Jars impossible to open

MY other half says to me that if he goes before me i would starve as i can open things either, even the little plastic top on the inside of the milk bottle container i can't pull off!!!! I dod remember my mum putting jars or bottles in the hinge sie of the door in our kitchen and then closing the door as far as possible then giving a twist to the offending item, usually it worked. The only trouble was it left a gouge in the woodwork, there were several actually !! lol. Any one else tried this method???

I’ve had similar difficulties and bought one of these. The loop at the end of the handle is extendable to go around jar top, then pulls tight when you hold the handle and turn.
The brand is Xyliss -Strong Boy jar opener, works well and was around £15.00

If you've got any thick elastic bands or a few thinner ones, put them round the edge of the lid. You'll be able to get a better grip. Or another thing I try is grab the lid with a damp cloth and twist.
Good luck

I run the top under a hot tap, usually works.

Pierce the lid with a sharp knife, which releases the pressure making it much easier to twist the lid off.

Ah thanks everyone.

travelsofar yes I remember my mum doing that and dad going mad about the gouge in the door. ??.

I’ve tried pircing the lid ninathena. That usually works but not this time.

I might invest in that Strong boy opener Puzzler . Do Lakeland do a similar thing, I wonder ?.

DH just come in. He tapped the lid all round and it seemed to do the trick. Opened !

Thanks for all your tips ?

You can get electric bottle and jar openers. DD has had one since the accident that permanently damaged her right-arm. She also has an electric tin-opener.

Travelsofar, yes my mother used that method. She used it on a bottle of ammonia, the neck of the bottle broke, and the contents splashed on the dog's face, huge panic, she didn't try that again!

I put a marigold glove on, usually works.

Jars, I turn upside down, fit my narrowhead 6" screwdriver into one of the indents on the lid, lever it against the jar, and wait for the 'pop' as the seal is broken and then it opens easily.

This is also a service I offer to my neighbours

Special screwdriver is kept in the jar with the wooden spoons etc. next to the cooker, btw.

I put on my rubber gloves, like CHELSEA BABY, and it most often works. I am 75 and I do suffer from arthritis in my hands.

I never have any bother since buying a “jar key”. The best Kitchen implement ever.

A little trick shown to me by a BA stewardess to open recalcitrant jars of jam. Tap the bottom of the jar sharply on a hard surface and the top will turn easily. I have weak wrists and this works for all types of jars for me.

If Himself goes first I'm going to start asking the checkout people to open lids before I leave the store. Or the Tesco driver on my home deliveries. The government says I'm old (sorry, elderly) and vulnerable and I shall make the most of it.

I use the sharp tip of a corkscrew to slip under the jar lid and just pull it out enough to break the vacuum, it goes pop, and then it will open easily. I think that my method sounds very similar to Alishka's above except that I keep the jars the right way up.
I'm finding it fascinating that there is such a wide range of methods of dealing with this situation, most interesting.

With jars, I pour boiling water around it and that does the trick.

What I cannot open are loo cleaners where the top has to be pressed down before it is turned. I get somebody to open it for me and then do not close it properly after that.

Some medicine bottles are similar and I find it a palaver pressing down and twisting.

Hold the jar firmly in your right hand and twist off the lid with your LEFT hand. This is a more natural movement than twisting anticlockwise with the right hand and more likely to succeed.

Alternatively, hold the lid firmly in your left hand and, with a rubber glove on your right hand for added grip, twist the JAR clockwise and it should open. (This method works well for champagne and sparkling wines, too. If you don't want to waste half your bottle of bubbly with it frothing all over the place, grip the cork and gently twist the bottle. A discreet little phhhht and it's open with no overflow!)

Scribbles I am left handed and it does not appear to work for me.

I am also left handed Charley and, ever since I can remember, other family members have brought me jars to open because I "make it look so easy". I'm certainly not Superwoman so I don't know why it should work so well for me but not for you!

Some years ago I bought a jar of, I think, Baxters chutney. The lid was a smaller diameter than the body of the jar, and I just couldn't open it. Eventually DH managed it.
I wrote to the manufacturers, explaining the problem, and they sent me a Jarkey.
Best thing ever, and when I found one in a charity shop, I bought it 'just in case'.

Dunelm Mill sell jar openers. they'e plastic rings, look a bit like plastic doilies. Stand the jar on one, put another on the lid and twist. I have arthritic weak hands and wrists - works every time. 50pence a piece

I also use a plastic Jar key. It quickly releases the vacuum, then a gentle twist with either hand and off comes the lid. Works every time and I have arthritis in both hands.

I too have a jar key, got it from Lakeland. Works every time.

I just give the edge of the top a sharp rap on the floor - it has to be something hard - the kitchen counter or anything wooden would dent. This releases the vacuum and you hardly have to turn the lid to get it off.

For those tops on milk cartons with the loops that are too small to get your finger in, I have a wooden spoon with a slim handle.

I have also used the boiling water method (expands metal more than glass, thus loosening the lid) and even gone to DH's workshop and put things in the vice!