For ages now, I've wanted to try out wax cloth, but somehow, I never got around to making it, or to really use the piece that I had, gifted to me from a friend years ago.

A while ago, though, things conspired to change that. First of all, during the Bernuthsfeld Man project, Jens and I made some wax cloth from linen (plus some tryout pieces from cotton) for the snack we had our Bernie double eat for the little film clip we did. Then, a bit later, another friend brought two bee-goodie cloths (German website) as a gift - these are handmade beeswax cloth pieces intended to replace clingfilm and metal foil. Most importantly for me, they had instructions for their use... and now I'm totally hooked on this alternative to foils, silicone lid thingies (which somehow never really worked for me) and clingfilm.

Basically it's cloth impregnated with beeswax, maybe with some oil or other wax mixed in. The cloth is relatively stiff, but that means you can form it around the rim of plates or bowls, and it will hold its shape when folded around other food as well. After use, you rinse it with some lukewarm water and maybe some dishwashing liquid; let it dry off and voilà, it's ready for its next use. It's a splendid alternative to clingfilm and plastic food bags, and with Earth Overshoot day this year happening on August 1, reducing this use of ressources a little is a good thing, definitely.

I've been using these to cover bowls, wrap food to take with me, and wrap food for storage in the fridge, and I'm not sure how life was before having these. They are really practical - and nice. The current extreme heat might not be the best circumstance to just pop things wrapped with wax cloth into a pocket, but there's always trusty boxes for that. And it will surely get cooler again. The only real issue I do have with them is that they are made from conventional cotton cloth - which means I won't buy any extras and instead make my own when I feel I need more of these.

Since I did not use clingfilm before, they are not reducing plastic usage in my case, but they do beat covering things with plates for sure. Plus it feels pleasingly medieval to wrap food in wax cloth...