# Help with old canning jars ...........



## firefighter1129 (Mar 15, 2010)

Hey all,

I have a BUNCH of old canning jars in the barn. (probably at least 300 or so) Some of them are the old blue ones, some are square, some are round. These are some really old jars. 

I thought about using them if they would be safe. My question is about chemicals / pesticides that might have been stored in them. When we moved in to this house many years ago, they had alot of "stuff" stored in other jars. Chemicals of all sorts were labeled and stored in canning jars on the shelves in the barn. 

I don't know what these jars might have had in them over the years. Would you clean them and use them? How would you clean them?

Not quite sure what to do. I could use the jars, but don't like the thought of any pesticide residue that might linger.

Jeff


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## JohnL751 (Aug 28, 2008)

I have used old ( not very old ) dirty jars but I believe they only had food or chemically harmless things in them. I give them a quick wash so they look clean. Next I stack them in a trash can, fill the can with a strong bleach water to soak overnight. Next day or days later I wash them to make ready to use. I use the left over bleach water to wash the driveway.


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## GrandmaKitty (Apr 20, 2012)

Dittos to JohnL751's advice. Soak them in hot soapy bleach water. Use rubber gloves when handling them. Don't keep any metal lids you find with them. (I think you can throw them into a recycling bin...?) Old glass lids used with rubber rings can be cleaned like the jars - just use them for storage, not canning.

After they're cleaned, boil them to sterilize them. You would do that, anyway, to use them for canning, but I would do it before storing them in my house or basement so that I know *any* jar I pick up is clean already. And yes, I always re-boil them when canning.

Glass doesn't absorb chemicals, which is why it is best for home canning.

Those old jars are much sturdier and better than any you can buy today. GREAT FIND!!!


Or you could send them my way.... *LOL*


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

As long as you can get them clean,use them. Glass does not absorb even botulinum. Glass does not absorb.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

GrandmaKitty said:


> Old glass lids used with rubber rings can be cleaned like the jars - *just use them for storage, not canning*.
> 
> After they're cleaned, *boil them to sterilize them*. You would do that, anyway, to use them for canning, *I always re-boil them when canning.*


You can still buy the old-style rubber rings to use with these type lids. Canning with these is not unsafe - just not as easy as the two-piece metal lids.

If your processing time in the canner is more than 10 minutes, you don't need to pre-sterilize the jars when canning. The process itself sterilizes the jars. Just wash them prior to use.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

The old blue jars are going for $10 to $15 dollars a pop around here, they're too liable to breakage to use them for canning or freezing. Sometimes they'll break in a dishwasher too. I think they're getting on towards 100 years old now, the last illustrations I've seen of them in canning guides are from 1918. The zinc in glass lined lids changes a lot through exposure to moisture. A bunch of them fell to the ground in our barn and disentegrated in 10 years.

I think you're right to be cautious about what they may have contained - folks used to mix up all kinds of poisonous stuff for garden use, or just kerosene and the like for home remedies for worms, mange & a passell of maladies we don't even remember. Arsnic, nicotine, benzol, chloroform, oxalic acid are just a few common household products used, the 1890's to 1900's were just awash with crazy stuff.
I'd rub down any suspicious ones inside with baking soda to be sure you've removed any residues.


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## GrandmaKitty (Apr 20, 2012)

suitcase_sally said:


> You can still buy the old-style rubber rings to use with these type lids. Canning with these is not unsafe - just not as easy as the two-piece metal lids.
> 
> If your processing time in the canner is more than 10 minutes, you don't need to pre-sterilize the jars when canning. The process itself sterilizes the jars. Just wash them prior to use.


Yup, and yup.

But this long-time canner still prefers to do it as I was taught, a quick sterilization. They are stored where mice could run around on them, if we get another infestation. I don't have a dishwasher, or I'd run them through that like my mom did. 

And I'm just more comfortable with metal lids, myself. Others can use the rubber rings; they're not hard to find. I just didn't want them to think those nice glass lids needed to be tossed.


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## firefighter1129 (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks all!

Looks like I will be busy cleaning jars over the next few days. I started for the loft of the barn today, but quickly turned around when I saw the big wasp nest at the top of the steps! I will go back after dark and spray the nest..... and collect my new jars! LOL 

Thank you for all of the replies!

Jeff


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

I was told that old jars get weak with time and use just a wives tale or true 

also if you want to soak the jars in bleach water to sterilize them the water mst be warm not hot if you use hot water it will nullify the sterilizing effect and makes the bleach only a whitener


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## sewserious (Apr 2, 2010)

I would rinse as much as possible with water before using any chemicals in those jars to clean them; there could be a nasty reaction. Use water to rinse them out, do this outside, and pour the water in an old bucket or something to dispose of safely. If they had something oily in them at one time and there is still residue, you will know it then. Wipe those jars out as best you can with a rag.


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

I have been gifted with some truly grimy jars in the past that were found in an old shed. I was apprehensive at first until I thought it through and realized that we used glass *because *it was non-porous.

My routine: I just worked with the amount that would fit into my kitchen sink at a time and I started each batch at the end of the day before bed. I rinsed with plain water, then filled sink with scalding hot tap water, added a cup or more of ammonia, added all the jars that could be submerged - then went to bed to get away from the smell. In the morning I scrubbed each jar with a heavy duty bottle brush that I got from Lehman's, rinsed well and then put them in the dishwasher for a *real *scalding. 9 times out of 10, they were good as new.

Occasionally, I would come across one that seemed to have a cloudy layer of lime. In those instances, I would simmer the jar submerged in a strong vinegar solution.

What a great find firefighter, I'm happy for you.


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## Feisty Farm (Apr 10, 2012)

Most of my jars are OLD jars. There were two large wooden bins of glass jars in my basement when I moved into my house. I will use any glass jar that has a standard lid fitting. If they are not a standard canning jar, I use them for water bath only, but it sure beats paying a crazy amount of money for jars when your basement is full of them!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

"25 years ago, we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope. Today, *we* have Obama, no cash, and no hope." 


Speak for yourself. Thread drift, sorry.


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## sewserious (Apr 2, 2010)

suitcase_sally said:


> "25 years ago, we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope. Today, *we* have Obama, no cash, and no hope."
> 
> 
> Speak for yourself. Thread drift, sorry.


Excuse me? If you don't like my signature, it should be addressed in a PM and not in a completely unrelated thread.


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## DarleneJ (Jan 29, 2012)

If you don't particularly want to keep the blue jars (I don't know that I would use them for canning because of their age. They'd be really pretty for dry storage though.) You might consider selling them. You could buy any new supplies you need from the proceeds. I didn't realize how much they were selling for, like the previous poster said.


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

The blue jars cannot be used for canning in a pressure canner or with metal lids and rings. It's not so much because they can't stand up to it, but they were made to use with the zinc lids with the plastic liners. Sometimes they will seal, but if they do, they will also be the first to break a seal. The reason is that the lip was not made smooth enough for todays metal lids to seat properly.

Other than that, use them. As has been said, the glass will not absorb chemicals.

I use the old blue jars and zinc lids for storing dried foods such as dried morels, beans, etc.


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