How many ways to open a jar...

[dumplin]

I do the knife banging with a butter knife, whack it on the counter, running it under hot water, and then hand it over to my living, breathing jar opener. I have fibromyalgia and my hands hurt. Some days I can't get the jars open by myself. I have even wrapped a towel over the lid to get leverage. Sometimes that will work.

[NulloModo]

I typically put the jar down, curse at it profusely for a while until its morale is broken, then wrap a dish towel around the lid and open it.

[naguere]

My mom swears by this gadget:

The Jar Pop

It breaks the seal without having to use a knife to do so.

She liked it so much one Christmas she gave them as stocking stuffers to anyone and everyone she could.

They probably can be found at any Bed, Bath & Beyond-type store.

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This is the very thing. Available at Lakeland Plastics in Englandland, it breaks the seal with no fuss at all. buy one today.

[chile_peppa]

Here's my serious suggestion (I was just joking about the bodybuilding!):

Hold the recalitrant lid under the hottest running water you can stand, then have at it with one of those rubber thingies or a handy dish towel. Someone told me that the heat from the water causes the metal molecules in the lid to move a little farther from each other and thus loosens the lid.

[Carrot Top]

I'll tell you what bothers me about those rubber thingies though.

The color.

I've never seen them except in pig-tongue pink.

And they are textured, aren't they?

I have a sort of shocked memory of opening a kitchen drawer somewhere and seeing one stuck in the back...old and battered and somewhat gooey.

Frightened me half to death!

Maybe if someone came along and made them in 'cool' colors.....

[Mulcahy]

I use a rubber diswashing glove. Has the same effect as the pink rubber thingies. Works fairly well.

[PattyO]

Mine's yellow!

[NulloModo]

I'll tell you what bothers me about those rubber thingies though.

The color.

I've never seen them except in pig-tongue pink.

And they are textured, aren't they?

I have a sort of shocked memory of opening a kitchen drawer somewhere and seeing one stuck in the back...old and battered and somewhat gooey.

Frightened me half to death!

Maybe if someone came along and made them in 'cool' colors.....

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Hmmm, my parents have a ribbed green one, so there is hope.

[Carrot Top]

Ribbed green? I dunno, Nullo Modo....that might make me think of okra, and that would make me laugh, and then I would not be able to shout out my incantation correctly.

But as you say, there is hope.

[Mottmott]

Yoga. It's all in the breath.

Funny episode a couple years ago when my hands began bothering me. I complained to my doctor, 20 year younger male, that I was having trouble opening baby food jars of meat for my aged cats. He replied he couldn't open them either. I left him, unsure whether it was his lack of empathy or practical suggestions.

[bloviatrix]

I'll tell you what bothers me about those rubber thingies though.

The color.

I've never seen them except in pig-tongue pink.

And they are textured, aren't they?

I have a sort of shocked memory of opening a kitchen drawer somewhere and seeing one stuck in the back...old and battered and somewhat gooey.

Frightened me half to death!

Maybe if someone came along and made them in 'cool' colors.....

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Mine is white w/an orange Aetna logo. It was a health fair giveaway.

[Carrot Top]

Mine is white w/an orange Aetna logo.  It was a health fair giveaway.

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Thank goodness for small touches of style in our daily lives.

You are giving me hope, bloviatrix.

But I am still hoping that some enterprising eGulleter will decide to manufacture these (very inexpensively made!) items in bright colors and market them to fancy food stores at some exorbitant price.

I'd buy it!

[Susan G]

I'm all for going to the root of the problem, not to the symptoms: Your hands are too weak to break the seals of some jars............so why not strengthen them? One doesn't have to go all out for bodybuilding: Rubber balls to squeeze will increase your hand strength.

[Devilkitty]

Forget little rubber thingies. Wander down to the hardware store and buy a smallish strap wrench, usually found with the plumbing tools. Not much they can't do. Odd shapes are no problem, either.

[Carrot Top]

Forget little rubber thingies.  Wander down to the hardware store and buy a smallish strap wrench, usually found with the plumbing tools.  Not much they can't do.  Odd shapes are no problem, either.

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Phew. Thought for a moment you wrote 'sharp wench'.

[bloviatrix]

I'm all for going to the root of the problem, not to the symptoms: Your hands are too weak to break the seals of some jars............so why not strengthen them?  One doesn't have to go all out for bodybuilding: Rubber balls to squeeze will increase your hand strength.

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Although hand strength is part of the problem, if you're trying to open a big jar and you've got small hands you're stuck.

[Devilkitty]

Phew. Thought for a moment you wrote 'sharp wench'.

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I was probably thinking it. Sharp wenches, straps...

I'll stop now :)

[Toliver]

I'll tell you what bothers me about those rubber thingies though.

The color.

I've never seen them except in pig-tongue pink.

And they are textured, aren't they?

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Mine is lemon yellow. Not exactly a "cool" color but at least it's not pink!

And it is textured. I think that's what provides the grip that my slippery fingers don't have.

[Carrot Top]

What intelligent people you all are! We now have fifteen ways to open a jar, plus the ideas of getting a doorman, doing yoga, squeezing rubber balls in my hands, becoming a lady bodybuilder and flying Toliver around the country to help.

Keep the ideas coming. I think we need to write The Compleat Compendium of Jar Openings....

[Carrot Top]

Mine is lemon yellow.  Not exactly a "cool" color but at least it's not pink!

And it is textured.  I think that's what provides the grip that my slippery fingers don't have.

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Well. Toliver...as you said before, I am not sure whether to laugh here or not....

[Carrot Top]

Mine's yellow! 

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Two yellows, a green and a white with orange dot so far.

Goodness...where WAS I that I saw that terrible pigtongue pink one?

[RSincere]

I'm with bloviatrix. I'm not even five feet tall, and my hands are very small. My husband never seems to be home when I run into jar problems, and I get frustrated easily! I have been known to wander outside in search of neighbors, strangers, whoever. Once when I lived in an apartment building I accosted a UPS guy who was delivering in our building. One look at me, HUGELY pregnant with a tear-streaked face and a recalcitrant pickle jar (how cliche) and he knew enough not to laugh.

Oh, and my rubber jar opener was red and from Aid Association for Lutherans. Every now and then it surfaces, but only when I don't need it.

Edited September 23, 2004 by RSincere (log)

[mikey]

This would never make it past any risk manager, but I do it anyway. I turn the jar/bottle upside down and whack it a couple of times with the heel of my hand. It usually breaks the seal.

[yushoe]

Here's my serious suggestion (I was just joking about the bodybuilding!):

Hold the recalitrant lid under the hottest running water you can stand, then have at it with one of those rubber thingies or a handy dish towel. Someone told me that the heat from the water causes the metal molecules in the lid to move a little farther from each other and thus loosens the lid.

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It's true. Metal has a greater rate of thermal expansion than glass, when you run it under hot water the lid expands more than the glass jar. Similarly, when it's cold the metal lid contracts more than the glass, which is why jars from the fridge are so hard to open.

[tejon]

Mine's white, sort of shaped like an odd flower. Strange looking, but it does the job well.

Though I use the run-it-under-hot-water trick more often than not. Even with tiny hands, I can open pretty much any jar.

Edited September 24, 2004 by tejon (log)