Life Skills for Jar Hoarders

Some of us are already jar stashers, some of us are teetering on the precipice of jar stashery. Either way, if refilling has peeked your interest you are going to want to know your way around saving a good jar and you might appreciate these time saving tricks! 

1. The stinky lids. Let's face it. Sauerkraut and pickle jars are usually fantastic with a wide mouth and fun shapes and sizes. The problem is, more often than not, the lid is perpetually pickled and the odor permeates the contents within. If you have a stinky lid, give it a good wash (Dishwasher is fantastic) and then simply SET YOUR LID, STINKY SIDE UP ON THE PORCH RAILING OR BRIGHT WINDOW SILL TO SOAK UP SOME DIRECT SUNLIGHT FOR A COUPLE DAYS. Sunlight will naturally deodorize your lids and you will be free of this particular pickle.

2. Invincible Adhesive. Some jars have labels that seem to wipe off with little to no effort. The satisfaction in that moment can only be compared to hitting a hole in one on the golf course.  At least that's how I imagine it. I've never hit a hole in one on a mini golf course let alone a real one, but you get the point. HOWEVER more often than not we find ourselves trying to remove labels that have been glued on with what seems to be NASA grade adhesive and it's a pain in the butt. Unfortunately we've yet to find the silver bullet solution but here a couple of our favorites. 

- Citrus Oil + Elbow Grease. if you have lemon or orange essential oil around the house, try massaging the oil into the sticky glue residue and more often than not we find it eventually dissolves the glue with little hassle. After a couple rinses you should have a clean jar.

- A paste of oil and baking soda applied to the glue or paper label left for a few hours

-Filling the jar with hot water, peeling the label, then washing with our Solid Dish soap.This works for a surprising amount of labels but not so much for the thick sticky adhesive. (we're looking at you, nacho cheese jars.)

3. Love the jar, LOST THE LID. Don't give up hope you have two potential options. Quite often jar mouths are standardized to canning jar sizes. That means MANY (not all) jars you find on the market fit a wide mouth or regular sized canning lid. Which ALSO means, that our bamboo jar lids fit that jar as well. If you have a jar with no lid, try a standard canning lid or for a fancier option that wont rust, pick up a bamboo jar lid from Marilla's! 

4.Never let anyone tell you it's not a good jar. If a jar speaks to you, and you love it, You need to save that jar. You save it, and you bring it to Marilla's and we will "Ooh" and "ah"  over it without fail and cheer you on as you find the perfect refill for it. You go girl. 

Now go forth and save your jars with confidence!