Icky, sticky, gicky goo: Is there an easy way to get this label residue off bottles and jars? You betcha. And, according to 58 (yes, 58!) Forum readers, the solution to this frustrating problem may be no farther away than your kitchen cupboard, bathroom cabinet, laundry room, garage or workshop.
Let’s start with something everyone who cooks undoubtedly already has on hand. Lee Johnson of Marysville suggests washing the item and getting rid of as much paper or label as possible. “Then apply a thick coat of oil – olive, vegetable, corn or canola,” she says. “Let sit overnight, then wash and scrape off as much of the residue as you can. Repeat the whole process until jar is clean. Takes time and elbow grease, but it works!”
Everett helper-outer Arlene Snell uses Wesson or Mazola oil. “Rub it into the label and leave it on overnight,” she says. “The next morning, those sticky labels will come right straight off. It’s wonderful, and it works for me all the time!”
Margaret May of Everett uses this same technique, adding, “The glue will usually wipe off easily, but sometimes, scraping is necessary. If a film remains, it can be polished off with a damp cloth dipped in baking soda. This works on glass and metal, but not on all plastics – some are just hopeless.”
Annette Kruis of Everett uses this same method, washing the oil/label combo off with soapy water. “It sometimes takes two tries,” she warns.
And Bernie Fleming of Marysville (a self-proclaimed “chief cook and bottle washer husband”), recommends scraping off the offending label using a plastic knife or straight-edge razor in a holder, then applying the oil
If the oil doesn’t work for you, Patty Smith of Everett suggests using real mayonnaise. “Cover the area with the mayonnaise and, sometimes, the stuff will come right off. But it’s best to leave it on for several hours or overnight,” she says.
Eileen Bondurant of Everett uses peanut butter. “I was a Tupperware lady in Lisbon Falls, Maine, in the early 1960s,” she says, “where I learned this from a customer. It works best if you soak the jar first and strip off the top, shiny part of the label. When dry, cover with a light coat of peanut butter and let sit at least an hour. Wipe off well and wash again. Use only 100 percent real peanut butter, not the junk that’s polluted with syrup, vegetable shortening, etc. This also works on all kinds of other problems, too!”
“I solve the problem by rubbing shortening onto the label, then letting it sit overnight,” Rose Johnson of Everett says. “This process also works on plastic and glassware, and I have done this many times over the years.”
Billie Guentz of Lynnwood says, “I have had great success by peeling off all the label I can, then applying a thick layer of anything greasy – butter, margarine, peanut butter, vegetable oil, etc. Leave it on overnight, then wash in warm water, rubbing any residue off as you go. This has never failed me.”
Goo Gone is by far the most popular product for gunk removal. In fact, 15 Forum readers rave about this stuff. Lake Stevens reader Linda Sue Karman tells us, “A little vegetable oil on jars will eventually remove the labels and glue. However, my sister-in-law introduced me to a much faster, commercially made product called Goo Gone, which I purchased at Ace Hardware. A drop of this almost instantaneously dissolves the labels and adhesives from jars and any other hard surface and will also remove grease, tar, gum, crayon and tape from just about anything, including laundry.”
Doris Pederson is another Goo Gone believer. She buys hers at Michael’s or Target and mentions, “It’s wonderful stuff, and I’ve never had it fail. It does leave an oilish stain, however, so on unwashable things like paper, I use Un-Do. This is a scrapbooker’s dream – it lifts the sticker but looks like alcohol on the paper. Within a few minutes, it dries perfectly, and the sticker is still sticky and reusable.”
Other Goo Gone fans include Marcia Alberti, Joyce Fettel, and Lyn Neuhardt, all of Everett; Lynnwood readers Emma Suryan, Barbara Groesbeck and Carole Conlon; Babs Johnson and Shirley Stordahl of Marysville; Colleen Thompson of Monroe (she says it can be purchased at Albertson’s, Fred Meyer or Safeway); Robert W. Reynolds of Mukilteo, who says it’s available at Home Depot; Snohomish reader Anita Gay; Cliff Strong of Stanwood; and Linda VenEman.
Lighter fluid is the weapon of choice favored by nine readers. Lorraine McKinley of Stanwood says she got the idea from a grocery checker. When McKinley said she didn’t smoke, the checker said, “You don’t have to smoke to buy the lighter fluid (dummy)” McKinley says this works like a charm: First, squirt a little fluid on the label. “Scrape it with your fingernail on plastic (or a knife on glass) so the fluid will penetrate. Then just pull and squirt, pull and squirt. It should all come off fairly easily, although slowly. If there’s still residue on the container, squirt the fluid onto a Kleenex, then wipe until the residue is gone. It sometimes takes two or three Kleenexes before all the sticky stuff is gone. Then, bingo! Clean, undamaged jar! If the label is dull paper, soak with water first to remove the paper, then wipe with the fluid-soaked tissue.”
Pat Fritch of Lake Stevens uses the same technique and absolutely swears by it. She says lighter fluid (Ronsonal) is hard to find nowadays, but can sometimes be purchased at Fred Meyer and Walgreen’s.
Thanks so much, each and every one of you, for sharing your solutions to this problem. Now we can all haul various gucked-up bottles and jars out of storage, clean them up – and voila! They’ll be all ready to fill with Christmas gift goodies – homemade mustards, freezer jams, salad dressings or fancy sauces, herb or berry vinegars.
Don’t run out and buy these products just yet. We’ll have more tips in an upcoming column.
The next Forum will appear in Friday’s Time Out section.
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