Hot wax everywhere, broken counters: create your own plastic alternatives gets dirty
Hot wax everywhere, broken counters: create your own plastic alternatives gets dirty
In her quest to find a reusable alternative to the plastic food wrap, Dana Sluka from Melbourne, Australia, decided to make her own cloth covered in wax to cover the dishes. An online tutorial explains how to melt beeswax in a double boiler and brush it on a cloth. Ideally, the wrappers can be reused for a year or more.
It sounded pretty simple. Then, Ms. Sluka accidentally dripped hot wax onto her laminate counter. "It was sticky and I could not clean it," he said. An idea occurred to him: he reached for the kitchen torch he uses to make custard. Using the hottest flame setting, he began to heat the wax balls on the counter. The heat caused the counter to crack.
A proliferation of online videos and blogs shows that it is possible to make your own alternatives to single-use products, from food wrappers to shopping bags and The plastic straw that disappears.
Possible, but it is not easy. As eco-minded individuals seek to reduce their plastic waste, they are discovering that the "do it yourself" approach can ruin appliances and cause injuries. It may also require a considerable portion of time and money.
Dana Sluka broke her counter by making her own food wrappers covered in wax.
Photo:
Hong Anderson
Undaunted, Ms. Sluka, an accountant who became a homemaker, spent months improving her recipe. She has experimented with the addition of coconut oil and resin to the wax to improve the texture and durability of the wrap. Now she sells her homemade products online. "I moved to my husband's office," he said. "All I'm ruining is the carpet."
Linda Kirkpatrick, a computer specialist in Jacksonville, Florida, had trouble making her wax-covered cloth wrap stick to the sides of the containers. He tried adding other ingredients, including pine resin granules.
Converting those granules into a liquid was a challenge. "I probably wasted about $ 100 trying to make the pine resin melt in the beeswax," said Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Finally, she and her husband discovered a solution by treating the resin with isopropyl alcohol before adding it to hot beeswax, he said.
The whole operation usually covers hours for several afternoons. Line the surfaces of your kitchen and the floor with paper and prepare a portable hot plate. She melts the wax in her slow cooker.
"I have not been able to have a stew in months," he said.
Linda Kirkpatrick now sells her food wrappers in local markets.
Photo:
Cute kirkpatrick
In London, Dedri Uys has shared his acquired knowledge on how to make paper straws. on your blog.
She starts rolling strips of paper into tubes. For the paper to stick, use homemade cornstarch paste or gelatin glue. She has tried to seal the paper with soybean wax, but those straws were "barely usable," she said. "If you crush them, pieces of soy wax would fall from the inside."
Paraffin wax was better, although on its first attempt the wax did not melt completely and coagulated into the straws. Other straws ended up very fat.
In his blog, he advises readers not to be discouraged: "If you ruin one or two (or five) straws, trust." After doing about 60 of them, occasionally I got the wrong angle or applied too much glue.
Lindsay Weirich's method of making paper straws, which he describes in a YouTube video, with more than 96,000 visits, consists of partially submerging a mason jar of paraffin in a pot of boiling water until the wax melts, to cover the paper tubes.
The painter and crafts enthusiast in Orrington, Maine, answered questions from viewers about whether the wax is safe for potential consumption. He recommends using canned wax, a food grade paraffin used to make sweets.
She warns her fellow craftsmen to be careful when heating the flammable wax that "you do not turn it on".
Gabriela Lerner found her inspiration for a natural alternative to straws during gardening in Dorset, England. She was pruning a piece of bamboo with her husband when she realized that she could make straws of thinner shoots after using sandpaper to smooth the tires.
"There were some that were too thin and you could not absorb them, and some ended up being too short," he said. After a few months, the reusable straws stay well, he said. Mrs. Lerner carries her straw with her, along with a small brush to keep it clean.
Near Philadelphia, Rebekah Bussom thought he could reduce the use of his plastic bag by covering a canvas bag with wax, making it water resistant for purchases.
She melted some wax in an old can in a bowl of water on a stove, and used a brush to cover the bag with wax. So she needed a way to make the wax harden evenly and prevent it from coming off.
He tried to use his hair dryer, but had to keep it on for so long that it was too hot. Mrs. Bussom decided to put the waxed bag in a pillow case and threw it into her dryer to drop it around the drum. The pillow case ended with wax spots.
Ms. Bussom said she now presses and dries her wax bags by ironing them between a sheet of aluminum foil and the lid of a pizza box.
She has not completely abandoned the plastic bags. "I always forget my reusable bag when I go to the market," he said.
Write to Lucy Craymer in Lucy.Craymer@wsj.com
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