Why Does Wafer Paper Crack, And How To Prevent It.

Wafer paper can crack if the air is dry or if the paper has been stored for a long time. Since it’s made from starch, it’s highly sensitive to humidity, and it can end up losing moisture and being brittle if the air is dry.

Trying to bend it if it’s too dried-out can result in the paper cracking, which is difficult, if not impossible, to fix without it being noticeable.

If it’s winter and the air is naturally dry, wafer paper is going to be much more likely to crack if you bend it since the moisture in it will be pulled out because the air is drier than it is in the summer.

Storing wafer paper for years can also result in the natural moisture that’s in the paper escaping slowly, so it can end up more likely to crack when you try to bend it if the paper is older.

There are a few ways to deal with this, some being faster than others, so read on to see which method might work best for your needs.

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Use a wafer paper “humidor” to keep it flexible.

One way that you can keep your wafer paper flexible and prevent it from drying out in the winter is to keep it in a box that has a lid and allows moisture to circulate inside of it.

You have to make sure that the moisture in the box doesn’t touch the paper, but if you can create a little environment that’s more humid than the outside air, the paper will stay softer and won’t crack as easily.

To do this you’d have to use some kind of box that’s larger than the paper, and keep the inside of the box damp and humid over time, so this is something that you’re going to have to monitor.

You’re basically making a little terrarium for your wafer paper…

If you’re going to be making a bunch of wafer paper flowers, you could set your system up and keep it active during the time that you’re working. That way, the paper that you need to use can be stored in the box and you can add more in as you need more.

To make this kind of humid environment, you would need to use a container that has a sealed lid and that the paper fits into.
Line the bottom with a dish towel, then put tinfoil over that to prevent any water from touching the wafer paper that you’re going to put in there.
You might want to bend the tinfoil edges up to make a little dish that the paper can sit in to make sure that no water touches it.
Remove the tinfoil and pour hot water over the dish towel, then put the tinfoil back in and put the wafer paper on top of the tinfoil.
If you’re making wafer paper flowers, you can cut out the petals and put them in the box instead of putting full sheets in it.
Close the lid and let the paper sit in there to absorb the moisture from the air inside.
You’ll have to make sure that the water doesn’t totally dry out over time by adding more in.

I’ll admit that this is kind of a pain to do because every time you open the lid, you’re going to be letting out the moisture, and it will need to build up again.

But if you’re doing a lot of work with paper at one time, you can put the paper in and leave it overnight until you need it, and it will be more manageable.

For an article about what to do if your wafer paper tears, click here.

wafer paper conditioner spray — Applying wafer paper conditioner

Add steam to the dry wafer paper to prevent cracking.

The fastest way to add moisture to dry wafer paper is to steam it. This will let the paper absorb moisture fast, and it will make it easier to work with without cracking. However, you’ll need to make sure that you don’t over-steam it, since too much moisture added quicky can make the paper buckle and develop bubbles on the surface.

You can use a portable steamer to do this, or just boil a pot of water on the stove and hold the wafer paper over that.

Be careful when you’re dealing with hot steam, since it can burn you! Ask me how I know.

This video shows how to steam the paper with a pan of water on the stove, and if you’re interested in buying a portable steamer, you can check the best prices on Amazon here: Portable steamers

Use an oil or glycerin-based softener on wafer paper to keep it from cracking.

Another way to add moisture back to the paper is to add an oil-based or a glycerin-based conditioner to the paper. This won’t melt it because the main ingredient won’t be water, but it will soften the paper.

Glycerin is also hygroscopic, which means that it will attract moisture from the air, so it can keep the paper flexible longer.

Most wafer paper conditioners are made with food-grade glycerin because of that, but you can rub the paper with Crisco if you’re desperate and you don’t have any conditioner.

The benefit of using glycerin is that it will stay soft for a couple of days after you apply it if it’s the right balance of glycerin and water. The bad thing about it is that it can make the paper too soft, and it doesn’t always want to stick to itself after it’s been treated with glycerin.

Be careful to apply glycerin-based conditioners sparingly to begin with so that you don’t soften the paper up too much to begin with! You can always add more, but you can’t remove it once it’s on the paper.

There are other types of conditioners too, so if you’re interested in that I wrote an article with more information about the different types and what they do here: Wafer Paper Conditioner Roundup

Click to see my list of cake decorating and baking supplies in my Amazon shop.

Print on the paper to soften it, or use a thicker grade.

Printing a full-sheet design or color on the paper will soften it because the food coloring ink will absorb into the paper. If this is something that you can do, you can print the paper right before you need to use it, then take advantage of the ink preventing some of the cracking if you need to bend it.

You might not have an edible ink printer, though, so if that’s the case you can use the oil or glycerin-based conditioner methods above to give the full sheet a coat of a softening agent.

Another option would be to use a different grade of wafer paper from what you’re using now. Sometimes changing to a thicker or thinner grade will prevent the paper from cracking, depending on what you need to do with it.

To shop for wafer paper on Etsy, click here.

Apply spot treatments to wafer paper to fold it without cracking it.

If you just want to bend the paper in a specific spot and not crack it, you can do that using a conditioner, water, or vodka.

Vodka works well because it evaporates quickly and you’ll be able to fold the paper without cracking it along the fold line, but it will dry faster than if you use conditioner or water.

Wafer paper is pretty easy to crack if you bend it too much, so even if the weather is humid and the paper is flexible, be careful if you’re trying to do some drastic folds with it!

Wafer paper supply list:

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