I've been interested in reducing my family's reliance on convenience plastics like zip lock bags and plastic wrap. I've started buying more products in glass and saving the containers for later use. I make it a point to always check the clearance aisles for great deals on plastic alternatives. I have found some good deals on glass storage containers (especially with glass or metal lids...I like those best) at resale stores and I found a set of glass fridge containers at a local bed and bath store for 75% off! They don't stack as well but by storing my leftovers in glass, I am reminded of the contents more frequently and I tend to eat then sooner. This way I throw less food away and keep my fridge cleaned out better.
But glass is just not practical for everything....like packing a sandwich lunch, so I found myself still depending a lot on plastic storage bags for produce, sandwiches, cheese, etc. I wanted something that was made from environmentally responsible materials, and which could either be recycled or was biodegradable.
I was intrigued by some innovative products created by a company called Abeego. They make beautiful snack wraps and bowl covers out of waxed fabric. But being the cheapskate I am, I wanted to see if I could make a knock-off.
Then I found directions online for making waxcloth (you'll need to keep scrolling down the various pages and clicking on "next step" so see the whole process). I thought it looked doable so I gathered my supplied and got started! I wanted to use organic cotton and I found some in my town in beautiful prints. I bought 1/4 yard of two prints and 1/2 yard of another. The 1/4 yard pieces will be okay for small wraps but not big enough for a sandwich. I would just stick with 1/2 yard or larger in the future. The directions call for an 18 inch square piece, which I found to be a little too large unless you want to cover a large bowl or keep produce. Ideally in a well stocked kitchen, a variety of sizes would be very handy. I wouldn't make one larger than 18 inches, tho
The fabric was priced between $11 and $17 per yard, so it wasn't cheap, but you could get a year of use out of your cloth, so it would still be cheaper in the long run. I don't think standard fabrics are necessarily bad to use, especially if you already have them lying around. What ever fabrics you choose, you need to make sure they are a thin fabric (like a cotton weave) with a high thread count. The directions call for 180 to 200 thread counts (threads per inch) but I was informed at a local posh fabric store that this is referred to as "sheeting" in the fabric world and it's a little tough to find. I did see online that you can sometimes buy organic sheets (I'd try a flat sheet) for a decent price, so you might want to go that route.
Next you will need some beeswax. There are different levels of purity for beeswax. Cosmetic grade is recommended (because it's filtered and food safe) but I opted for wax that had only been melted down once and was not filtered. I could see that the piece I got was clean. You don't want to buy one that has lots of debris (read: dead bee parts) in it, but I was able to save $3 per pound this way, so I was happy with that. I purchased my wax and some cotton strong to make ties on my wraps for $7.95 and $3.50 respectively.
You will also need a cheese grater. I used my kitchen grater but it will be difficult to get the wax off later so if you can swing it (check a resale shop), I'd recommend buying a grater you can just keep in your craft box.
Some other supplies you will need, but will likely already have are newspaper or a flat open box (or even paper sacks), aluminum foil, parchment paper, sewing or pinking shears and a tape measure.
First I washed and dried my fabrics on hot to preshrink them. Then I cut a piece of fabric into an 18 inch square. I didn't have newspaper so I laid out some brown paper grocery store sacks. On top of that went a layer of aluminum foil, then parchment paper, and lastly, my fabric piece. (A hint: if you can tape your paper, aluminum and parchment down, it might help you later. Don't tape the fabric and don't put tape where the iron will melt it.)
Next I prepared my iron by wrapping two layers of aluminum foil over the surface. My iron doesn't have the option of turning off the steam, but if yours does, do this, or else empty the water out of your iron.
So the next step is to grate some wax onto your fabric. It's best if your work surface accommodates your whole fabric piece, otherwise you have to move it and this can be tricky (though not impossible). Grating the wax takes some muscle. It's best if you use the fine grater. Just keep walking your grater around your fabric until the grated wax is even spaced and looks about like this. It takes less wax than you think and it's much easier to add wax than to take it off.
Gently spread your wax around the fabric evenly. Get it close to the edge. Turn your iron on and when it's hot, lay it on one corner of the fabric for a few seconds, then gently move your iron around in a circular pattern to disperse the hot wax. You will notice the color of your fabric will change slightly as the yellowish wax saturates it. Move the iron toward the edges to saturate then as well. Make your way all the way around the cloth until all the wax is melted. Add a little grated wax to any thin spots.
When you have finished that side, run your iron over the whole thing a few times to heat up all the wax, then quickly turn your fabric over. Iron the other side a bit to make sure that side is completely covered as well. Then lift your fabric up again and wave it gently in the air to let it cool.
Here you can see in the upper left corner the raw material and in the lower right, the waxed material.
Lastly (for now) I used my pinking shears or my rotary cutter with the pinking blade to pretty up the edges. It's MUCH easier to do this AFTER you apply the wax rather than before. Voila! You are ready to go! You can add buttons and string to make it possible to close the bag more securely if you wish. Or you can just fold items inside the wrap. It just depends how you want to use it. I think I will eventually add some closures to mine.
Here you can see the wrap folded into an envelope shape
And here you can see it folded into a cone. This would be a great shape for lettuce or other produce.
You can sew your wrap into the cone shape permanently or you can use elastic around it (cotton and rubber elastic is enviro-friendly). Here I have used a smaller wrap on a small bowl and used elastic to keep it on. You can sort of seal the wax to the bowl but not super well, but with the elastic, it's just right. I doubt it's completely water or air tight, but it should do the trick in your fridge if left upright. It would be lovely to have some round waxed cloths for just this purpose. Think how pretty they will look in your fridge!
Let me know if you try this or if you have any other wonderful ways to avoid plastic bags.
