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Make your own reuseable food wrap

By Carmen Spagnola | Image: Carmen Spagnola | Published: January 08, 2010
Reuseable food wrap

Quick and easy steps to cut back on plastic use


The best Christmas gift I received last year was a locally made, reuseable food wrap called Abeego.

My family uses these nearly every day for school and work lunches and throughout the summer for picnics. It has cut back our plastic wrap use significantly. In fact, when was the last time I bought a roll…?

This year, we decided to try our hand at making some from scratch—and it turned out to be a cinch… right up until the last step, which involves configuring some sort of button–string closure mechanism. We tried sewing small buttons on opposite corners. We also have a version with a string sewn into the very middle, which then gets tied around your bundle. In the end, we decided to just opt out of the closure step altogether since it takes about 50 percent of the prep time and we have plenty of big rubber bands and lengths of string handy in our house, ready to perform containment duties in a flash.

It is a really fast project, and you can complete several, say six to eight, in about 30 minutes.


 

Reusable foodwraps step 1

Reusable foodwrap step 2

Reusable foodwraps step 3



 

What you’ll need:


1. Scraps of fabric, preferably sheeting weight, torn into squares the same width as your cookie sheets

2. Pure beeswax (a few votive candles work fine)

3. Parchment paper or Silpat

4. Clothesline, rigged up wide enough to hang one or two squares of fabric to dry

5. Clothespins, safety pins or paper clamps

6. Scissors or a paper cutter

7. Buttons, beads and string, if desired


 

What to do


Preheat your oven to 150° F. Tear or cut your fabric to size. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, and place fabric on top.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave beeswax onto your fabric. Don’t use too much, though; you may want to do a test piece so you get a sense of coverage. (I think we got it right on our third one and it was about half as much as I assumed we would need.)

Place in the oven until all wax is melted and soaked in, about 8 or 9 minutes.

Remove from oven and pick up with clothespins (careful, it’s a bit hot!). Hang to dry about 5 minutes.

Use a paper cutter with a decorative edge or pinking sheers to cut a pretty edge.

Check out the Abeego website for closure ideas or just get creative!
 

Comments

Well thank god I have the

Comment by Anonymous - 03/17/2010 - 19:55
Well thank god I have the access to the real thing, complements of my sister the real deal. Yes there is more to the real thing than just the bees wax. My sister has done alot of work and to see someone else try to take it over is just rediculous, especially when you make it look alot easier than it is.

The Abeego is much more

Comment by Anonymous - 03/17/2010 - 18:35
The Abeego is much more developed and tested than the way this project depicts. Once I went Abeego, I never went back, and by supporting a local business I'm paying it forward a bit, too. I'm all for making your own stuff, but in the case of the Abeego, it's worth it to just go with something tried and true.

I have also been using the

Comment by Anonymous - 03/17/2010 - 18:28
I have also been using the Abeego from everything from sandwiches to leftovers... and our family LOVES them!! I feel great about supporting a local, open-minded, and original creative woman. As she mentions, the creation of the Abeego is more than beeswax and material ~ I know ours work just fantastically, so I am sticking with my original Abeego!!

ummmmmmm....nothing can

Comment by Anonymous - 03/15/2010 - 17:03
ummmmmmm....nothing can compare to a REAL abeego :)

I use Abeego products, and

Comment by Anonymous - 03/15/2010 - 16:32
I use Abeego products, and to tell you the truth, it saves me so much time and piece of mind. When I buy Abeego, I know I'm supporting a local business woman. I don't have to worry about food safety with Abeego products. I am also a very busy person and the time I save just buying an Abeego vs. me making one myself is TOTALLY worth the money! Besides, it pays for itself very quickly when you don't have to buy plastic ever again! Thanks Abeego!!!

In response to the person

Comment by Anonymous - 02/28/2010 - 23:36
In response to the person worried about bacteria..... Bees wax, honey, and propolis are natural antibacterials...honey used to be used to treat wounds

As the creator of Abeego I

Comment by Anonymous - 02/14/2010 - 16:42
As the creator of Abeego I would like to say that sheet of fabric coated with beeswax will not have the same properties of an Abeego. Abeego is moldable, slightly adhesive, does not crack, has a much higher melting point and is resistant to both water and oiI. Beeswax on its own will not have these qualities. I encourage the DIY community to take action and find ways to avoid using plastic but please understand that the infusion used for Abeego is more complex then this project suggests. Happy waxing! Toni Desrosiers Abeego Designs

What do you mean by sheeting

Comment by Anonymous - 02/10/2010 - 22:16
What do you mean by sheeting weight? Would organic cotton fabric work for this project?

Good old fashioned Wax

Comment by Anonymous - 01/21/2010 - 22:40
Good old fashioned Wax paper keeps our sandwiches fresh. Now there is even a soy wax version available. ( I got it at Save-On) Its not reusable, but certainly compostable. Terry cloth drawstring bags (custom made to size) and dampened keep the lettuce, celery and carrots longer than plastic could ever hope to, in the fridge. These go in the washing machine no problem. Leftover food goes into glass home canning jars, which makes it very easy to see what's in the fridge.

I also use glass jars for

Comment by Hilary - 02/15/2010 - 17:47
I also use glass jars for all my leftovers and lunch containers. I love jam and peanut butter jars for this especially; many are about the size of a perfect lunch serving. The trick is to find jars with wide mouths so they are easy to fill. While I'm a bit hesitant to use (likely GMO) soy wax paper that only gets one use, your terry cloth drawstring bag idea is fantastic! I'm going to try it myself. Thanks! —Hilary Henegar, Granville Online editor

The tag mentions "plant

Comment by Anonymous - 01/19/2010 - 03:32
The tag mentions "plant extracts" that is also added to the wax for the REAL Abeego. I think you forgot to put that in your article.

The Abeego website makes it

Comment by Anonymous - 01/12/2010 - 18:55
The Abeego website makes it very clear that you should always wash your wraps in COLD water. We have been using ours (we have several in different sizes) quite regularly for over a year, hand washing with a small amount of soap, and have found that they soften over time but have not yet lost their repellency. Because they are water repellent there has been no issue with bacteria - they have about the same porosity as any tupperware container but with added portability. Be creative - my boyfriend made his own version that wraps around his stainless steel water bottle and is secured with a pair of child-sized chopsticks that slide through a loop of fabric. That way he always has his own container if he needs to get a bite on the go or wants to take leftovers home! -Carmen Spagnola

Do you hand wash these

Comment by Anonymous - 01/12/2010 - 02:24
Do you hand wash these afterwards? have you had to rewax any? What is the life span of a wrap?

**LOVE LOVE LOVE** this

Comment by Anonymous - 01/11/2010 - 19:52
**LOVE LOVE LOVE** this idea. great work!

One red flag that goes up is

Comment by Anonymous - 01/11/2010 - 17:54
One red flag that goes up is concerns about bacteria, which would probably thrive in this environment. What is your response to that?

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