# Reusing glass jars



## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I continue to receive a fair number of used canning jars, mostly pints and quarts that accept standard sized lids (I can buy the lids separately for about $1 for a dozen). 

People mean well, but most of these jars are old, the glass is "cloudy," and many have have calcium rings from hot water baths.

I would like to use these up, largely because I'm horribly cheap and frugal, but cleaning them is a chore. I've tried soaking some in vinegar, hoping to dissolve the calcium. Some of them require two or three cycles through the dishwasher and then they come out "cloudy." It seems I spend a lot of time and energy in the name of saving a few bucks. 

But remind myself that these jars are free and thus appeal to my frugality. Before I yield to the greater temptation to take all the crates and boxes to the recycle plant, is there anyone out there who has a good way to clean these jars? At $6 for a case of twelve pints or quarts, I feel like I'm better off going with new jars.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

Steel wool and grandkids with small hands get them clean for 2.00 per dozen.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

sometimes you just got to scrub and sometime I set them in the oven (400 degrees for 10 minutes). where are you finding cases of jars for six bucks? gotta know...


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

For six bucks I'll tell ya...

Seriously, glass jars in SE Missouri were inching up in price. My last batch were $7.44 at Wal-Mart for the cheap ones (Golden Harvest). Ball and Kerr were more, around $8.00 and change. Other stores had them at higher prices.

Then, out of the blue, Dollar General got a shipment and they were all $6 a dozen, either pints or quarts, even half-pints which doesn't seem fair. Standard sized lids were $1 per dozen.

click here: (should be all on one line) 

http://www.dollargeneral.com/storelocator/default.aspx

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Todd Zeiner (Jun 15, 2004)

Try CLR cleaner for removing the calcium rings on the old glass. I have some 30+ year old canning jars that I use and they look almost brand new.


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## honeylocust (May 11, 2004)

I'm afraid to say that I am also frugal and try to collect used glass jars.

Some do have a cloudiness to them which I don't think is calcium but maybe a result of too many washings in a dishwasher. Any ideas on how to remove this cloudiness? A good scrubbing doesn't seem to make any difference.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

What about that stuff you put in your dishwasher that is supposed to keep your glasses from "spotting" with similar type deposits?

I just filled up my cloudy jars with honey and you can't even tell. Of course my honey is very dark this year. I seriously doubt it affects taste whatsover, and... calcium is good for you!


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## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

We reuse canning jars, have for years. Thie year we are even selling pollen in quarts and pints, some customers even return the glass jar so that it can be used again!
If the glass jar is quite cloudy the jar stays here for personal use. I sort of wish that we had not thrown out all of those mayonaise jars because we did not need them any more!


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

"Try CLR cleaner for removing the calcium rings on the old glass."

I am with Todd I use CLR to clean rust around the tops and remove the Lime and if that don`t work after a trip through the dishwasher in the recycle bin they go.


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## kuntrycook (Mar 5, 2006)

Grant, honeylocust probably has the right of it; too many dishwasher washings. DW detergent is extremely caustic and using "overdoses" with too hot water (over 160 deg.) will permanently etch glass. If the jars look good while wet, then cloud up when dry, you've an etching problem. Aim 'em at the recycle bin and head on the Dollar General! You can't replace that layer of glass that's literaly been removed.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

Thanks all. These jars are old. They've been in a lot of hot water. I was just hoping someone had an idea so I could give them one more use and save fifty cents. 

When the cost of the glass jars was rising, it seemed like more of a noble venture. Since it is no simple matter, I'm going back to the Dollar Store to get some more.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## DCH (Aug 30, 2004)

I don't know if Big Lots is a national or regional chain but they usually have the dozen pints for six bucks around late spring. My wife stocks up on what she can.

We've also gotten into the practice of offering a .25 refund to customers who return the jars.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Big Lots is $7.00 per Doz. qts. this year.

I am heading to Dollar General today.


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## Hillside (Jul 12, 2004)

As kuntrycook says, cloudiness in glass can be caused by etching of the glass when cleaned in automatic dishwashers. The non-sudsing silicate cleaner used in automatic washers causes the etching. There 's not much you can do once it occurs.


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

Go to a homebrew shop or visit an online site. They know how to get stuff off. I reuse canning jars and have not met a jar I've thrown away yet. I use products from a company called Logic. Oxyclean is an everyday cleaner that might work also. 

On the whole topic of reusing jars, the research I recall is that using canning jars are okay to reuse, but other jars are not due to cheaper construction.


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## jessbee (Jan 13, 2006)

FYI - A great place to get old canning jars is a trift store.


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