Question about Canning Jars

[Funmommy]

I just acquired a decent amount of canning jars after having to dispose of the YUCKY stuff inside of them. The questions I have are:

1.) Some of the jars are OLD .... the type with the wire clamps and glass lids. They look pretty decent for the most part but some of them have a lot of bubbles in the glass. Is this something I should worry about? Are the rubber seals still available? Should I even use them for canning or should I use them for stuff like honey or non food stuff?

2.) the other question I have is ... A few of the jars have this white residue on the inside of the jars. I Bleached the Crud out of these jars and washed them thoroughly but the white stuff is still there. It scratched off a little bit with the bottle brush but only a little. Is there some way to get this stuff off or should I designate those particular jars to holding craft stuff?

3.) I'm positive the food that was in the jars was toxic. After it was removed and rinsed out I proceeded to bleach out the jars and clean them thoroughly. I also intend on boiling the Crud out of them too. Is this sufficient to kill anything that could have been on/in the jars? I have young kids and don't want anyone sick.

4.) some of the lids and jar edges have a sharpish surface, not the seal area, the area just inside the jar edge. is there a way to make these edges not so sharp without ruining the purpose of the jars?

Thanks in advance ;D

[ldsparamedic]

If there was food in them, I would sterilize them before using. Try some vinegar to remove the residue. I believe Lehmans has the rubber gaskets available. Just remember WWJD. What would Jackie (Clay) do?

[CanNerd]

Sorry, the old wire spring canning jars are no longer consider safe for canning and should not be used for such purposes. Use for dry storage only. This can be verified by visiting the National Center for Home Food Preserving website.

Any regular mason jars, if they have residue in them, must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized the first time. You don't want any foreign substance coming loose later in the food to contaminate it.

Any such jar that has a chipped or broken rim MUST be tossed or used for something other than canning. There is no way to repair the glass to maintain a proper seal.

[Funmommy]

Sorry, the old wire spring canning jars are no longer consider safe for canning and should not be used for such purposes. *Use for dry storage only. *This can be verified by visiting the National Center for Home Food Preserving website.

Any regular mason jars, if they have residue in them, must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized the first time. *You don't want any foreign substance coming loose later in the food to contaminate it.

Any such jar that has a chipped or broken rim MUST be tossed or used for something other than canning. *There is no way to repair the glass to maintain a proper seal.



Well it looks like I got canning jars for dry storage :D
it's ok with me.

I thoroughly rinsed the jars out and then soaked them in a strong solution of bleach water for at least an hour and then washed them out thoroughly. I'm planning on putting them through another bleach soak and then boiling them for a while besides. I think that SHOULD be enough to be sure they are sufficiently sterilized.
However the white stuff isn't coming off that well. I don't believe it's food but I'm not entirely sure WHAT it is? Lime scale? Calcium deposits? hard water marks? I really don't know. All I know is that if I can get it off I can use the jars but if I can't than I don't want to take the chance.

[Kelleysvt]

Where is the white stuff in the jar - just the top or all over. If it's just the tops maybe it's residual wax from a prior canning session (I remember using wax to seal jelly as a child, not sure if it was used for other items too). If it's some sort of build up try scoring with baking soda. Add a half cup of salt to the dish water before adding the soap too - that can help soften the water and might help with the buildup.

[sbemt456]

Funnymom the white residue is usually due to mineral etching or hard water deposits neither of which is harmful. I have several canning jars that have had mustard/turnip greens canned in them and they will have a white deposit some times after using the food and washing the jar. And I use them again for the same purpose with no ill effects. As for the rough edges sometimes you can take an emery board and remove some of the sharp edges so as to not nick yourself when using the jars for any chosen purpose. The jars are excellent for storing dried veggies and such. The rubber rings are still available online as stated above. You have some neat little treasures there, and a good rinse with bleach water should make them safe for use.

Have a great day!

stella

BTW I have used jars like you are talkin about to store sour kraut in.

[Funmommy]

Where is the white stuff in the jar - just the top or all over. *If it's just the tops maybe it's residual wax from a *prior canning session (I remember using wax to seal jelly as a child, not sure *if it was used for other items too). *If it's some sort of build up try scoring with baking soda. *Add a half cup of salt to the dish water before adding the soap too - that can help soften the water and might help with the buildup.

Dish Washer?? thought that was me?? * ;)
No it's all over the inside of the jar.

edited: I read dish washer instead of dish water. Oooops
boy I hate doing dishes lol



Funnymom the white residue is usually due to mineral etching or hard water deposits neither of which is harmful. I have several canning jars that have had mustard/turnip greens canned in them and they will have a white deposit some times after using the food and washing the jar. And I use them again for the same purpose with no ill effects. As for the rough edges sometimes you can take an emery board and remove some of the sharp edges so as to not nick yourself when using the jars for any chosen purpose. The jars are excellent for storing dried veggies and such. The rubber rings are still available online as stated above. *You have some neat little treasures there, and a good rinse with bleach water should make them safe for use.

Have a great day!

stella

BTW I have used jars like you are talkin about to store sour kraut in.

I think you're right about it being hard water deposits.
:-/ *I wish I knew how to get it off though. *::) *It's soooo unsightly, but I can't even get my hand in those jars.

I think I may use the old ones to hold some of the dried blueberries I have. I have some really old and really cool jars. I don't think I would get rid of them even if I had no actual use for them. I thought (naively) that only ball made canning jars. *::) *At least that's all I have ever seen before. *:P *

I'll try the emery board and see if that works on those sharp edges. I hate it when I try to wash jars out and I shred my hands in the process.

Thanks Everyone for your responses. *;D

[Anon001]

Idsparamedic recommended trying vinegar.... did you try that. I've also heard vinegar will remove the residue.

[Funmommy]

Yeah I did try vinegar but it didn't seem to do anything though. :-[
Would it have made a difference if it was cider vinegar instead of white vinegar?
Cider vinegar is all I have on hand right now.

[Anon001]

Would it have made a difference if it was cider vinegar instead of white vinegar? Cider vinegar is all I have on hand right now.
That I don't know. I know when I was still on the grid and used a drip coffee maker, I periodically ran white vinegar through it to remove the buildup. But that was years ago. I've been off grid and perking coffee since May 1998... i would try white vinegar, maybe?

[Funmommy]

I'll have to get some then.
Thanks Everyone ;D

[sbemt456]

Funmommy good luck with the vinegar, it didnt work for me. Another thing you might try is OOOO steel wool, really fine steel wool. I have used that in the past when I have gotten jars that were real unsightly. But that will require some heavy duty scrubbing. If that dont yield the results ya want, maybe ya can jus paint em and decorate em to suit your kitchen to make em functional. Good luck!

stella

[Kyhome]

You might want to try a little vinegar with a couple spoonsfull of sand. I have had luck doing this on old bottles found in old dumps and what have you. just put it in and shake a while let it rest and repeat untill cleaned. you can also use salt instead of sand but the sand seems to have worked the best in the past. Good luck. Rick

[Funmommy]

You might want to try a little vinegar with a couple spoonsfull of sand. I have had luck doing this on old bottles found in old dumps and what have you. just put it in and shake a while let it rest and repeat untill cleaned. you can also use salt instead of sand but the sand seems to have worked the best in the past. Good luck. Rick


VERRRRRYYYY Interesting *:D
I'll have to try this .... I have plenty of sand that i can use.

Steel wool kinda scares me because of the scratch factor, but worse comes to worse I can use them for some of my craft supplies. *;D

Edit: I just realized that the sand will scratch too ::)
Guess I better go get some more coffee ;)

[johnjmw]

Try some baking soda and water. Make a Paste out of it. I usually have a small bowl of baking soda next to the sink and dip my wash cloth in it to take stains off anything glass or corning ware. And wait till you see what it can do to heavily stained coffee cups in just a quick swipe.
John

[Eranice]

We used to clean coffee pots with ice cubes, plenty of salt and lemon juice(then the whole lemon slices). Put in glass container and shake until the film comes off. We have very hard water and having to de-lime all of our appliances is pretty normal.

[Catalpa]

Here's what Jackie Clay says on it:

Most of the time you can get lime stains out of your canning jars by soaking them in vinegar. If that doesn’t get it all, put a little salt on a green scrubbie and scrub the vinegar/salt onto the stains. This should result in sparkling clean jars.

If this doesn’t do the job, and I’ll about guarantee it will, soak them in Lime Away till they are clear then rinse well and wash well in hot soapy water to remove all traces of the Lime Away.

—Jackie

[Funmommy]

Thanks to all of you for the responses. :D
It looks like I have a few things to try. ;D

[AzLoneRider]

VERRRRRYYYY Interesting *:D
I'll have to try this .... I have plenty of sand that i can use.

Steel wool kinda scares me because of the scratch factor, but worse comes to worse I can use them for some of my craft supplies. *;D

Edit: I just realized that the sand will scratch too *::)
Guess I better go get some more coffee *;)

Funnymommy the steel wool is nothing more than an SOS pad. It will not scratch the glass. I think everything you have been told to try are things that have worked on other things, you just have to find the stuff that will take this stuff off.

AW

[Wyobuckaroo]

Here is a thought.

Clean up the jars with wire, glass lids and any others you are unsure of, the best you can and garage sale them as craft supplies.

Good luck
Wyo

[Smacktard]

Old canning jars can be worth a pot full of money. The highest I've seen was $25,000, for a 1/2 gallon jar. Check them out with a glass expert, be careful, I had a fellow tell me a bottle I had was a souvenir from Willaimsburg. Turns out it was a 1820s bottle worth about $700 to $1000.

[nhlivefreeordie]

One other idea, a product called CLR, ( Calcium, Lime,Rust ) it is a stain remover, that may work, or a commercial coffee pot cleaner called Brew Rite, it is meant to run through automatic coffee makers, but I use it in my carafes for the water feed Bunn, about once a week, and they remain sparkling like new. Worth a shot.

[backlash]

My wife just used CLR on the window that gets hit by the sprinkler.
It was almost opaque due to the hard water minerals and now it's clear again.
backlash