Hi! It is me again.
Today I will be showing you some easy methods to easily peel labels off of glass jars and containers.
I reuse glass containers a lot. And I mean a LOT. If it is glass, most likely I will be reusing it.
I think I have a mild obsession with it. Even my husband thinks I am crazy sometimes because of the number of jars I have shoved in my cabinets. Yes, you read that right. Cabinets, plural.
I have MULTIPLE cabinets which are housing jars.
I try to stop, but the thought of “I may use this one day”, still reigns supreme.
I think I am somewhat improving, though. I managed to get rid of an old peanut butter jar. It was painful but worth it. It was worth it…because.... now I have extra space for one more jar! Hehe…
And here I am, bestowing my jar obsession on you. Sorry.
I do have a legitimate case, though. Here are some of the reasons I reuse jars:
You can use them for a ton of things!
Reusing jars saves you money because you do not have to go out and buy overpriced ones.
They are unique and look nice, yet they are still functional.
They are excellent food storage containers.
They are also usually very good mason jar replacers. Especially considering how the prices for mason jars seem to only be rising.
That is only a few of the many reasons to reuse jars.
Here are some examples of how I use my jars:
You can see that I use the skinny-necked ones for flowers, seeds, and such. And, the wider-necked ones I use for storing food, herbs, bulk grains, etc.
Now of course, sometimes I find some that have too narrow of a neck so I would not be able to use it, or some that are too small or too skinny (I have yet to find any that are too big for me).
I do find my fair share of those and I dispose of them properly or give them away. I do have some limits, haha!
While some people may find those type of jars useful, I do not at this point, so I get rid of them and clear up space for more useful jars.
Any jar though, can be useful. I mean, the possibilities are practically endless!
But, since I use mine mainly for food storage, I need jars that are big and have a wide opening.
If a jar does not fit these “qualifications”, I will try to find a use for it, but after a while I will dispose of it.
But, typically jars that you will be reusing come with sticky, annoying, and usually ugly labels.
I mean seriously, the amount of effort companies go through to have such a sticky label on their jars is ridiculous! The labels are practically cemented in!
But do not fear, that is why I will be showing you how to easily peel the labels off.
This is the tried and true method I use for almost every jar I have saved (some of the jars I have acquired still have labels on them, that I have purposely left on because they were aesthetically pleasing).
If all of my reasons for why you should reuse jars is still not enough to persuade you, maybe once you find out how easy it is to remove the labels you would consider it.
Okay, so let’s get right to it!
Now, there are a few different ways to do this which include soaking the jars in water for a day or two, pouring boiling water in the jars, using Goo Gone, or using OxiClean.
All of these methods work (some more than others), but if you want a label off quick, this is the way.
INGREDIENTS:
Hot water
Equal parts oil (olive, vegetable, coconut, etc.) + baking soda
INSTRUCTIONS:
First, try and peel off as much of the label as you can.
Pour hot water in the jar. You can use boiling, but I typically avoid that as it may cause the glass to shatter.
Let the water sit in the jar while you prepare the mixture.
Add the oil and baking soda in a bowl until it forms a paste. You may have to adjust the oil or baking soda amount until it is a smooth paste.
Dump the water out of the jar and slather on some of the mixture onto the label.
Keep rubbing the mixture over the label until it comes off. Keep scooping up the mixture as needed until the label is off.
If the label is particularly stubborn (this has happened once or twice before with me), soak the jar in hot water for at least 30 minutes and then continue to apply the mixture. The label should come off at this point.
Note: Sometimes I use an S.O.S. or Brillo pad and that works well too, but I do prefer the method I listed above as it is cheap, easy, non-toxic, and most people will have those ingredients lying around their kitchen.
That is it! Now you can reuse your jars for whatever you please!
I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope you start reusing glass jars using this method!