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Whether you’re packing up leftovers or bringing lunch to work, plastic wrap has long been a go-to choice for keeping food fresh. But its single-use convenience comes with a price. The tacky film, commonly made from low-density polyethylene, is nearly impossible to recycle. As a result, the see-through sheets spend their long afterlife in a landfill.
A darling of sustainable kitchens, reusable beeswax wraps offer a simple alternative for keeping foods fresh. Made by coating cotton with a blend of food-grade tree rosins, jojoba oil, and the titular wax, the reusable wraps are tacky, breathable, and naturally antimicrobial. They’re great for prolonging the life of fruits, vegetables, sandwiches, and bread, or covering bowls and plates. While not suitable for every task (meats, freezers, and microwaves are no-nos), the wraps are hand washable and can last a year or more with proper care.
Despite the fact that each can be reused about 100 times, beeswax wraps may not always reach an environmental breakeven point, but at the very least they’re a no-brainer for anyone looking to cut their home’s ration of single-use plastic. We tested five popular models over the course of a month, assessing how well they seal, breathe, and scrub clean as well as the sustainability of their parent organizations. Our winner kept foods fresh for longer and came from a company committed to the planet.
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one5c’s pick: Abeego Food Storage Wraps
A set of waxy duds that clung well to containers, kept food fresh, and easily cleaned up after each use, the Abeego Beeswax Wraps Variety Set ($19; abeego.com) wrapped up our top honors. While other brands also performed admirably, Abeego earned the victory for being extra thick yet still easy to manipulate. As a company, Abeego scored points for its minimal packaging, smart reuse of fabric scraps, and the fact that it’s a certified B-Corporation—a designation awarded to firms that demonstrate, among other things, social and environmental responsibility.
Runner up: SuperBee “Beeginner” Beeswax Wraps
The SuperBee “Beeginner” Beeswax Wraps ($20; superbee.me) are solid, easy-to-mold coverings that secured second place by safely swaddling sandwiches, eschewing odors, and strongly latching onto the tops of containers. The company, like Abeego, makes use of its textile scraps, packs its products in compostable material, and is a certified B-corp.
What beeswax wraps we tested
We tested reusable beeswax food wraps from widely available brands that also enjoy strong customer reviews. The wraps we selected were all available in multi-sized variety packs that ranged in price from $18 to $20. They are:
- Abeego Food Storage Wraps
- Bee Carefree Reusable Beeswax Wraps
- Bee’s Wrap Medium Wrap
- SuperBee “Beeginner” Beeswax Wraps
- Trifecta Living Hunny Bee Beeswax Wraps
How we picked the best beeswax wrap
Our product recommendations are based on two parallel assessment tracks: one for performance and one for sustainability. These ratings combine to land on our final winner, which represents the ideal blend of a product that’s good for the Earth and for your life. Read more about our assessment process here.
How we tested beeswax wraps
As we unboxed each multi-pack, we paid attention to the packaging materials, examined the feel of each wrap, and noted any unique features, such as the string-and-button closure on the Bee Carefree wraps. In addition to securing wet and dry items and covering bowls over the course of a month, we ran the following graded tests:
- Stain test: We spread a teaspoon of barbecue sauce on each wrap and let it stand for an hour. We then washed them with lukewarm water (90 degrees F) and a mild dish detergent, noting any lingering stains or smells. We repeated the test five times per wrap to see how each held up over time.
- Avocado test: We tightly secured a halved avocado with each wrap and refrigerated them for 48 hours, noting browning and firmness. As a control, we tested avocado halves with name-brand Saran wrap, and also placed some face down in a flat-bottomed glass bowl with a lid. None of the wraps outperformed the control groups. The avocado in the glass container stayed the firmest and had almost no browning.
- Sandwich test: We wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and examined how each product sealed and protected them.
- Liquid shake test: We filled a mason jar with 5 ounces of water, sealed it with a wrap, and shook it five times. We measured how much liquid, if any, escaped.
- Solid shake test: We placed 15 grapes in a bowl, covered it with each wrap, and shook the bowl 10 times. We checked for escapees after the third, seventh, and tenth shake.
How we scored sustainability
Our sustainability ratings take into account three factors: a product’s environmental impact at its production, what happens at its end-of-life, and the manufacturer’s environmental behavior. Production factors in where, how, and with what a product is made—as well as how it’s transported through the supply chain. End-of-life takes into account the quality of the materials used, the product’s warranty, and how companies reuse scrap fabric. The final factor involves actions the company takes outside the life of a product to minimize its footprint or benefit the environment, and we award bonus points for transparency, as well. These scores are informed inferences based on available information, not full-blown life-cycle analyses.
How Abeego beeswax wraps performed
Real talk: Aside from minor upgrades like string closures or different fabric patterns, beeswax wraps are hard to tell apart right off the shelf. After all, they’re all just pieces of wax- and oil-coated fabric. But when we put them to the test, the differences were easy to spot.
The Abeego Beeswax Wraps Variety Set ($19; amazon.com) come in two shapes: rectangular or square. We tested the latter, which included 7-, 10- and 13-inch sizes. Right away, we noticed they felt very waxy as well as a bit thicker and more substantial than the others—two distinctions that proved useful. A halved avocado, sheathed in the Abeego and left in the fridge for 48 hours, showed the least amount of browning of any wrap-swaddled avocado and remained quite firm, tying with the Trifecta Living Co. Hunny Bee Beeswax Wraps ($18; trifectaliving.co).
The Abeego also formed a very secure seal. It was easy to press onto various plastic and glass containers and jars, and during our shake test, it held the tightest seal, letting out only a few drops of water. The SuperBee “Beeginner” Beeswax Wraps ($20; superbee.me), the next-best performer, lost nearly twice as much. All of the wraps, with the exception of Bee Carefree Reusable Beeswax Wraps ($19; beecarefree.com), aced our solid shake with no escaped grapes.
Finally, Abeego cleans easily and doesn’t retain odor. After we smeared it with barbecue sauce, left it out to dry, and scrubbed it with warm water and soap, the wrap looked perfectly fresh. Its wax coating held up impressively, remaining tacky and showing only minor staining in the creases. This wasn’t the case with all of the wraps: Bee’s Wrap Wraps ($20; beeswrap.com) and Trifecta had visible stains, and the Bee Carefree stained and lost most of its wax coating.
Nothing’s perfect: While the Abeego’s thicker, waxier structure proved to be one of its best qualities, it did create a few small difficulties. For instance, when parceling sandwiches, we found it hard to fold the wraps neatly compared with thinner options like SuperBee. It also held on to minimal stains. Whether or not this matters for you depends on how you plan on using the wraps: The same qualities that make the Abeego a bit frustrating to fold provide better protection for soft items like fruit slices.
Why Abeego beeswax wraps are sustainable
Abeego landed in first place in our sustainability assessment. The wraps are made in Canada, and their ingredients include pure Canadian beeswax and organic cotton. The company also stands out on the strength of its ultra-low-waste manufacturing process: Less than 1% of raw wrap fabric goes to waste, and Abeego creates mini campfire kits with any scraps it can’t use. And, compared with the other beeswax wrap products, Abeego’s comes in relatively minimal packaging.
Abeego is also certified as a B Corporation, a mark awarded to companies who demonstrate social and environmental responsibility, among other factors—though we should note that some critics have said that certification could be more stringent in its assessments.
Nothing’s perfect. We had difficulty getting in touch with every company here, including Abeego, who didn’t respond to one5c’s requests for more information. For example, it’s unclear where exactly the company sources most of its ingredients, and if its manufacturing facility runs on renewable energy and works to reduce water consumption. Also, it should be noted that, according to some research, making beeswax wraps—and all the handwashing at home—tends to gobble up so much water and energy that it becomes impossible to zero out the product’s resource consumption over the course of its lifetime.
The runner-up
The SuperBee “Beeginner” Beeswax Wraps ($20; superbee.me) is also a solid wrap. It bested Abeego in the stain test, remaining completely clean and odor-free, and tied with it in the sandwich and solid shake tests. It seals securely and protects food items well. However, avocado halves swaddled in SuperBee wraps were slightly softer around the edges than those wrapped in Abeego. The wraps also leaked nearly twice as much liquid as the Abeego during our shake test.
SuperBee also lagged behind in sustainability scoring. Like Abeego, the company says it embraces circular manufacturing—they sell hand-sewn tote bags made from scrap fabric—and pack their products in compostable materials. The company is also B-Corporation certified, and claims to use locally sourced supplies, energy-efficient facilities, and ethical labor practices. But we were unable to verify these claims without evidence from SuperBee.
Christian Dashiell is a freelance writer covering cooking, products, parenting, and lifestyle. He’s a certified barbecue judge and has written for publications such as Gear Junkie, Spy, All Things Barbecue, and Fatherly.
Molly Glick writes about health, science, and the future. They’re a graduate of the Medill School at Northwestern University, where they studied journalism and environmental policy, and have contributed to Inverse, Discover, and Popular Science, among other publications.