Abeego Beeswax Wraps Review
I am sure some of you have seen the videos circling the internet that show off these awesome washable beeswax wraps that are reusable, biodegradable, and help keep food fresher. At the beginning of autumn I purchased two sets from well.ca in a variety of sizes and decided to see how well they'd whether life in my family.
PROS
These are great for using over dishes: covering a glass of leftover smoothie, a small bowl of salsa, etc. They are easy to seal over a dish or glass. I didn't notice the food staying fresher longer in this case, but it was just as convenient as plastic wrap.
Beeswax wraps also easily wrap around leftover fruits and veggies if you seal them with one twist at the top. In this case I did notice the food staying fresher longer and was pretty impressed. I even tested this on an onion which even in plastic looks dried out on the surface after 24 hours. The onion still looked like I had cut it only an hour ago after a day in the fridge wrapped in these.
Convenience. I find these as convenient as plastic wrap, and they are easy to wash if used correctly. If you have to wash food containers at work or at home anyway, one or two wraps don't really add much to your washing time.
CONS
These did not wrap well around sandwiches. Both my husband and I had a hard time getting the beeswax sufficiently warm enough to make the two edges "seal." We also use rye bread for sandwiches which meant we had to keep using our one large wrap over an over again. The website did say medium would be sufficient, but we found that not to be the case.
Liquids. Some videos on Facebook (not for this brand) advertise these wraps as waterproof. In Abeego's case, the warnings on the packaging are correct. They are only liquid resistant. So if you use this to cover left over coffee or smoothie, a tipped glass will still definitely spill, just more slowly.
Heat. You CANNOT wash these in warm/hot water or place them over a hot dish of any kind. A relative was babysitting for us and destroyed one by placing it over a hot bowl of pasta. Pieces of pasta melted into the wrap and could not be got out and some of the beeswax melted and is still stuck to the bottom of the bowl. There is plenty of warning about this online and on the packaging, but visitors may not ask for instructions and ruin a wrap or two.
SUMMARY
Overall, I feel better about using these over plastic wrap. They do keep food fresher, I don't worry about ingredients/chemicals that have not been tested for long-term effects on human health, and they are good for some of those difficult bits of left over produce.
These wraps are on the expensive side though. One box of 3 is usually $17.99 CAD on well.ca. I thankfully got ours 30% off, but it was still pricey. With washing, I agree with the company's estimate that these would last about a year before needing to be replaced. If you buy two boxes a year at regular price you're spending $35.98 + tax per year to wrap food. Before we were going through 2-3 boxes of plastic wrap so we were spending less than $10 per year. I've recently invested in a set of glass containers with snap lids to replace our plastic tupperware and I find I am more likely to use them to store leftover food because I can microwave the container and stack the sealed containers. I can seal them with a beeswax wrap, but I rarely find that useful.
If you want to try these wraps I recommend waiting for a sale and buying the variety pack. Do a trial run and if it suits your lifestyle, buy more. If it doesn't, use them for their life and look for other alternatives to be eco-friendly.
I hope you found this review helpful. If you have any questions feel free to comment or get in touch! -Elise