How to remove labels from glass jars (without chemicals)
Confession: I LOVE The Container Store.
Like, love.
Back when I lived in Chicago, I’d happily spend an afternoon in the store picking out the
prettiest wardrobe organizer,
most functional office supply caddy and
the teensiest tiniest little jars for my salad dressings
...even if all I could afford was the momAgenda day planner on sale. (Still a stellar buy.)
BUT.
As a slightly-more woke version of myself these days, I also recognize that The Container Store is approximately 102% unnecessary items.
Adorable? Yes.
Functional? Sometimes.
But necessary?
Not really. 😕
And when you’re trying to live mindfully and take better care of the planet, buying one more plastic container might not be the best course of action.
Instead, you can get creative and make use of what you’ve already got. There’s a quote I love (but can’t for the life of me remember who said it!) that goes something like, “The greenest product in your house is the one you already own.”
That’s the idea here.
So the next time you think, “I’m just gonna add this cute lil’ acrylic storage box to my cart,” pull that trigger finger away from the Buy button and instead, learn how to remove labels from glass jars.
How to remove labels from glass jars (without chemicals)
Growing up, we always had a bottle of Goof Off under the kitchen sink that could remove just about anything from anything. (You, too?)
I don’t know what witchcraft is inside Goof Off but I suspect it miiiiight strip the skin off my fingers if I’m not careful. So I wanted a better way for how to remove labels from glass jars without using harsh chemicals.
Enter: bicarbonate of soda. 🙌🏻
(Or “baking soda,” if you’re in the U.S. <— Took me forever to figure out it’s the same thing! 😜)
No waste. No nasty, skin-stripping chemicals. And you’re left with beautiful, functional storage containers.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Pick your poison (jars).
Not all jars are worth saving, tbh. Anything with a super narrow neck is impossible to clean. And you also want to nix anything with a loose top if you’ll be storing food.
Widemouth jars tend to work best for practicality. But I like interesting-looking ones for decor purposes (like bath salts and body oils, which I’ll show you below).
2. Soak glass jars in a sinkful of hothothot! water for 5 minutes.
I heard you should FILL jars with plastic labels and SUBMERGE jars with paper labels. But if you’re removing labels from a bunch of glass jars at once, just fill your sink with hot water and dump it all in. Just make sure everything’s submerged.
The key is you need this water HOT.
You want to be at a level where if you accidentally splash yourself while dunking your glasses, you’re gonna be yelling some kind of obscenity. So not-quite-boiling but honestly, almost.
3. After about 5 minutes, try to remove the label one more time.
After soaking, some labels will peel right off and you’re done (JACKPOT.) Others still won’t budge (boo). But that’s alright — we’ll get that sucker off in the next step…
4. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda onto the wet label, then work it in to scrub off the glue.
While the glass is still hot from the water, sprinkle the bicarb and rub in a circular motion to wear away at the glue.
I’m not sure if it dissolves the glue or if the gritty texture scrubs it away. But something magical happens and even the most stuck-on labels will practically melt away. Sometimes you’ve got to put in a little elbow grease but you’ll get there!
Pro tip: Use a rag to do the scrubbing. Your fingertips will thank you.
5. Ta-da!
Give your glasses a quick wash to get off any trace of bicarb. Then they’re ready to use!
6. Fill with whatever your heart desires
I use repurposed jars for all kindsa stuff…
Rice and grains. Nuts and seeds. Dried fruit. Coffee and tea. Homemade nut butters. Spice mixes.
Q-tips and cotton rounds.
Hair ties and clips.
Lid-less jars are great to organize things inside drawers, baskets, or trays.
And my personal favorite, home decor:
Look, if calling empty liquor bottles “decor” is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
And there you go, bud — the easy way to remove labels from glass jars. 🤓
Cheap. ✓ Eco-friendly. ✓ Not full of skin-melting chemicals. ✓✓
Now if you’ll excuse me, according to my momAgenda, I’ve got an appointment with some pesky office supplies that need to meet some freshly label-less salsa jars. 😜
