DIY plastic free alternative to cling wrap – How to Make Reusable Food Wraps

Plastic Free, Beeswax Food Wrap or Vegan Food Wrap DIY

I absolutely love a good DIY project. Craft night with my cousin Jo is my go-to Friday activity and we get lots of joy scrolling through Pinterest to find ideas – especially since we are trying to be more conscious, minimal waste consumers, so I can’t begin to explain my excitement when I stumbled onto Wendy, from Moral Fibres blog!! I haven’t used glad wrap or cling film in ages and have been storing all of my food in glass jars in the fridge. That being said, I have been wanting to invest in some wax wraps for a while and finding a recipe to make my own, using old scraps of fabric just seemed too good to be true!

I had seen some pretty nice ones for sale online, such as the Aussie brand WRAPPA  but as Jo and I had some old fabric scraps leftover from a previous craft project,  and the fact that I met a lady at the cafe today who had all of the ingredients (talk about coincidence!!) How hard could it be? Turns out,  (Wendy said): not very hard at all.

So how do you make beeswax food covers?

YOU WILL NEED:

Fabric scraps – a variety of sizes (cut either into squares or rectangles)
Beeswax or Candelilla wax (for vegan option)
An old basting brush
Oven tray
Tongs
+ Somewhere to hang the wrap whilst it dries

For the method, click here
Or click here to watch the video on how to make reusable food wraps

HOW TO USE YOUR NEW WAX FOOD WRAPS

The options are endless! I like to use my food wraps in a variety of shapes (usually square and rectangle) and sizes.
I have 4 wraps at the moment. I use my larger one to cover a bowl of salad, or food platter when I go for picnics with friends, a medium sized wrap is great for leftovers or wrapping a sandwich in for the kids school lunches and I have a smaller one that is great for cover the tip of a cut veggie such as a tomato or cucumber.  The key is to warm the wrap with your hands so that it “hugs” the food and seals around the edges – keeping your food nice and fresh.

BEESWAX SNACK POUCHES (by moralfibres.co.uk)

1. Take a square of beeswax coated fabric and fold diagonally, as in picture two. 1. Take a square of beeswax coated fabric and fold diagonally, as in picture two.
2. Fold down the left hand corner, as in picture 3. 2. Fold down the left hand corner, as in picture 3.
3. Fold down the left hand corner like in picture 4, lining up the edge with the previous fold. 3. Fold down the left hand corner like in picture 4, lining up the edge with the previous fold.
4. Fold down the triangle that’s sticking up at the top. 4. Fold down the triangle that’s sticking up at the top.
5. Flip it over and fold down the other triangle. 5. Flip it over and fold down the other triangle.
Open it up and fill with raisins or any other snack of your choice Open it up and fill with raisins or any other snack of your choice
To seal, fold down the flap on the side that doesn’t have any folds in it, and you’re good to go! To seal, fold down the flap on the side that doesn’t have any folds in it, and you’re good to go!

This suggestion, and all photos are brought to you by Moral Fibres  click here for the FULL POST.

THE DO’s & DON’T’S WHEN CARING FOR YOUR REUSABLE FOOD WRAPS

DO

• Wash food wrap in warm soapy water after each use
• Make sure they are dry before folding up and storing away
• Use in place of all glad wraps, cling wraps and parchment paper.
• Use to store food in both the cupboard and the freezer
• Use in place of sandwich bags in the kids school lunches

DON’T

• Avoid astringent or alcohol cleaning agents – it will degrade the food wrap
• Don’t put your wraps in the dishwasher or washing machine – they will degrade and/or melt!
• Don’t use in the microwave or oven – they will melt! 
• Don’t use on raw meats
• Always cool your food before wrapping it – it might melt!
• Never freeze for prolonged periods – they might crack!

If, after reading this you think it’s all too hard, you can purchase your reusable food wraps here or read my full review on Wrappa food wraps here (coming soon!)