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You know how I love to keep my pantry (which I actually don’t really have right now…) organized with glass jars, right? I waxed eloquent about it in this post: How I Organized My Pantry for Free with Empty Glass Jars. If you open up my fridge or any of my cupboards, you’ll see dozens of glass jars hard at work containing all our food.
But those pesky labels can really drive me crazy! Some come off quite easily… others not so much. I’ve had more than my fair share of label scrubbing, and I’ve learned a few tried-and-true methods for removing them with minimal fuss.
1. Soak in Warm Water
This should be the first step in any case. Sometimes (Ok, most of the time), I skip the “soak” part and just hold the jar under running water. Sometimes (Ok, quite frequently), I run the jar - with the label- through the dishwasher. In any case, the whole point is that I get the label on the jar thoroughly wet with warm or hot water, and that is the first step in the label-removal process. If you’re lucky, this will be all you have to do! Some labels just slip right off after a good washing. Usually, you won’t be that lucky, though, so on to the next step.
2. Scrape the Label
Sometimes the label just needs a little help coming off the jar, in which case you’ll want to employ some kind of scraping tool. I’ve used all sorts of things: plastic knives, fake credit cards (the kind they send you in the mail hoping to lure you to sign up), and who knows what else. But my favorite tool is a sturdy pan scraper like these I found on Amazon. They are the ultimate label scrubber-offer, so everybody should have one. (Cuz I said so.)
At the very least, the scraper will help you get rid of the paper label itself, so that all you will have left is sticky gunk. Sticky gunk is no good, so hang on to that scraper (cuz you’re gonna need it) and try one (or more!) of the following options:
3. Use Coconut Oil & Baking Soda
Combine equal parts coconut oil and baking soda (say, 1 TBSP of each) in a small container until you have a paste. Smear the paste all over the sticky residue and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so. Scrub it off, and hopefully the label and sticky residue will come off, too. If not, repeat the process until it does. And don’t forget to use the scraper!
4. Use Peanut Butter
Smear it all over the sticky stuff and let it sit for a while. Scrub it off and repeat if necessary. You can use the scraper again to help get off some of the more stubborn sticky yuckiness.
You can also use any other heavy fat (like shortening, or other nut butters) with similar success.
5. Use Lemon Essential Oil
Nowadays I usually skip options #3 and #4 and go straight for the big guns. Lemon Essential Oil* is the bomb-diggety when it comes to removing that sticky gunk left behind by all those labels. All you have to do is drip one little drop right onto the jar. Rub the drop into all the sticky gunk, then scrub it off under hot running water. Magic! You might have to repeat this process once or twice with really stubborn stickiness, but it is far more effective than either of the other 2 options. Oh, and don’t forget the scraper! It can come in handy here, too.
*Lemon Essential oil comes in a 15ml bottle for less than $15 (just over $11 if you are a distributor), and that bottle can have as many as 400 drops in it. You can use Lemon Essential Oil all over the house in all kinds of cleaning applications, so you definitely get your money’s worth out of it.
Great list, Anne! I usually use the hot water method, but I have it in my mind to try the lemon oil next time!
It works really well on the sticky stuff that gets left behind!
I’ll have to try some of these. I usually boil my jars and then scrape the label off. I’m very careful to start the jar in a pot of cold water and then bring to a boil, and then very careful about not touching the jar until it has cooled off. It works very well but you have to be very cautious. So I’m going to have to try some of these other less dangerous methods. Thanks!
That sounds like a lot of work to lazy me, lol. Definitely try one of these methods and see how it works for you!
Actually, a vinegar solution works quite nice to eat away the glue. Vinegar with a little lemon rind (if you’ve already made this as a cleaner-just use your cleaner) added in works wonders-also great for cleaning grease on an oven vent!
Vinegar’s amazing! I use it in my kitchen all the time.
It is the vinegar/citric acid combo that really makes it work and literally disintegrate most grease and glue. I put it on a pan that had accidentally been cooked in too long with oatmeal-needless to say the oatmeal was basically baked on the pan, but a few minutes of soaking it with vinegar and lemon ate away the oatmeal’s adherence to the pan and I didn’t have to scrub at all.
There are some labels that will just peel right off, glue and all, with just a little hot water. Get them too wet though and the paper and glue become separated and you have a mess. I have had good luck with baking soda and coconut oil, but I’ll have to remember the lemon oil next time!
I haven’t encountered very many labels like that sadly
. Some do peel right off easy peasy, but most leave stickiness behind and I can’t stand it, lol!
I use rubbing alcohol. Let the jar sit for a bit and then most labels peel off. Stubborn ones need to be scrubbed a little, but most of the ‘work’ is done by the alcohol!