|^ SUPPLIES |
✽ 100-percent
cotton fabric
✽ Straight edge scissors
✽ Small saucepan
✽ 5 tablespoons pure
beeswax (pellets
or grated)
✽ 4½ teaspoons
jojoba oil
✽ 3½ tablespoons pine
resin powder
✽ Wide ice pop stick
✽ Baking pan
✽ Paintbrush
✽ Clothespins
✽ Wire hanger
Wash the fabric in
fragrance-free, all-nat-
ural detergent to ensure it
doesn’t pick up any chemi-
cal smells. Then, hang to
dry or toss in a dryer.
Use a straight edge
to create a uniform
square from the fabric,
measuring 12-by-12 inch-
es. Cut cleanly along the
lines with scissors. Cut off
any stray pieces of thread.Preheat the oven
to 200 degrees
Fahrenheit.Place a saucepan
on the stove over
medium-low heat. Pour in
beeswax, jojoba oil, and
pine resin.Use an ice pop stick
to stir the contents
until it melts into a thick
liquid. After melting, keep
the stove on low heat
to ensure the mixture
doesn’t harden. If it does
harden, simply turn up the
heat and stir again.Place the fabric on
a metal pan large
enough to fit your fabric
pieces. With a paintbrush,
liberally apply the mixture
onto the fabric until it’s sat-
urated — it’ll be sticky and
blotchy, but will even out
in the oven. Don’t worry
about coating the under-
side, as the mixture will
soak through the fabric.Once the fabric is well
covered with the mix-
ture, put the pan in the
oven for 5 minutes.Take the pan out of
the oven, and use
the paintbrush to evenly
spread the mixture across
the fabric, ensuring it’ssoaked through. If the fab-
ric needs more of the mix-
ture, add some, and then
repeat Steps 7 and 8.Hang the fabric using
clothespins and a wire
hanger. Let cool for at
least 15 minutes.NOTE: Before making an
entire batch, ensure your
mixture ratio is correct and
that you’ve applied the
right amount of it to your
fabric. Once the first wrap
has dried, test it by sticking
the fabric to itself and then
pulling it apart. If it sticks
and makes a “click” as it
comes apart without much
force, your ratio is spot on.
If the fabric doesn’t stick
well and doesn’t produce
the “click,” try adding more
of the mixture to the fab-
ric. If that doesn’t work, the
ratio may need more resin.
On the other hand, if it’s
difficult to remove the fab-
ric from itself, you’ve likely
applied too much of the
mixture to the fabric.Sept/Oct 2019 53
From our home DIY experiments to yours, we’re happy
to present you with a tried-and-true recipe to make simple and sustainable storage for your delicious food.
Yield: Three 12-by-12-inch wraps.