Anyone made a beeswax sandwich wrapper or food wrap?

[TheFurryMenace]

Im really keen to make these in a move towards being more environmentally friendly. I've seen a few videos and had a little go tonight with a couple of test pieces of lightweight cotton fabric that I had left over from a craft project. I have a few queries that I can find answers to -

• I think the fabric was maybe a bit too thick even though I thought it was a thin cotton. Is cotton poplin a more suitable fabric? is this 'shirt' type fabric? When I look online at light weight cotton this seems to come up. I am not a sewer so I dont really know much about cotton fabrics.

• Why do the edges curl up? Is there anything I can do about this? I'd really like to make them for my work team mates as gifts so I'd like them to be nice and flat so I can present them nicely.

Any experiences would be great.

Thanks

Thank you Gina I’ll have a look.

Thanks for that Florence. I've just bought a 500g bag of beeswax pellets from my local health food shop for around £21. So, a rough calculation based on what you got out of your 3oz, I reckon I could make at least 20 circle wraps, so without fabric (I have some stash but might not all be suitable), and not including oven/iron energy costs, I estimate they'll cost me about 95p each. So cheap if they come out ok, but a bit of a waste of £20 odd quid if they are a faliure.

Thanks for explaining your bags Dr Spouse, that's also a great idea!

When choosing fabric remember that yellow wax will tint everything yellow...so blue becomes greeny etc.
My lovely fabric choices look less so after the waxing process.

Ah yes, thanks for that, I did buy white pellets, so hopefully shouldn’t do that.

Here you go...

Here's what I learned:

• cut all fabric before you start, otherwise you'll end up with beeswax on your fingers and this'll get all over your posh dressmaking ruler, grrr, and the trouser hangers I used to hang them to dry.

• I might use pinking sheers next time to prevent any fraying, although you can just snip loose threads off.

Here's what I did:

• Had a couple of fat quarters and bits of off cuts from other projects.

- I used the ironing method

• I used about 10g of beeswax per 13"/33cm square.
• This size was great for a sandwich wrapper
• I made loads of small food tin/snack sized wraps with the off cuts
• I dont know how, but I ended up with wax on the iron, havent quite worked out how Im going to get that off!

Fun project, I think I will make them for my work friends.

Anyone else had a go?

Oh, and I liked it much more with the patterned fabrics than the plain, as it can look a little uneven on the plain - shows up less on the patterned.

Ah, might be useful just in case any of you end up with wax on your iron, Im going to give this a go.

Vacuum up the pieces before they soften. To remove wax from glass, scrape away the excess, then apply heat with a blow dryer set to MEDIUM, wiping off the wax with a rag as it softens. Wash the area with hot, soapy water to remove residue. Apply medium heat with a blow dryer and wipe away excess wax as it softens.
How to Get Wax Off Any Surface | This Old House
www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/how-to-get-wax-any-surface

I just melted beeswax into a very shallow puddle on some tin foil (edges bent up to save the puddle) on a baking tray in the oven while i was making something else that could stand the door opening a lot. I had cotton fabric cut to fit the area and had sat it in the puddle in the oven.
I took it out, waved it about a bit to cool it then trimmed the edges.
I cut some into smaller squares because I often need small covers. They all look awesome.

I need to do this! You all make it sound nice and easy.

@RaininSummer - here's a couple of mine.

Bellinisurge, they're great! Well done!

I made 10 yesterday for my work colleagues as gifts. Mangled to get the wax off the iron quite easily actually.

Fun, easy and Eco friendly!

Managed, not mangled!

Thanks @TheFurryMenace