We reuse jars and bottles everywhere in the home – to store bulk grains, dish soap, buttons, nails, you name it. Removing the sticky labels and any odors (most often from foods like tomatoes, pickles, and garlic) from the jars is a mundane yet satisfying task. Here's how we do it.
What You Need
Materials
Hot water
Dish soap
Sponge or steel wool
Vegetable oil or peanut butter (optional)
Sunshine (optional)
Vinegar (optional)
Baking soda (optional)
Tools
Hair dryer (optional)
Instructions
To remove labels
1. Soak the jar in hot, soapy water for a few hours or overnight. You can use a bowl for a single jar or fill up the sink for a whole collection.
2. Using your fingers, peel or rub the label from the jar. If it does not come off easily, try scrubbing it with a sponge or steel wool.
3. If there is still paper or adhesive stuck to the jar, apply a thin layer of vegetable oil or peanut butter over the label and let rest for about 30 minutes. Scrub the label off using a sponge or steel wool and wash the jar with soap and water.
4. For extra stubborn residue, use a hair dryer to warm the glue, making it easier to remove. Use a towel to protect your hands and exercise caution, as the jar may get hot.
To remove odors
1. Sunshine can help remove odors. Place the jar and/or lid outdoors or in a sunny window for a day or two.
2. Baking soda and vinegar also help remove odors from jars and lids. Place baking soda or vinegar inside the jar or soak the lid for a few hours.
3. In some cases, it may be impossible to remove odor from a jar lid. Recycle the lid if you can, reuse the lid-less jar as a drinking glass or other open container, or shop for a new lid at Kitchen Krafts or Wholesale Supplies Plus.
Is this how you remove labels and odors from jars? Share your own tips and tricks in the comments.
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(Images: Emily Ho)
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Once someone gave my mother a huge tin of tamales (yum!) for Christmas. She wanted to use the tin again, but could not scrub the tamale scent out.
I put about 1/2 inch of lemon juice concentrate in the bottom and filled it up with water. We let it sit overnight, and in the morning washed it again. Presto, the smell was gone!
I've had good luck running jars through the dishwasher to get the labels to unstick. Though you have to fish out the jar when the cycle is finished (not let it sit overnight like I usually do with the dishes). I've found that the labels restick themselves back on if I don't pull them out when they're still hot from the dishwasher!
Lemon juice to remove the smell and olive oil to remove the label!
I go to the blow dryer first. Usually, heating the adhesive lets me pull the label off and then I can scrub the residue.
Smell: I've stuffed newspaper in pickle jars over night and that's always done the trick.
For extra stubborn labels, or any sticky substances a little lighter fluid on an old rag takes it right off.
Whitening toothpaste gets rid off the sticky glue residue, as well as the smell.
Other ideas for the smell: clean with vinegar, and leave a bit of vinegar in it overnight.
I prefer to scrape stubborn glue-gunk off with a razor blade. No chemicals to deal with, and it's really fast.
I like to use Lemon Essential Oil. I just use a drop or two on a rag and it takes off sticky goo instantly. Better than any of the toxic chemicals I wouldn't bring into my home in the first place. I always keep a bottle on hand and use it for a multitude of things around the house. Works like a charm!
Just some plain vegetable oil will take off any label if you rub it on and let it sit long enough (like overnight) it peels right off. No elbow grease or special things required.
I also soak with water and vinegar or baking soda but my favorite is stuffing containers with newspaper. It absorbs all smells and the newspaper goes right back into the recycling bin.
Scoring the label with a sharp knife before soaking it overnight really helps.
I just pour boiling water into a jar & let it sit about 10-15 seconds & then grab it with a towel. The hot water makes the adhesive sticky again & the label slides right off.
try coffee grounds it removes odours even from plastic containers. even odour from Folgers containers!!!!
I love reusing my Classico pasta sauce jars because the labels come off very easily: just run the jar under warm/hot water in the sink and start peeling. Then I soak the jars and lids in a big bowl of hot water (not boiling water, but hot water from the sink which, at my place, is scalding hot). After about an hour of soaking, I lightly scrub off the sticky reside and the smell from the jar is gone.
I have yet to figure out how to deodorize the lids, but I decided to store coffee beans in two of my jars and now both jars smell like delicious coffee beans instead of pasta sauce. I keep reusing these jars for coffee bean storage. :)
Excellent article!
Excellent! This is definitely a life saver!