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How to Clean Beeswax

7/16/2015

15 Comments

 
There are several ways to clean beeswax. If you have access to a solar wax melter then that makes the process a bit easier, but we don't have one. I use a somewhat different method that works quite well and has since we started cleaning our own beeswax in 2011. And the beautiful part is that anyone with raw, dirty beeswax can do this from home without any special equipment.

We use beeswax in all of our lip balms and body balms so cleaning the beeswax makes it usable for our products (no stray bee legs or dirtiness from the hive).

So, how do you go from this (beeswax cappings):
Picture
to this:
Picture
Before I explain the steps involved, here are a few key tips to remember:

  • Use a pot or utensils that you don’t need any longer.  Beeswax is very difficult to remove and it’s just easier to part with a pot you no longer want or need than to use one of your good ones.
  • Do not leave the beeswax unattended.  It can easily catch on fire (as any wax can).
  • Melt the wax on a lower setting, not high.
  • Be patient with this process, it takes awhile.

Okay, now that I’ve said those things, let’s move on to cleaning the wax.
Picture
  • Fill your pot with water to about halfway and add the unclean comb.  Don’t stuff the pot though.
  • Turn the heat to medium or medium-low and let it melt.  When the beeswax has melted and is boiling with the water, then turn off the heat.  Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool down completely.  This takes some time, so don’t hover over it.  I’ll even allow mine to cool overnight.  As the beeswax cools, it’ll separate from the water and the dirty particles that were in the comb.  The beeswax floats on the top and the other particles and water settle underneath it. 
  • Once you’ve removed the melted wax, set it on paper towels to drain. On the bottom of the wax there will still be lots of particles, etc.  Cut these away with a sharp knife so that all you’re left with is a slab of wax.  It’ll still be somewhat dirty, but that’s okay for now.
  • Throw out the dirty water (but not down the sink as any particles and beeswax will clog your drain).
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  • When you’ve removed all the major particles you can, the final step involves melting the wax without the water.  
  • Clean the pot as best you can to remove any of the dirty particles and wax.  To be safe, you’ll want to do this in a double-broiler or at least put your smaller pot in a larger pot of water so that your pot with the wax does not sit directly on the burner.  If the wax gets too hot it can ignite.  
  • Add your semi-clean wax to the pot, turn the burner on low.
Picture
  • While the wax is melting, cut up an old, but clean, pair of stockings. I simply cut the feet off of them and stretch them over the openings of a clean containers (i.e. smaller margarine tubs, yogurt cups, or even milk cartons – not the plastic kind). Or, you can even use cheesecloth or another fabric that has larger holes for the wax to pour them (but small enough that the larger particles won't fall through).
  • Once the wax is completely melted, pour the wax over the stockings which filter out the bee particles and dirt so that you end up with clean wax.
Picture
  • Allow the wax to cool completely (depending on the size of the container and how deep the wax is, this could take overnight).
  • Once it’s completely cool, you can cut away the container and store your beeswax until you’re ready to use it!
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Or, you could purchase your beeswax or beeswax products from us!
15 Comments
rebecca schmidt
3/23/2017 09:51:58 am

Long ago I used cheesecloth. I wish I would have seen the nylon tip first! I saved the cheese cloth thinking I would come across an article to easily clean the beeswax out of it. Got any tips? thanks!

Reply
rebecca schmidt
3/23/2017 09:53:05 am

how to clean beeswax out of cheesecloth.

Reply
Meredith Duke
11/12/2018 12:49:30 pm

I don't know that there is a way to remove the beeswax from the cheesecloth. We used to remove candle wax from carpets/furniture by placing wax paper over the wax and with an iron heated to low, iron over the wax covered area. It would draw the wax to the wax paper and remove it from the carpet/furniture. This might work with cheesecloth as well. I'm not sure how well it'll work, but it might be worth a try. Let me know how well it works, if it does!

Reply
ANDREW BATES
6/10/2019 01:51:46 am

Weight the cloth to the bottom of an old pot, fill with water allowing enough room for the wax to form at the top again away from the cloth. Heat the water up. The wax will leave the cloth to the surface of the water.
Worked for me. :)

Dane
9/3/2018 02:59:04 pm

I never let the wax boil with water. The melting point for wax has a lower temperature than the boiling point for water so it is unnecessary to bring it to a boil, can discolor the wax, and create a situation where should the wax splash over onto the burner create a fire friendly situation.
I also use cooking oil filters to filter my wax. I’ve found that this works so much better than cheesecloth or nylon as it takes out so much more of the fine particulates

Reply
Tonya
11/12/2018 12:35:07 pm

What is a cooking oil filter? Paper filter or stainless steel?

Reply
Michael Staindl
1/13/2019 12:14:41 am

Ditto re question of what you mean by a 'Cooking Oil FIlter', please?

Reply
Meg link
12/6/2018 11:46:17 am

First time cleaning my comb. I used the boil method and scraped the cooled block clean and after melting the cleaned wax in a double boiler, I caught the finest particles by straining it through a fine coffee mesh filter. It came out clean as could be. Just beautiful.

Reply
Adrian L link
1/1/2021 09:31:46 pm

Thank you for writing thiss

Reply
Jeff Carbine link
1/25/2022 06:20:26 am

It's awesome that this article talked about all of our lip and body balms including beeswax, thus cleansing it makes it suitable for our products. I'm glad that you explain it thoroughly and now it makes more sense. You did a great job of explaining beeswax.

Reply
Esther
6/14/2022 01:47:25 pm

Hello, I've tried a very similar method but my wax has come out quite 'crumbly' or 'friable' the next day, after having cooled for 24 hours. Do you have an explanation or any advice?

Reply
Simon
11/18/2022 02:56:15 pm

Friable wax tends to occur when there is a lot of sugar around. Make sure there is plenty of water for the sugar to dissolve into. When you first melt the wax out of a super it often is a bit crumbly. Melt it again into a bath of water and the wax will return to it's proper consistency.

Reply
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