I'm living in Holland, in a small town close to Gouda, the city that gives it's name to the world famous Gouda cheese. I'm a hobby cheesemaker for two years now and I make a lot of different types of Gouda and other semi hard cheeses, as well as cheeses like feta, brie and cambozola. I have access to raw milk from goats and cows, directly from the farm. In an other thread and different subject I mentioned that most Gouda cheeses here, artisan, home made and factory made, are not waxed or vacuum sealed, but coated with a plastic coating. I have very good results with that myself, I uses with most cheeses 2 layers of yellow coating, on the second layer a stick a label while the coating is still wet and I finish it with a third transparent layer.
For cheeses like Cabra al Vino I use three layers of the transparent coating. Most of the times the cheeses are coated 3 times within a week after brining or production. After brining I let them air-dry and turn them twice a day and when the bottom is almost dry after half a day, it's time for the first coating.
Handled this way, the cheeses are very easy to clean with a soft cloth and some water with vinegar. Aging is going very well this way, and to be honest, if there would be problems with aging, I don't think it would be applied commercially.
I'm surprised to hear on different forums that this way of preserving cheese is almost unknown in the US and Canada, but somebody pointed me to Paracoat from the Diary Connection. This seems to be very much the same as the stuff I'm using. If people have questions about how to apply, where I buy it, or other matters, I will be pleased to try to answer them...