How To Care For Your Beeswax Food Wrap

So you finally took the plunge and decided to be greener. You purchased or think about purchasing an organic and reusable food wrap. Although noble idea, you have to understand that going "zero-waste" does require some commitment. By saying goodbye to plastic wrapping you will have to give up one thing: convenience.

Beeswax food wraps are awesome, people find more and more uses for them and many of them don't involve food at all, but as with any reusable items they require some extra care so they perform and last as long as possible. But it's a small price to pay if we save the planet from being a few plastic rolls cleaner. Right?

So how do you care for your newly purchased beeswax food wrap?

1) Keep it away from heat

Beeswax food wrap has a layer of natural wax made by bees (pretty clever, eh?) and it will easily melt when with contact with hot objects so do not put it in microwave nor wrap hot foods with it. Let your leftovers cool down first before you wrap your turkey in it.

2) Clean with only cold water

After a light use, rinsing it in cold water should do the trick. If more maintenance is required use a soft sponge and a mild alcohol-free soap if necessary.

3) Hang dry after washing

Best way to dry a beeswax is to let it dry on a hanger. Wiping it dry also works but you have to be very delicate and use a soft cloth to make sure you're not scraping off the wax. Do not wring.

4) Store away from hard objects

When storing make sure your beeswax wrap doesn't end up under your cutlery.  Hard objects may will destroy the fabric and will make your beeswax food wrap longevity shorter.

5) End of life

Yes, the day will come when your beloved beeswax sheet is no longer usable. Depending on a use, it will last you about a year. You will start noticing that it doesn't stick as well or it will develop some cracks or even holes. You have two choices:

• you can re-wax it - to try to revive read next section 
• or buy a new one - and when you do, remember that your old beeswax wrap is 100% organic and therefore compostable and biodegradable

Tip: Cut your old beeswax sheet into strips. It makes an excellent fire starter.

 6) Bring it back to life

If you think it's worth it you can try to revive your old beeswax food wrap by putting it on a baking tray and leave it outside on a hot sunny day, or you can use a hair dryer or put it in an oven.  This  process called warming will melt the beeswax and will mould it back together fixing any cracks if they begun to form.