# How to remove rings



## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

So my parents cleaned out their basement and gave me a bunch of jars. Yea! The problem is many of these jars have old (think 1980s) food in them and they were stored with the rings on them. I'd like to save these jars so I can use them but I am having no luck getting the rusty rings off. Does anyone have any tricks? So far I've had DS and DH who both have stronger hands than me try to twist them off with a rubber glove for grip and sitting them upside down in boiling water. Any other ideas?


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Cut them off with a knife.


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## danielsumner (Jul 18, 2009)

I use a oil filter wrench.


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## AdmiralD7S (Nov 1, 2013)

They make a tool exactly for this. Should be in the canning section of your local store.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

As long as you are not going to use the food in the jars- first turn them upsidedown and let them soak in water-just the ring depth. After that -try to take the ring off. If it doesn't work, use a pair of needle nose plires and slowly peal the ring off. It's hard,but you probably can get this to work o the majority. Old jars can be funky,they have flaws.(bubbles,impuritys ect....)

edit.heck, I'd even use toilet bowl cleaner to soak those jars with rings upside down-that stuff is supposed to EAT rust. let it eat away the rings-it won't hurt the glass.


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

I'd give 'em a spritz of WD40 around the ring and let 'em sit for a while. 
That or PB Blaster. Penetrating oil should dissolve the rust enough to get them to move. 
Gotta admit this is a problem I've never encountered! I'm anxious to see what works.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Just take a flat screwdriver or other prying tool and insert between the jar and rim of the ring, pry out and repeat while going around the perimeter of the ring. You can easily expand the ring and remove it. If they're really tough, you should wear gloves in case the jar breaks.


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## katy (Feb 15, 2010)

What has worked for me, is the needle nose pliers. After the first dozen it gets better...lol With pliers grip the band above the flat and pull it up and out away from the jar in a peeling manner. Sometimes the band will break from top to bottom, those are really nice.

Might as well mention this also.... cleaning rust & crud from jar itself is another challenge. First washing is soapy dish water with clorox. Then the worst jars go into stock pot with about 3 gallons of water and 2-3 cups of vinegar and the rack. Low fire to keep the jars hot but not boiling for a 30 minute soak and another scrubbing.

Goo Gone from grocery or hardware is good.
Baking soda & Hydrogen peroxide, made into a paste is good.
Lye water, I've just heard about and haven't used yet.

Good luck, and it is worth the effort.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I'm just sitting here thinking, "Why would anyone go to the trouble of canning something and then not eat it?"


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

suitcase_sally said:


> I'm just sitting here thinking, "Why would anyone go to the trouble of canning something and then not eat it?"


My mom used to can tons of stuff. More than we could really eat in one season. Don't know why. She's much more reasonable in her estimate now. 

BTW, I got the rings off! My mom actually had the trick. I put the jars upside down in ice water (believe it or not) so the rings were covered. Let them sit in the ice water for about 10 minutes and, voila, the rings twisted right off. Why she didn't tell me this trick in the first place I don't know.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I used side cuts and a pair of needle nosed pliers and got the ring off a jar of tomatoes (????) before they turned 20 years old.

Why they didn't get eaten? That was a great tomato year and Grandma canned and canned and canned and ran out of jars. This one I stuck in the cupboard then forgot all about it for several years. It's been sitting on the counter for a while because I couldn't get the ring off. And no, the lid was not sealed.

Amazingly there was no rust on the jar. I think it wouldn't come off because the jar was slightly squished (as in not perfectly round.) It's an old blue one.


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## prepper82 (Nov 28, 2013)

I leave the rings on mine. Does it matter or does everyone else store theirs with the rings off? I have just never heard of that way before. When we moved into our home I actually found some beets in jars with no rings also. Are they supposed to be stored without rings or is it just a preference? Thanks.


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## AdmiralD7S (Nov 1, 2013)

prepper82 said:


> I leave the rings on mine. Does it matter or does everyone else store theirs with the rings off? I have just never heard of that way before. When we moved into our home I actually found some beets in jars with no rings also. Are they supposed to be stored without rings or is it just a preference? Thanks.



It's a preference. Rings by themselves take up room, and you've probably got another 1/8" of height on your shelf to keep them on, so...

Critical part is after jars are cooled is to remove rings and clean the threads on the jar and the ring itself. If you don't, any product that seeped out of jar is likely to cause lid and/or ring to rust. When everything is dry, feel free to leave the rings off or put them back on.


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## Rivmage (Dec 24, 2012)

I personally store my jars without rings. No real reason why, we did it that way with our first batch last year and just continued.

Scott


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

(Old Thread Alert...lol)

I store my jars with no rings to prevent them from rusting and so I can tell if I have a bad jar by the popped lid, although I inherited a bunch of canned goods from my mom and she left the rings on, boy was it a pain to get some of them off although soaking them under warm tap water loosened every single ring that I couldn't remove by hand. Luckily I did remove the rings because there is rust forming under just about every one.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

The Ball Guide says to remove the rings for the very reasons discussed here.


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## druid628 (Apr 14, 2014)

Not trying to revive an old thread but...

My wife's grandfather put this together a great many years ago and it is still in use to this day. It works great for pulling the rings off of old stuck jars. The down side is it does tear up the rings in the process but it works wonders. It's mounted under the cabinet and you just shove the jar in there and twist. As you can see from the pic it's well used.


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

I store my jars with the rings on several years ago I had a bunch of jars go bad the rings kept the lids from blowing off and spewing bad food all over the place the lid just pooched up


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

vicker said:


> Just take a flat screwdriver or other prying tool and insert between the jar and rim of the ring, pry out and repeat while going around the perimeter of the ring. You can easily expand the ring and remove it. If they're really tough, you should wear gloves in case the jar breaks.


Thats what I did when I was given a pantry of full jars.

The chickens ate well for quite awhile LOL


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