25 Clever Ways to Use Waxed Paper

Waxed paper is basically paper that has been made water-resistant through the application of wax. This paper is used in cooking and food storage for the non-stick properties that the wax grants.

This is somewhat common knowledge, but there are other ways that waxed paper can be used. Let’s take a look at some clever alternative uses for waxed paper.

Grime Prevention: Lining Surfaces with Wax Paper

The kitchen is where you turn raw, uninteresting materials into delicious meals for yourself and your family. It’s also a constant grime scene…that joke sounded a lot better in my head.

Anyway, you can use waxed paper to prevent the gunk and grime from making your kitchen surfaces all yucky. It’s a real grime stopper, I’m not going to apologize for that one!

The Top of your Fridge and Cabinets

You know how the tops of your cabinets get all grimy? How do you deal with that gunk and grime? Well, usually with a cleaning rag of some kind but that rag gets very disgusting very quickly. What if there was an easier way to deal with that mess? You’d take it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you?

That’s where waxed paper comes in. Simply line the top of your cabinet with the paper and that’s it. The wax layer works like a magnet and attracts all the gunk and grime to it; keeping your cabinet tops grease-free.

You can do the same thing with the top of your fridge. Take some double-sided tape, and tape a sheet of wax paper to the top of your fridge.

You’ll have to change out the grimy sheets for fresh ones a few times a year, but you won’t have to worry about the mess building up on the tops of your cabinets, or the top of your fridge.

The Fridge Drawers

The drawers in your fridge are another hotspot for gunk and grime. We don’t typically clean them out too often and this leads to a panic when they develop thick layers of grime on the bottom.

So, line the bottom of the drawer with wax paper, and all the gunk will collect on the paper instead of in the drawer. You can do the same thing with the shelves in the fridge if you want to keep things extra squeaky clean.

Your Wooden Cutting Board

A wooden cutting board looks very nice but it can be a nuisance to clean. Lining the board with a sheet of waxed paper prevents grease from raw meat from getting onto the wood.

This makes it easier to clean and reduces the risk of accidental salmonella exposure (from something like raw chicken on the board).

Keeping Things Clean

Grease and grime aren’t your only problems in the kitchen…

Prevent Microwave Spills

Microwave spillage; I’d love to say that this has never happened to me, but it has. You place a bowl of whatever you want to nuke in the microwave and it ends up splattering everywhere. I’m cringing as I think about it.

There’s nothing worse than having to scrub thick, gooey layers of what would’ve been food off of the inside of your microwave. So, where does the wax paper come in? Well, you cover the dishes with a sheet of wax paper and there you go; problem solved!

DIY Funnel

This is an easy way to ensure that you don’t have to chance free-hand pouring in food prep. It’s exactly what it sounds like, you form a funnel out of the wax paper and you can work with wet and dry ingredients.

Scatter spices evenly across a meal or manage to control the flow of milk in an ice cream recipe with this quick, simple trick.

Polishing Fixtures

Metal fixtures can be a nuisance to clean and you typically end up with unsightly marks left by the water. So, how do we get rid of those marks? Rub a bit of wax paper on them, of course! The wax removes the marks and prevents new marks from popping up for a while.

DIY Mop

If you have one of those wet-dry mops with the pads, and are tired of having to get new pads all the time, this one is for you. Simply cut a sheet of wax paper to size, and attach it to your mop. The wax layer will attract all the dust and gunk, and leave your floors sparkling clean.

Arts and Crafts

If you’re artistically-inclined then wax paper has a variety of uses to make your artwork stand out without making cleaning up a problem.

Keeping Surfaces Clean and Preserving your Tools

Whether you live alone or have kids, artwork can be a messy venture. Your furniture and floors can, and sometimes do, get covered in paint or glitter and it’s a nightmare to clean up!

A layer of wax paper can work as a shield – so to speak – and take all the paint and glitter instead; making it much easier when it comes time to clean up.

Likewise, if you’re painting a room and need a break; just wrap your brushes in wax paper. This will keep them from drying out.

Ink Transfer Art

Okay, this is a cool one. Take a piece of wax paper and print an image onto it; secure the printout tightly to the surface you want to ink. Now, take a credit card or something similar, and gently scrape it across the paper.

Voila! You’ve done a piece of artwork! How cool is that? It’s almost like doing sandstone or grave rubbings but instead of using sticks of charcoal and paper, you’re using ink and a credit card!

Paper Boats

Wax paper has been used for years to make paper boats for kids to play with. The wax layer provides some resilience against water, which keeps the boat from falling apart after being exposed to water.

Waxed Paper and Food

Waxed paper is great for storing food – specifically things like cheese or cold meats (i.e. sandwich ham). It also has a few other food-related uses.

Baking Made Easy: Wax Paper instead of Flour

Baking dough is sticky and it can be like glue on your fingers and on your countertops. Usually you’d throw a bit of flour on the countertop to help prevent sticking. This obviously makes a huge – and avoidable – mess.

Wax paper provides a perfect non-stick surface to reduce the amount of mess you make with flour while baking. You can also put it on the bottom of your cake tin to ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the tin once it’s been baked.

Keep your Ice Cream Crystal-free

What happens when we open a tub of ice cream? Obviously we’re going to dish and enjoy a refreshing summertime snack, but what happens to the ice cream in the tub?

Well, there’s moisture that gets trapped in the container when it’s resealed; this leads to the formation of water crystals on the surface of the ice cream.

These crystals aren’t good at all, they reduce the flavour of the ice cream and take its usually creamy texture and reduce it to a powdery residue. How do we stop this from happening?
You guessed it, wax paper!

Place a sheet of wax paper between the lid and the ice cream, and it will prevent the formation of crystals thereby keeping your ice cream edible for whenever you want some.

Cake Icing Stencil… Sort of

If you need to ice a cake and don’t know where to start then try this idea. Take a sheet of wax paper and stencil your icing message onto it. Then stick it in a freezer for 30 or 40 minutes before using a spatula to transfer the icing from the paper to the cake.

Removing Waffles from the Waffle Iron

Do you like waffles? That’s a silly question, isn’t it? Waffles are always nice; a bit of vanilla ice cream, some syrup…I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Unfortunately, your waffle iron may sometimes try to prevent you from enjoying this tasty treat.

So…how do we remove waffles from an iron that doesn’t want to let them go? Easy, place a few sheets of wax paper between the top and bottom sections while the iron heats up.

The wax from the paper provides temporary lubrication which allows for the easy removal of waffles from the iron.

Making Dried Fruit Rolls

Dried fruit is a healthy snack that is well-liked by pretty much everyone! You remove cores and seeds, and then slice the fruit of your choice into slices of the same size and thickness.

Lay the slices on a sheet of waxed paper and dry it in the oven – you’ll have to preheat the oven to 170 degrees Fahrenheit and the oven door should be partially open while the fruit dries. You move the fruit around a bit (stir it) every 30 minutes or so until it’s done.

When you want to do fruit rolls, the method is similar. You chop up the fruit and cook it in a mixture of water, sugar, lemon juice and spice.

Once that’s done, you’ll take a potato masher or a blender and puree the fruit. Put the pureed fruit into a baking tray lined with waxed paper (microwave safe plastic wrap works too).

Take the tray of fruit and let it dry at a low temperature in an oven. Remove the fruit from the oven when it has a leathery texture and then roll it up in its wrapping.

Voila! You’ve got fruit rolls. You can make these fruit rolls with guavas, peaches, apricots and others. As a quick side note: there are literally dozens of recipes and methods for making this tasty treat so if one doesn’t work for you then you can try a different one.

Wax Paper and Tools

Rust Prevention + Cleaning

Rubbing your garden tools down with wax paper makes cleaning much easier provides a bit of rust protection as well which is an added bonus.

Easily Remove Snow from your Driveway

Snow is cold and it also can be very sticky – for lack of a better term. Living in areas where heavy snowfall is a constant or common occurrence brings you into regular contact with the stuff. It’s nice to look at and fun to play with.

It’s not, however, fun to clean up. It tends to stick to your shovel but that can be stopped by simply rubbing it down with some wax paper.

Other Uses

Un-sticking a Stuck Zipper

There’s nothing worse than getting your zipper stuck – trust me, I know. Thankfully a bit of wax paper and some elbow grease can help to un-stick your zipper.

Just rub the stuck zipper down with the wax paper and the wax should lubricate the hardware enough to get it un-stuck.

Food Storage and Fire Starting Material

So, here’s something I didn’t know; plastic wrap isn’t the greatest thing for cheese. I didn’t know this because cheese typically comes vacuum-packed in a plastic wrapper. That said, wrapping your cheese in wax paper allows it to breathe better which makes it last longer.

You can store cold meats this way too – although, not for very long. This is great for when you’re camping or hiking because it lightens your pack(s) considerably and lessens the amount of packing space required. Additionally, when you’ve finished with it; the paper can be used as extra kindling for your camp fire.

Uncorking and Recorking Wine Bottles

Uncorking and recorking a wine bottle can be a royal pain in the neck sometimes. You struggle to get the cork out and then getting it back in the bottle is a nightmare which usually ends with bits of cork in your wine.

To avoid this problem, all you do is wrap the cork in wax paper. This seals the bottle nicely and makes uncorking and recorking the bottle much easier.

Makeshift Insulation

If your house is draughty and you need to insulate the place; wax paper can be used as insulation. You can shove balls of waxed paper into the gaps under doors or in the walls to insulate the house.

Increase your Speed in Sports

If you’re into skiing, snowboarding, or sledding and you’d like to boost your speed. You can rub the underside of the board, sled or skis down with wax paper to reduce the amount of friction on those surfaces.

Pressing Flowers

If you’re into pressing leaves or flowers, then wax paper can be very useful. Place the flower/leaf between two sheets of wax paper and take an iron to it. This is an easy way to preserve your favorite flowers, and put an easy and interesting hobby together.

Keep Candles from Damaging Linens

Much like keeping your paintbrushes from drying out, you can prevent discoloration in your linens. Wrapping your candles in wax paper prevents the wax from the candles rubbing off on your linens. Of course, the easier solution would be to just store your candles and linens separately.

Cleaning your Iron

Put some salt on a sheet of wax paper and iron over it. This helps remove any gunk that may have built up on the underside of your iron.

Final Thoughts

So…waxed paper has more uses than just storing/preserving cold meats…who knew? Okay, in all seriousness; I hope you guys found this article informative.

You should have some ideas for ways to use any scrap wax paper that you may have lying around. I’m sure you can adapt these hacks to your needs or maybe even come up with a few of your own.