**Store bread in a greaseproof paper bag at room temperature, not the fridge, to prevent staleness.**
Sophia Handschuh, co-founder of Sourdough Sophia in London, explains the science. When bread bakes, starch in the flour expands and absorbs water, creating a soft, fluffy crumb. Once the loaf cools and touches air, it begins to dry out. Starch doesn't tolerate exposure to air well, which is why bread goes stale.
Handschuh stores her loaf in a greaseproof paper bag, the kind most bakeries provide. She calls this "probably the best way." Plastic bags and beeswax wraps are alternatives, but Handschuh argues beeswax wraps are expensive and unnecessary for bread storage alone. The greaseproof paper you already have when you bring bread home does the job without extra cost.
The fridge is off-limits. Cold temperatures accelerate starch crystallization, the process that dries bread out faster than room-temperature storage.