I have a bunch of beeswax cloth wraps. Bought some, got some as gifts. Managed to destroy some when I forgot a piece of fruit in it that then got mouldy.

Some are old and have lot most of their waxiness. You can buy blocks of wax to re-apply to the cloths, so they become properly waterproof and stiff again. They even include a sheet with instructions. Melt it, brush it on, put the cloth between sheets of baking paper, iron it, “quickly pull off the paper”.

It turned out to be really, really difficult. The wax solidified as soon as it left the pot, in big ugly clumps. There was no hope whatsoever of brushing it out. I thought that maybe ironing it would distribute it more evenly, but when I ironed it, the wax started leaking out on the sides in some places, while there was still too little in others. And finally, pulling off the paper took half the wax with it.

Making wax wrappers has grown into a whole cottage industry, plenty of people manage do it. How can it be so hard?

In any case, I gave up. I’m willing to pay money to skip this mess and let other people do this for me.