How to Make Fireproof Paper
Gather Your Materials., Separate the candle wick from the wax., Ground the wax into finer pieces., Melt the wax using the parchment paper., Open the parchment paper to see if you have enough., Apply the wax to your paper., Make the wax smooth...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Gather Your Materials.
It is best to start with paper that you have already written on, because normal writing implements do not always write easily on wax paper.
You will also need wax that you can melt down, and some basic tools to treat the paper with wax.
Wax, or candles Parchment paper Scissors A sealable sandwich bag Hammer or mallet Iron and ironing board Cloth towel and paper towels -
Step 2: Separate the candle wick from the wax.
If you are starting out with candles rather than just wax, you need to get the wick out.
Use a hammer, knife, and/or other household implements to chip into the wax and extract the wick.
It is ok, and even preferable, if you have to split the wax into a lot of small pieces, since you will eventually melt them.
Having more small pieces creates more surface area, making the melting process faster.
You don’t need a large amount of wax.
Start with a tea light or votive, or that leftover half of a taper candle on the kitchen table. , Put the wax in the plastic bag and seal it.
Tap it gently with the hammer to break it into smaller pieces.
Placing it in the bag will ensure that pieces of wax don’t go flying all over the room! , Put the towel on the ironing board.
Then, place the pieces of wax on one half of the parchment paper.
Fold the paper once so that the wax is encased inside like a sandwich, and place it on the towel.
Use the iron to melt the wax.
Make sure you keep the iron moving.
Just as with clothing, leaving it on one spot too long will burn or damage whatever is under it.
Parchment paper is flame resistant, but not completely non-flammable. , The wax should have enough surface area to cover your paper.
If it doesn’t, add more wax, close the paper, and iron it again.
Repeat this until you have enough wax., Place the paper you want to make flame resistant on the wax.
Fold the parchment paper back again and iron for a few seconds.
The heat will help the hot wax bond to the paper.
Add more wax if necessary. , You want the paper to be as smooth and flat as possible – unless you are adding texture for an arts and crafts project.
Feel the wax to see if it is smooth.
If not, place it back in the parchment paper sandwich and use the iron to press the wax flatter and outwards off the paper.
It should be easy to guide the wax toward the edges of the paper, so make sure you are not hovering for too long over one area. , You are done with one side now.
Put the newly wax-coated paper between two pieces of paper towel to help it dry in a clean location.
You don’t want particles from your kitchen table or elsewhere to become a permanent feature of your flame resistant paper. , You will want both sides of your paper to be coated with wax.
It will be much more flame retardant if no dry paper is exposed.
After you are happy with the coat on one side, repeat the process on the opposite side. -
Step 3: Ground the wax into finer pieces.
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Step 4: Melt the wax using the parchment paper.
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Step 5: Open the parchment paper to see if you have enough.
-
Step 6: Apply the wax to your paper.
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Step 7: Make the wax smooth.
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Step 8: Place between paper towels to cool.
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Step 9: Flip and repeat.
Detailed Guide
It is best to start with paper that you have already written on, because normal writing implements do not always write easily on wax paper.
You will also need wax that you can melt down, and some basic tools to treat the paper with wax.
Wax, or candles Parchment paper Scissors A sealable sandwich bag Hammer or mallet Iron and ironing board Cloth towel and paper towels
If you are starting out with candles rather than just wax, you need to get the wick out.
Use a hammer, knife, and/or other household implements to chip into the wax and extract the wick.
It is ok, and even preferable, if you have to split the wax into a lot of small pieces, since you will eventually melt them.
Having more small pieces creates more surface area, making the melting process faster.
You don’t need a large amount of wax.
Start with a tea light or votive, or that leftover half of a taper candle on the kitchen table. , Put the wax in the plastic bag and seal it.
Tap it gently with the hammer to break it into smaller pieces.
Placing it in the bag will ensure that pieces of wax don’t go flying all over the room! , Put the towel on the ironing board.
Then, place the pieces of wax on one half of the parchment paper.
Fold the paper once so that the wax is encased inside like a sandwich, and place it on the towel.
Use the iron to melt the wax.
Make sure you keep the iron moving.
Just as with clothing, leaving it on one spot too long will burn or damage whatever is under it.
Parchment paper is flame resistant, but not completely non-flammable. , The wax should have enough surface area to cover your paper.
If it doesn’t, add more wax, close the paper, and iron it again.
Repeat this until you have enough wax., Place the paper you want to make flame resistant on the wax.
Fold the parchment paper back again and iron for a few seconds.
The heat will help the hot wax bond to the paper.
Add more wax if necessary. , You want the paper to be as smooth and flat as possible – unless you are adding texture for an arts and crafts project.
Feel the wax to see if it is smooth.
If not, place it back in the parchment paper sandwich and use the iron to press the wax flatter and outwards off the paper.
It should be easy to guide the wax toward the edges of the paper, so make sure you are not hovering for too long over one area. , You are done with one side now.
Put the newly wax-coated paper between two pieces of paper towel to help it dry in a clean location.
You don’t want particles from your kitchen table or elsewhere to become a permanent feature of your flame resistant paper. , You will want both sides of your paper to be coated with wax.
It will be much more flame retardant if no dry paper is exposed.
After you are happy with the coat on one side, repeat the process on the opposite side.
About the Author
Dorothy Wallace
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow lifestyle tutorials.
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