This morning I was asked this question about cleaning beeswax:
“I am seeing on a couple blogs that you can get beeswax from a bee keeper and clean it yourself using pantyhose and a double broiler. Is this safe?”
Here’s my answer:
“Yes it is, although I haven’t used panty hose. It’s a messy project but the easiest way to do it is to use two crock pots (assuming it’s something you plan to repeat). Melt the wax in one, and then pour through a paper-towel-lined metal sieve into the other crockpot (which is kept hot). When all the beeswax has been pouredthrough, use a turkey baster to pull the melted, clean beeswax from the one crock pot into ice cube trays. You now have 3/4 oz cubes of clean beeswax.
I used this system for awhile because you can save a lot of money buying directly from the beekeeper. After awhile, it may become too much of a hassle, and you do have to be aware of the hot beeswax (it’s flammable and doesn’t need a flame to ignite it, only heat, but I’ve never, ever had beeswax ignite on me.)
I prefer the paper towel method because you can throw away the paper towels when finished (I’m not sure how you’d clean the pantyhose; you’d have to purchase more pantyhose for future beeswax cleaning projects). I’ve also tried using coffee filters, but the beeswax doesn’t go through the paper well at all, and also it cools too quickly, blocking the paper pores.”