubbly again. Good luck!
Hi Celia it seems ages since you posted and I miss your posts Hope you are well in these challenging times. Take care