Custom Wax Paper, Printed With Your Logo

What custom wax paper is

Wax paper starts as a thin, smooth base sheet and goes through a bath of melted wax that soaks in and sets. The result is the sheet in the second photo: white, slightly see-through at the edge, with a soft sheen rather than a shine.

Custom wax paper is that sheet with your design printed on it first. The first photo shows a stack of folded sheets with a red one-color scatter of food drawings and a script mark in the center.

Bakeries, candy makers, cheese shops and sandwich counters are the main buyers. Soap makers use it too, because wax paper keeps a fresh bar from sweating into its label.

How wax paper behaves: cold, dry and slick

The wax does two things. It stops water and light oil passing through the sheet, and it stops sticky food gripping the face. A frosted cookie lifts off clean. A caramel does not fuse to it.

It is a cold-food paper. Dry wax softens at about 180°F, so a sheet under a hot sandwich goes tacky and can leave a film. For anything hot, a greaseproof sheet is the right stock.

Wax paper folds easily but does not hold a sharp crease the way greaseproof does. A sandwich pocket stays closed with a tuck, not a fold alone.

It also lets less steam out. Wrap something warm in it and the inside fogs within a minute. That is fine for a cold sub; it is wrong for a hot one.

The guide comparing greaseproof paper with wax paper explains where each one wins.

Which wax paper size fits a cookie, a donut or a sandwich?

Wax paper is usually a pick-up sheet or a wrap for one item, so size it to the item plus enough to fold over twice.

Bakeries usually keep two: the 6 × 10.75 in for the counter and the 12 × 12 in for the box. Any other size is a custom cut, and the sheet and roll size chart shows what to measure.

Why does cheese sweat through wax paper, and what helps?

A wrapped cheese keeps breathing. Moisture from a soft cheese condenses against a sheet that will not let it out. It pools, then shows as a wet patch on the outside of the wrap.

Wax paper is better than plastic here because the wax is not a sealed film. Some moisture does pass. But a very wet cheese, or a cheese wrapped warm, will still mark the sheet after a day.

Three things help. Wrap cheese cold. Use the heavier 32 lb base so the sheet has more fiber to take up moisture. And change the paper when the wedge goes back in the case, not once a week.

Hard cheeses are no trouble. A wedge of aged cheddar wrapped in printed wax paper looks right in a display case and stays dry for days.

Dry wax or the heavier wet wax finish

Dry wax is the standard for custom wax paper. The wax soaks into the sheet and leaves a matte, slightly slippery face that prints cleanly and folds without flaking.

• Dry wax: the stock in both photos; matte face, folds well, takes print, suits cookies, sandwiches, cheese and soap.
• Wet wax: a heavier coat left on the surface; glossier, stiffer, more moisture hold-out, better for sticky candy and wet deli items.
• Either coat, 25 to 28 lb base: pick-up sheets and interleaving.
• Either coat, 30 to 32 lb base: wraps that travel and box liners that get lifted.

If you are unsure, ask for a plain sample of each on the quote. The difference is obvious in the hand and hard to describe.

Printing on wax paper: the one-color scatter

The print goes on before the wax, so the ink is sealed under the coat. That is why the red scatter in the first photo looks slightly softened, as if seen through frosted glass. It is the look buyers want from wax paper.

One color is the classic choice. Red, black, navy or forest green on white gives a bakery or candy wrap its character with a single ink. The scatter layout means a cookie or a sandwich folded any way still shows part of the design.

Keep type above 8 pt and lines above 0.75 pt. The wax softens edges a little, so hairline detail blurs.

Inks are food-safe soy or water-based. Under the wax they cannot rub off onto chocolate or frosting, which is the first question a candy maker asks.

Try the scatter yourself in the Design Your Custom Wax Paper studio before asking for a quote.

Can wax paper be printed in more than one color?

Yes, up to four, but think twice. Each color is a separate ink laid down before waxing, and the wax mutes all of them a little. Two dark colors stay crisp. Four colors with light tints come out pale and flat.

A two-color job that works well is a dark scatter plus a second color on the center mark only. The sheet reads as busy from a distance and clean up close.

We match to Pantone solid-coated swatches and show the result on the proof as it will look under wax, not on bare white paper.

Candy, fudge and the counter pick-up sheet

Candy makers buy wax paper more than anyone. A 6 × 10.75 in sheet wraps a bar of fudge with a twist at each end, and the wax stops the sugar bleeding into the paper on a warm day.

Caramels and taffy are cut on a wax sheet, interleaved with wax, and boxed between wax. Nothing else lets a soft caramel go into a box and come out whole.

Bakeries use the same small sheet as a pick-up. The counter hand grabs a cookie with the printed sheet, folds it under, and the customer walks out with the logo in hand.

Soap makers use the 12 × 12 in sheet the same way, folded around a bar and sealed with a band. The wax keeps a curing bar from staining the paper.

What goes wrong with wax paper in a bakery?

The first is using it hot. A wax sheet under a grilled sandwich or in a heated case goes tacky and transfers wax to the food.

The second is wrapping warm baked goods. A cookie straight off the tray fogs the sheet and the frosting softens. Let it cool ten minutes first.

The third is printing a pale color and expecting it to pop. Wax dulls every ink; pick a darker shade than you think you need.

The fourth is storing the open ream next to the oven. Wax paper stuck together in a warm block has to be thrown out.

How to order custom wax paper

1. Choose the size and the coat (dry wax as standard) and the quantity; 1,000 sheets of one size is the minimum.
2. Send a vector logo and say whether you want a scatter, a center mark or both, in one or two colors.
3. We send a written quote within one business day and a free proof that shows the ink as it looks under wax.
4. Edit the proof as many times as you need, then approve it.
5. Production takes 4 to 6 business days after approval; free tracked delivery in the US follows in 2 to 3 business days.
6. Settle the invoice after approving the quote and proof. A wrong print or a crushed case, photographed and reported within 10 days, gets a reprint or a refund.

Start on the custom wax paper quote form with the item you wrap and we suggest the size.