The easiest way to use and clean your Agreena Wraps

UPDATE Feb 2023: Agreena Wraps are no longer available. We have an alternative from Green Essentials. Please use the SHOP THIS ARTICLE section of the page to find alternatives, including parchment paper.

In the bid to go plastic free, or just to take steps to get closer to it, there are some products that people find hard to replace. The reusable coffee cup is starting to take off, and it's a very simple swap. There's plenty of cafes that will allow you to hand one over for a refill.

For me, and many people I speak to, ditching cling film can be a hard one. There's not many things that behave quite like cling film and it can be used for multiple purposes. A few months ago now, we introduced beeswax wraps to the store, and we have been blown away by their popularity. Beeswax wraps have their good points and their bad points though. They do only have a lifespan of around 100 uses (although you can refresh them with beeswax, some parchment paper and an iron) and they do contain beeswax, so they can't be used by vegans. They do also contain pine tree resin and we have had a couple of customers who have an issue with that too.

All that said though, you can't stretch a beeswax wrap tight over a bowl and you certainly can't use them to bake cookies on in the oven. If you accidentally wash a beeswax wrap in hot water, the wax will melt. While the beeswax wraps are more natural and earth friendly, they have their limits. Enter the Agreena Wraps. Made from 100% pure silicone and nothing else, they stretch like cling film and can take the heat like aluminium foil and baking paper. They are recyclable, but currently, not in Australia. They do need to be sent overseas for that. The beauty of the Agreena Wrap though is that it's an ultra durable reusable that you'll have for many years. REUSE trumps RECYCLE. Both is nirvana, but reuse always wins.

How do you clean the Agreena Wraps

Hot soapy water. That's it. We always think it's best to use natural cleaning products, so any one of our natural dishwashing liquids will do the job, but honestly you can use anything. Once they're clean, you can stick them to the edge or your kitchen bench to hang and dry, use a tea towel, or do what I do and hang them over a chopping board to dry.

Once they're completely dry, you can either put them back on the clear plastic backing that came with them at the time of purchase so they can be rolled up and kept clean, or you can just fold them up and put them somewhere where the outer exposed layer isn't going to get dirty.

They can be a little fiddly to work with until you get a few washes under your belt

For those who know me, I'm honest to a fault. As a child, when I was at a car yard with my dad trading in a car, I made a point of walking around and telling the salesman where the scratches were. I still do those kinds of things today! The first couple of times you use them, you're going to find that they stick to themselves really easily, and it take a little bit of time to get them off, washed and all flat and smooth ready to use. Don't worry, this isn't something that happens forever. After a few washes, they lose that 'new wrap overly sticky' thing and are much easier to work with. After I learnt this, I washed and dried my next batch a few times before I started using them. They were much easier to work with.

What can you use the Agreena Wraps for?

The most common use for your Agreena Wrap is to cover bowls and plates in the fridge. This is what most cling film gets used for.

When covering a bowl or a plate, the best way to get it on is to lay flat on a bench or chopping board first, then lift the two corners and drape it over the bowl. Grab the edge and stretch over the bowl, move around to the next section and then tighten all the way around. If cling film will cling to a plate or a bowl, the Agreena will as well.

If you're short on reusable sandwich bags, we have used the Agreena wrap to wrap a sandwich and some snacks too. It the next picture, the sandwich is in the larger size wrap and the carrot sticks are in the smaller size. You get 2 of each in your starter pack.

You can also lay them on a baking tray and use them instead of parchment paper to bake cookies or to wrap any number of different types of food in.