Cling film or foil for food packaging requires constant purchase of material and pollutes the environment. A more environmentally friendly and reusable option is wax wipes.
Advantages and disadvantages
A wax napkin is a cloth impregnated with beeswax. Almost any food can be stored in such packaging.
The napkin has a number of advantages:
- biodegradable and does not pollute the environment;
- Reusable, it can be cleaned with cool water or mild dishwashing detergent;
- has a natural antibacterial effect due to the wax in its composition;
- takes on the required shape when heated from the warmth of the hands and fits tightly to the food and utensils;
- keeps food fresh a little longer;
- ease of use.
Among the disadvantages, it should be borne in mind that they must be used with caution by people allergic to beekeeping products and the oil in the composition. Industrial kits are quite expensive, and in small towns they can often only be purchased via the Internet.
What you need to create at home
To create eco-friendly packaging you will need:
- unnecessary cotton or linen fabric of the required size;
- beeswax (in granules or grated);
- coconut, almond or jojoba oil;
- parchment paper;
- scissors;
- brush;
- oven or steam bath.
A way to make it yourself
The fabric must be clean and washed without adding conditioner. Parchment paper is laid out on a baking sheet, and fabric blanks are spread on top. Apply oil to future napkins in an even layer. You can make the product yourself without oil, but it makes the fabric softer. The oil also has an antibacterial effect. The top of the napkins is evenly sprinkled with wax.
The next step is heating. The baking tray with the blanks is placed in an oven preheated to 85 °C until the wax is completely melted. Then you should take out a baking sheet and use a brush to spread the wax over the napkins in an even layer. This is done very quickly, since the wax hardens very quickly.
You can melt the wax using a steam bath. It is then applied to the fabric. The napkin is placed between two sheets of parchment paper and heated with an iron for more even distribution. After cooling, use the product immediately.
The wax napkin is used for about a year, and if empty spots appear, you can fix them yourself. To do this you only need a small amount of melted wax. The product is also used instead of snack containers.
