Busy Beeswax Soap Tutorial

Have you ever tried using beeswax in your cold process soap recipe?  If you would like to take the plunge and try here is a recipe from the Soap Queen called Busy Beeswax Soap Tutorial. If you are vegan, you will probably want to pass this one up for an alternative recipe.

What Are the Benefits of Beeswax Lip Balm?

Are you wondering what the benefits of a beeswax lip balm? According to Wisegeek.com,

"Beeswax is a natural compound secreted by female bees that is often used in cosmetics, particularly lip balm. This substance is very moisturizing, can help protect the lips from the harmful rays of the sun, and has a pleasant smell. It can also help prevent infections and cold sores. Beeswax balm has uses other than as a lip balm, and it is fairly inexpensive and easy to find.

Beeswax lip balm is very moisturizing, which is another major benefit. Beeswax contains natural emulsifiers, which help retain moisture in the skin. This is especially helpful for dry lips and chapped lips. Instead of having cracked or flaky lips, individuals using beeswax lip balm will usually notice smoother lips.

Ultraviolet (UV) rays given off by the sun can be very harmful to the skin. Although many individuals take measures to protect most of their body from these rays, the lips are often forgotten. Using lip balm with beeswax, however, can help protect the lips as well."

If you would like more info on this subject, then check out Wisegeek's article
What Are the Benefits of Beeswax Lip Balm?.

What is Beeswax Used For?

Are you wondering what beeswax is used for?  It can be found in alot of different everyday things, but according to Wisegeek.com:

"Wax differs from fat in being harder and less greasy. Wax from a variety of animals is used for various purposes. Lanolin is wax from sheep's wool. Spermaceti is wax from the sperm whale. And beeswax is the material secreted by a bee's abdominal glands.

Health care is one area in which beeswax is used. In the area of skin care, one can find beeswax used in lip gloss, lip balm, hand products such as creams, lotions, and moisturizers. One may also find beeswax in cosmetics, such as eye shadow, blush, and eye liner. It is also used in some pharmaceuticals.

Beeswax is also used in a number of crafts. Ukrainian Easter Eggs or Pysanky, which rely on a technique of successive dyeing from light to dark, are made by covering lighter colors with beeswax to keep them from being covered by the darker colors. It is similarly used in batik, which also relies on multiple dyeing.

Beeswax candles are prized, and required for certain religious ceremonies. Beeswax candles are both dripless and smokeless and they smell of honey. Beeswax can also be used as a based medium to affix yarn for “yarn painting” or other material for collage. Beeswax is also used in painting, in Veronese paste, used to meld brushstrokes into a uniform finish. Sculpture or jewelry may be modeled in wax, and then cast with the lost wax method.

Just as oboe and bassoon players craft their reeds, didgeridoo players craft their mouthpieces — of beeswax! In fact, beeswax is used as a sealant in reed making, too. Certain guitar and bass finishes used beeswax to give the instruments a protective coat.

Sealing wax, which was used to seal letters before the days of lickable or prepared envelopes, was originally made of a combination of beeswax with a special turpentine and coloring agent. It was molded into a stick shape, which was melted onto the letter and sealed with a stamp or impression.

Beeswax has a place in the care of musical instruments. The mouthpiece of the didgeridoo is made of a uniform beeswax ring affixed to the end. Beeswax is also an ingredient in cork grease, used to lubricate the cork joints of instruments that are stored in pieces and then fitted together for performance, as many of the woodwind instruments are.

Food uses of beeswax include glazing of fruit, candy, and baked goods, and as an ingredient in natural chewing gum. Beeswax is also used to seal cheeses. Beeswax is also the coating of choice when making Canneles de Bordeaux, a confection that is fidgety about being removed from its mold, unless the mold is first coated with beeswax.

Beeswax is used as a protective shield on concrete countertops. preventing oil and water stains and bringing out the color. It is also used as a finish for wooden kitchen implements, such as salad bowls and butcher’s blocks."

Most of you reading this blog are reading this post because you are wondering if beeswax appears in any of your bath and body products.  I know that beeswax appears in lip balms, body balms, some candles and some lotions."

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-beeswax-used-for.htm

Homemade Beeswax Ornaments

with David Fisher

If you like making candles, then you can use your hobby's supplies to try out a fun and simple craft: beeswax ornaments. Add a personal touch to your Christmas tree with these easy to make beeswax holiday ornaments.

http://video.about.com/candleandsoap/Homemade-Beeswax-Ornaments.htm

Transcript: Homemade Beeswax Ornaments Hi, I'm David Fisher for About.com. Today we are going to make some ornaments out of bees wax. Many people still make their own ornaments out of cookie or candy molds. But soap molds work just as well, so we're going to be using soap molds to make them today.

Beeswax Ornament Supplies

For this project you'll need some bees wax in either block or pellet form - scraps from sheets of bees wax work too.

You'll need some molds. I have some of the old fashion cookie molds, some soap molds and these really great new silicone baking molds. Then depending on how you want to hang them, there are several options. But you'll need some string, some wire or some ribbon.

Heat the Beeswax. Melt the bees wax in your melt pot in your double boiler. Once it's melted completely, let it cool to about 170 degrees. A little bit cooler if you're using one of the light weight plastic molds. That's what's really great about these silicone molds. They can withstand really high heat.

Add the Wax to the Ornament Molds. Set your molds on a flat surface, and pour the wax into them. Now if I was making soap I would fill the molds all the way. But with these ornaments, I generally pour just a 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch of wax.

String the Ornaments. Now while those are cooling, I'll show you a couple of options for hanging them. While the wax is still melted, put a piece of string or ribbon into the melted wax. You want to wait until the skin is formed on the bottom of the mold cavity but hasn't form the skin on the top. If the skin does form, a quick blast with your blow dryer will re-melt it. You just dip the string in and let it sit. You can use a chopstick to make sure it's aligned right at the top. The other option is, once the ornament is completely cooled, pop it out of the mold and, in using a hot piece of wire or wick pin, make a hole for the string or ribbon. And then tread the string into the hole. While this is a little more work, you do have a little more control over just how the string is going to sit on the ornament and how the ornament is ultimately is going to hang.

Beeswax Ornament Storage and Care. Use a knife to trim off any edges or imperfections you might have, and that's it! These ornaments will last indefinitely if you keep them in a cool dry place. They may over time start to loose their sent and they may develop a sort of a white powdery substance on the top of them. This is called "bees wax bloom" and it's completely natural. The best way to both refresh the scent and to get rid of the bloom is to just heat them up a little bit with a warm hair dryer. You could also add color or scent to your ornaments. You would add the colorant and scent at the same time as in any other candle, when the wax is melted and before you pour it. Thanks for watching! For more information, visit us on the Web at About.com.

Source: http://video.about.com/candleandsoap/Homemade-Beeswax-Ornaments.htm

Cleaning Beeswax

Instructions:

Beeswax is not easy to clean. Nor does it leave your kitchen clean.

USE A STAINLESS STEEL POT!

Put water in the pot, add the cappings wax and simmer the water. Once the wax is completely melted remove the pot from the stove and allow it to cool. The wax will set up and sit on the water.

Once the wax is cold, remove it from the water and discard the water. Simmer this same way again! This time pour it out into a plastic dish pan that is for inserting into your sink to do dishes. Except pour the wax and water through a flour sack towel or tightly woven cloth. This catches all the dead bees and bee parts. Discard the cloth.

Allow the wax to cool and become solid. Remove it from the dish pan. Discard the water.

Allow the wax to dry for several days. Heat the wax in a double boiler (bain marie) where the water is barely simmering in the lower pot and the wax is in the top pot. Pour the wax into molds.

That is it!

I use Orange Essential Oil when cleaning up. I saturate a cotton ball then clean the wax from my cold pots. I even use the orange to clean my floor and stove. Orange oil can damage the finish on some surfaces, so test first. Do not use orange oil near heat or flame. Once the wax is removed I follow up with soap and water.

Good luck! Tina


© 1996-2008 Majestic Mountain Sage, All Rights Reserved


Source: http://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipes.php3?.State=Display&id=93

Properties of White Beeswax

White Beeswax (Cera Alba) from Oils by Nature
From the words “Cera” (waxy) and “Alba” (white)…

For every 100 pounds of honey produced, only about one to two pounds of Beeswax is obtained. Beeswax that is thousands of years old differs little from new Beeswax. It does not oxidize and is unaffected by mildew, salt water and other elements.

Ancient Romans are thought to have developed the first Beeswax wicked candles based upon Egyptian tallow-soaked torches.

Today’s phrase “mind your own Beeswax” was coined centuries ago when women used Beeswax to soften the skin on their face. Hence, when they would catch another woman staring, they would use the phrase.

Of course, when the women smiled, the Beeswax would crack. Thus, the popular “crack a smile” …phrase was born.

This natural wax has the same properties and characteristics as yellow beeswax and has been processed through a non-chemical bleaching process to achieve the white color.

Beeswax is a natural emulsifier as well as one of the oldest and purest waxes. For hundreds of years, natural beeswax has been used in creams, candles, lipsticks and other cosmetics.

During production by the honey bees, beeswax begins as a white substance but then darkens after contamination from pollen and contact with the bees. With a high melting point between 142-149o, white beeswax burns slowly.

Common Uses of White Beeswax
* Creams
* Lipsticks
* Lip Balms and salves
* Perfume base
* Candles

Benefits of White Beeswax
* Adds hardness
* Natural emulsifier
* Offers a high melting point
* Burns slowly* Stable
* Low sensitivity and allergic reaction

WHITE BEESWAX TECHNICAL DATA SHEET
TRADE NAME:BBW
CHEMICAL NAME:WHITE BEESWAX
CAS NUMBER:N/A
EINECS NUMBER:N/APRESENTATION: Pellets
For full properties, visit here.

Source: http://bathnbody.craftgossip.com/properties-of-white-beeswax/2009/04/21/

Beeswax Website

Diane from my bath balms and butters class recommend an interesting site about beeswax that I wanted to share. The site has recipes, melting safety tips (It melts between 143-148 degrees and should not be melted in the microwave because it could ignite) and more! I would highly recommend you reading this informational page.

Rachels Supplies - http://www.rachelssupply.com/bwax.htm

Thank you Diane for sharing!!!