RUST PREVENTER
You know that thing where you start out your online travels by looking up showtimes at your local movie theater and somehow, an hour later, end up deep in an exploration of at-home blacksmithing? That has literally happened to me, which is how I learned all about using beeswax as a rust preventer. It is also how I learned that you can DIY a forge out of an old coffee can, ceramic wool, and a propane torch. (But, don’t worry, I haven’t tried it. Yet.) While most of us may not be forging our own iron tools or even thinking too much about the potential for rust on the undercarriage of our cars (another place where it turns out beeswax can be useful), we all have plenty around the house—from cast-iron cookware to shovels, nails, screws, and tools—that has the potential to rust if we don’t stay on top of things. To add protection and longevity to your metal objects, follow this simple method.
Beeswax (solid or pastilles)
1. Place the beeswax in a heat-safe bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water over medium heat (think: double boiler). Stir occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat and allow the beeswax to cool slightly.
2. Using a soft cloth or chamois, rub a thin layer of the melted wax over the surface of the metal you want to protect. Allow it to dry, then buff with a clean cloth to remove any excess.
BEESWAX WOOD CONDITIONER AND FURNITURE POLISH
I have a wooden cutting board that I absolutely love. I “inherited” it from some neighbors when they were redoing their kitchen. Right place, right time. Lucky me! It’s a true kitchen workhorse, as good cutting boards are—worthy of some extra TLC. My routine for babying my board used to be: scrub it down daily with lemon and salt, disinfect it weekly with baking soda, and massage it with a bit of mineral oil whenever it started to look a little sad and dried out. That protocol worked fine, but at some point, I was turned on to this DIY beeswax-based wood conditioner and started using that in place of the straight mineral oil, with superior results. Because I was so pleased with the way it worked on my board, I started using the mixture all over the house and soon realized how indispensable it was! I discovered that it worked well on wooden salad bowls, wooden spoons, wooden toys, and, by golly, I thought, someone who is really good at cleaning their house would LOVE this stuff for polishing furniture! (I “polish” my furniture with paper towels and spilled apple juice. To each her own.) It restores shine and gloss, improves color, and adds to the character and beauty of wooden pieces. With two ingredients! You’ll want to be sure to use oil that won’t go rancid, because rotten oil is gross. I suggest mineral oil, but you could also use baby oil (which, I’m pretty sure, is the same thing) or fractionated coconut oil.
Makes about 1 cup
¼ cup beeswax
1 cup mineral oil or fractioned coconut oil
1. Combine the beeswax and oil in a heat-safe bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water over medium heat (think: double boiler). Stir occasionally. Once the beeswax is melted, remove from the heat and allow the beeswax to cool slightly.
2. Once cooled, the mixture will be thick and creamy. At this point, it can be scooped into a glass jar or other lidded container for storage.
3. To use, apply a liberal amount of the polish onto a wooden surface. Massage and buff with a clean, soft cloth. Leave the wooden item alone for several hours or overnight, then reapply or buff off any leftovers.
Did you know? You can also use beeswax to lubricate squeaky or stuck furniture. Just rub some beeswax on the edges of windows, drawers, or doors that tend to stick, and they’ll glide smoothly.
LEATHER CONDITIONER
If you have leather furniture—and even if you don’t—you probably think it’s difficult to keep it clean, shiny, and supple. Sure, there are commercial leather cleaners out there—even some that come in convenient wipes form—but they’re expensive, especially if you have a lot of surface area to clean, their results are usually fairly short-lived, and they’re often filled with chemicals that we don’t exactly want to be rubbing up against with any regularity. This recipe solves all that and more. It cleans but also conditions, to keep your leather goods—jackets, handbags, shoes, wallets, even the seats in your car—soft, supple, and shiny. And this conditioner lasts a long, long time. The combination of protective beeswax and nourishing oils prevents the leather from drying and cracking, and also keeps outside elements (e.g., salt and dirt) from penetrating and staining the leather. It will work on any kind of leather, but not on suede, which has its own brand of high-maintenance going on.
Makes about 1 cup
¼ cup beeswax
¼ cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
½ cup sweet almond oil
1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour into a glass jar or small metal tin and allow the mixture to cool until solid, about 30 minutes.
3. To use, apply the conditioner directly to the leather with your fingers or a soft cloth, gently massaging it into the leather. Once finished, wipe away any excess, then buff the leather with a clean cloth to make it shine.
GRANITE COUNTERTOP POLISH
When we decided to move from the city to the suburbs, we looked at a lot of very old homes that we loved, and while the idea of renovating was tempting, some soul-searching led my husband and me to the realization that living through a gut renovation with a then-toddler and infant was likely a recipe for a matching set of his and hers nervous breakdowns. So, we decided we would be “the people who live in the house after the people who fixed the house.” Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to this strategy. On the one hand, you get to skip months of construction, constant dust, and considerable inconvenience. On the other hand, you inherit someone else’s taste and design choices. In our case, it meant inheriting a great kitchen with a lot of granite. Now, I know granite is pretty ubiquitous in kitchens these days, but I’d never owned it before and wanted to know how to care for it. Here’s a tip: if you want to learn about caring for granite, do not Internet search “best ways to care for granite.” It’s so confusing, and you’ll find yourself muttering things like “Wait, is there anything I can use to clean this thing?” Trust me, for daily cleanup, any old multipurpose countertop spray will work. But to keep your counters shiny and to prevent staining and scratching, a good polish and seal with beeswax will keep them looking good as new. Here’s how.
Makes 1 treatment
1 cup beeswax pellets (more or less, depending on the size of your countertop)
1. Place the beeswax in a heat-safe bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water over medium heat (think: double boiler). Stir occasionally.
2. Once melted, remove from the heat and allow the beeswax to cool for a minute or two, then spread a thin layer on the countertop and allow it to absorb for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, buff it off with a chamois or soft cloth.
ECO-FRIENDLY REUSABLE FOOD WRAP
Hard as I’ve tried to avoid it, we use a lot of plastic in our house. Sandwich bags, grocery bags, snack bags, garbage bags, plastic wrap, water bottles, food containers . . . aarrrgh—too much! I try to reuse them, but if I’m being honest . . . I usually don’t; they’re hard to clean and just generally difficult to reuse. (I mean, they aren’t designed to be reused, so I suppose that makes sense.) But then, as I consider the waste and the chemicals and the impact on the environment and the expense, and—if I’m really honest—the unattractiveness of all that plastic, well, that’s the kind of thinking that once led me to a mild breakdown over it all. “That’s it,” I said to my family, “I can’t handle the plastic anymore!! Noooo more plastic!” And I marched right over my computer, geared up to order a few dozen (adorable!) beeswax-coated 100 percent organic cotton reusable food wraps. “What the what?! I’m not paying $20 for three stupid pieces of waxed fabric!” And, with that, I resolved to make my own. You won’t believe how easy it is to make this natural, reusable alternative to plastic wrap. It creates a watertight seal around your food, so that you can wrap up all manner of sandwiches, snacks, fruits, vegetables, and leftovers. Reduce, reuse, recycle, rewrap.
Fabric (ideally some sort of natural fabric, such as cotton—I like to repurpose old bedsheets and cloth napkins.)
Beeswax (pellets or, if you have solid beeswax, grate it on a box grater)
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F.
2. Cut your fabric to the desired shape and size (you can use pinking shears, if you have them, to prevent the fabric from fraying or—my favorite trick—use old cloth napkins with a finished edge!)
3. Place the fabric is a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of wax pellets or grated beeswax.
4. Put the sheet pan in the oven and heat for 5 minutes, until the wax starts to melt.
5. Using a clean toothbrush or pastry brush, spread the melted wax over the fabric in an even layer. No need to flip the fabric—the wax will saturate it completely.
6. Transfer the beeswax fabric to a clean piece of fabric or towel and allow it to dry.
To use:
Place one of your food wraps over the bowl or container you want to cover and press around the edges. The warmth from your hands will make it pliable enough to hold its shape. To wrap a sandwich, hunk of cheese, piece of fruit, and so on, just fold the wrap around the food item and press the edges together.
To clean your wraps:
Rinse in cool, mildly soapy water. If necessary, give them a gentle rub with a dishcloth or sponge. Don’t use hot water or the beeswax will melt.
IDIOT-PROOF DIY BEESWAX CANDLES
I like to DIY. Not because I am especially artistic or crafty (or good at following directions), but because there is something undeniably satisfying about making things. I do confess that not every one of my DIY endeavors has ended in success. Or even in completion, now that I think about it. But then there are the DIY projects that are so easy, so idiot-proof, so awesomely impossible to mess up that you almost can’t believe it. This here is one of those projects. Jar candles are Easy with a capital E. We’re talking about your basic melt-and-pour type of operation. Plus, they’re attractive, they burn slow and clean (unlike paraffin candles, which release carcinogens into the air), and they make lovely hostess gifts and party favors.
Makes 2 to 6 candles, depending on the size of your jars
Jars, tins, or other nonflammable containers anywhere from 4 to 12 ounces
Wick stickers (or hot glue, if you forget to order the wick stickers. I’m just saying . . . Also, tape works.)
Medium cotton wicks with wick tabs attached (can be purchased online or at your local craft store)
1 pound beeswax pellets or solid beeswax cut into small pieces
½ cup melted coconut oil
1. Prepare your containers by adding a wick sticker, dab of hot glue or piece of tape onto the bottom of each wick tab and press the tab firmly inside the bottom of each jar or tin.
2. Place the wax and coconut oil in a stainless-steel bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water over medium heat, stirring occasionally. (Alternatively, melt in a double boiler over low heat.)
3. When the mixture is completely melted, carefully pour the hot wax into the containers. Set the wicks so that they’re centered, then lay a pencil or chopstick across the jars and tape the wicks to them.
4. Place the candles in a warm place, such as your oven (set it to warm or 170°F while you’re making the candles, then turn it off before placing the candles inside) to harden slowly. If they cool too quickly, the wax can crack.
5. Allow the candles to cure for 48 hours, then trim the wicks to about ¼ inch. Then, bask in the glow of DIY gone right.
UPCYCLED HONEY BEAR BOTTLE NIGHTLIGHT
The honey bear bottle: it’s one of the best parts about eating honey, isn’t it? Whenever I buy honey in a happy little bear-shaped bottle, I like to keep that bottle around for a long time—until there’s literally nothing left in there, save for a few specks of crystallized honey. Over the years, I’ve discovered some pretty fun ways to reuse those cuties, such as adding a straw to make an ad hoc sippy cup for kids or turning them into liquid soap dispensers. Once, I even saw someone turn a massive collection of honey bears into a set of string lights. Blindingly cute! My personal favorite honey bear reuse, however, is this nightlight project. Quick, so simple to make and—because it’s plastic and lit with an LED light—it’s totally safe for any kid’s room. It is seriously the cutest. So, next time you find yourself with an empty honey bottle shaped like a bear, don’t toss it into the recycling bin. Instead, make this nightlight and get ready for some really sweet dreams.
Makes 1 nightlight
1 empty plastic honey bear bottle
White spray paint
Black permanent marker
Flameless LED tea light (color-changing, if desired)
1. Thoroughly wash the honey bear bottle inside and out, making sure to completely remove the label and any sticky residue.
2. Apply two thin layers of white spray paint to the outside of the bottle. Allow it to dry completely, then use the black marker to carefully redraw the bear’s eyes and nose. (Just 3 small black dots will do the trick.)
3. Use the LED tea light to trace a circle on the bottom of the painted honey bear. Using a sharp craft knife, cut out the circle.
4. Push the tea light up into the hole, with the lightbulb pointing toward the bear’s head. The fit should be tight. If you find that you’ve got some wiggling, you can secure the tea light with a bit of hot glue around the edge. And that’s it! Good night.
PINECONE FIRE STARTER
Obsessed would be too strong a word to describe my husband’s relationship with our fireplace, but only slightly so. Let’s just say he has rarely turned down an opportunity to get a beautiful, crackling fire going—for popcorn popping, marshmallow toasting, or simply gazing upon. The guy is great at fire building and even better at keeping the fire going once it’s started, but the starting can be tough. So much kindling. And paper. Starting and restarting. Thankfully, I discovered how to make these super-easy DIY fire starters that get our fires blazing in a flash (literally.) The finished product is so pretty you’ll want to give them as hostess gifts in winter—just add a festive ribbon and a note. I even like to tote a couple along when we’re invited to summer barbecues if I know the hosts have a firepit, since they’re great for outdoor campfires, too. If you don’t have an abundance of pinecones around where you live, you can order them online, pick them up at a craft supply store, or ask your local florist. To add color to your fire starters, drop in a couple of old crayons with the melting wax.
Makes 12 cones
1 pound beeswax pellets
Essential oil (optional)
12 dry pinecones
Glitter (optional)
1. Place the beeswax pellets in a stainless-steel bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water over medium heat, stirring occasionally. (Alternatively, melt in a double boiler over low heat.) Remove from the heat and add the essential oil, if using, stirring well to incorporate.
2. Using a pair of tongs, dip your pinecones in the wax mixture and set them aside on a waxed paper– or parchment paper–lined baking sheet to dry. Once dry to the touch, dip them again and allow them to dry on the lined pan. Repeat the process a third time to completely cover the pinecones in wax.
3. If decorating with glitter, lightly sprinkle the pinecone immediately after the last coating of wax is applied.
4. Allow the pinecones to dry for 2 hours, then store until ready to use.
Note: As with all flammable products, use extreme caution around pets or small children and keep fire starters out of their reach. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from direct heat sources.