Re-waxing the beeswax bread bag: fresh wax with a pan and a brush

The bread bag rarely wears out. It runs out of wax. When the fabric looks dull and the bread dries out faster, the bag simply needs a new, thin coat of beeswax. The job takes a quarter of an hour.

Four signs the bag needs fresh wax

The coating wears away gradually, most of all where the bag is folded. Look for these four:

• The fabric looks dull and dry, especially along the fold lines and around the opening.
• Water soaks in instead of beading. Sprinkle a few drops on the fabric. If they bead, the wax is still fresh. If they soak in, it is used up.
• The scent of honey is gone. Fresh beeswax smells faintly sweet. Dried-out wax smells of nothing.
• The bread dries out faster. The crust turns hard after a couple of days.

One sign on its own can simply be the result of a thorough wash. Two or more means it is time. How the coating works is explained in the guide on what a beeswax bread bag is.

What you need

Everything except the wax itself is usually in the kitchen already.

How to re-wax the beeswax bread bag, step by step

1. 1
   Wash the bag and let it dry completely

   Cold water and mild soap, then air dry. Fresh wax does not stick to crumbs and grease. See the washing guide for the bread bag.

2. 2
   Set up the water bath

   Bring the water to the boil, turn it down to a simmer, and set the bowl in the pan.

3. 3
   Melt the wax

   Beeswax turns liquid at around 62 to 65 °C. Wait until it is completely clear.

4. 4
   Lay the bag flat on baking paper

   Smooth it out with your hand, so the wax does not gather in the creases.

5. 5
   Brush on a thin coat

   Start in the middle and work outwards, right out to the edges. One thin, even coat is enough.

6. 6
   Give the worn areas a little extra

   The fold lines, the bottom and the area around the clip dry out first.

7. 7
   Turn the bag inside out, repeat, and hang it up to dry

   The inside sits against the bread, so take extra care there. The wax sets in under a minute, and the bag is ready once it is cold.

How to avoid too thick a coat

The most common mistake is using too much. A thick layer makes the bag stiff, and stiff fabric cracks along the fold lines. Worse still, the bag stops breathing: then the crust turns clammy instead of crisp.

Three habits keep the coat thin. Wipe the brush against the rim of the bowl before every stroke, so it is damp and not dripping. Two thin passes are better than one thick stroke. Then test it by folding the bag in your hand: if the fabric feels soft, the coat is right.

If too much has gathered in one spot, scrape the excess off with the back of a spoon while the wax is still warm.

How often the bag needs fresh wax

With regular use, 6 to 9 months is normal. If you wash the bag often, the need comes sooner, because a little wax goes with every wash. Used only at weekends, it will often last a full year.

Do not re-wax by the calendar. Let the bead test and the scent of honey decide. The bag is reusable for 12+ months, and with one round of fresh wax when the signs appear, it lasts far longer than that.

Why an iron and the oven are not the method for the bag

Both turn up in tips online, and both are easy to get wrong. The soleplate of an iron presses the wax out of the fabric instead of into it, and the temperature is hard to control when wax softens as early as 35 to 40 °C.

The oven has the opposite problem: it heats the whole bag at once, and the wax runs out of the fabric and down onto the shelf. The bag loses more wax than it gains. Neither one is recommended. With a pan and a brush, you decide where the wax ends up.

Beeswax wraps are a different matter. The sheets are one thin layer of fabric with no seams, and they are freshened up in exactly that way, in the oven on a low heat, 80 to 90 °C between two sheets of baking paper. The method is in the guide on re-waxing beeswax wraps in the oven, and the everyday care in caring for beeswax wraps.

Frequently asked questions