3 uses of beeswax in your home

While honey can be found in almost every home, many people only know about beeswax in the form of honey-yellow scented candles. But this natural product has much more to offer.

Because honey bees are always building new combs, a large amount of beeswax is always left as waste at the end of the beekeeping season. Here you will discover how versatile this precious substance can be at home, for self-made cosmetics and for healing purposes.

Uses of beeswax at home

1. Homemade shoe polish with beeswax

Many commercial shoe care products contain petroleum-based ingredients. With this homemade bitumen, made from lanolin, vegetable oil and beeswax, you will be able to take care of your shoes in a natural and respectful way with the environment.

Ingredients (for 100 g of bitumen):

50 ml olive or sunflower oil 40 g lanolin 10 g beeswax 1 empty glass bowl or glass jar 1 glass jar with screw lid

Elaboration:

Melt the beeswax in a water bath. Add the lanolin and olive oil to the melted wax and stir until smooth. Pour the finished cream, still warm, into a screw-top jar. Allow to cool without a lid so that condensation does not form. Then close it well.

If the consistency of 10g beeswax is too soft for you, you can add more wax. However, more than 15-20g is not recommended to make the cream easy to apply. Shoe polish has a shelf life of up to one year when stored at room temperature.

2. Recipe to care for wood with beeswax

The wood will also appreciate a beeswax-based treatment, as it will It will provide shine and resistance to humidity and dirt. Instead of paying a lot of money for a specific product, you can make it yourself. You will need a small pot, a spoon, and a glass jar with a screw-on lid.

Ingredients:

100 g coconut oil (you can also use olive oil for light wood and flax oil for dark wood) 20 g beeswax Put the coconut oil and beeswax in the pot. Slowly heat the ingredients on a low level and stir constantly. When everything is melted, you can pour the liquid mixture into a jar and do not cover until it has cooled.

3. Homemade and natural lip balm

Beeswax also has skin care properties and is therefore traditionally used in a variety of cosmetic products. The active ingredients are quickly absorbed and has a healing and protective effect on dry and chapped lips.

Ingredients:

4 g beeswax 10 g shea butter 10 g coconut oil 1/4 vanilla pod Small wide-mouth glass jars with lids

Elaboration:

Slowly heat the shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax in a double boiler until the wax is completely melted. Slice a quarter of a vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the pulp with a knife, and add to the rest of the beeswax. ingredients. Mix until a homogeneous mass is obtained and pour it into the containers.

Once cooled, it will be ready to use and can be applied with finger like any other lip cream.

Tips for buying beeswax

Like honey, beeswax is a precious natural product. Therefore, it is advisable pay special attention to the origin and quality of the raw material when buying.

It is a good idea to try to contact beekeepers in your area to buy the wax directly from them. If you can’t find a beekeeper, you can find high-quality beeswax in physical herbalists and online.

Since a colony of bees produce only about a kilo of wax per season, it cannot be ruled out that some manufacturer decides to adulterate it, mixing it with other fats. To rule this out as much as possible, choose a wax that is labeled as 100% pure and natural beeswax.