Help!! I cannot open this…?

Yammy, in my kitchen, I keep a sharp awl (for punching a hole in jar tops) small scissors - and large tweezers - along with a jar/bottle opening tool. Still, I struggle with ring pulls, so must get a gadget for them!

Thanks for the tips Hetty 58.
Now I think of it I have seen a gadget somewhere maybe Lakeland to pull the ring cans.
Also remember now you say mum puncturing the lid of jars with old fashioned tin openers.
We are going to need a tool kit in the kitchen.
One tip I can pass on after finding myself in a compromising situation ie in the shower wet through no specs which were in the bedroom and I could not read which was shampoo or conditioner. I now put them back on the stand in alphabetical order. I have also gone around all spray cans and nozzles and turned the spray nozzle to the front where the label is so I can aim without my glasses.
My spice and herb racks are in alphabetical order as well!!!! My GD thinks I am a control freak.

Calmlocket

I bought a roll of Aidapt Non Slip Fabric from amazon, just cut to the size you need, it grips well on bottles and jars making them easy to open.

Thank you, but I do have a good grip and used a towel and the grip was fine it’s just these bl***y plastic structures holding the lid on..?

Granmarderby10

Shinamae Although I still have a strong grip usually, sometimes my hands are not up to the task.

I have this problem with some jars and even the little disks that are under the lid on plastic milk containers.

I am sure that this is yet again another symptom of the way things are packaged to withstand the rigours of transport.No thought is given to the end user - the customer.

I think packaging was always tricky with anything that’s made in a factory i.e biscuits ? but the last 10 -15 years things have reached new heights on the difficulty and irritation scale

Pasta and rice opens too easily and tips all over the place …..you can’t win sometimes.
Some of these products are so very safe and won’t cause us any harm because we can’t open them without resorting to knives and scissors or inviting any handy individual to have a go.
A little bit ludicrous isn’t it??

??????????

I think supermarkets do actually say that they will open difficult jars or bottles for you. Problem is you don’t actually know you can’t open it till you get home. I’ve got a few jars in my larder that I’ve never been able to open and even if I could I wouldn’t eat the contents for fear that they weren’t sealed properly due to my attempts to open them. At the same time I don’t want to put them in the rubbish bin as I want to recycle the glass. So they just sit there year after year.

It's one of my pet hates in life!
One of the ladies I go to at work couldn't open a tub of icecream, and I couldn't do it either.
We ended up having to use a tin opener to cut the lid off.

A lot of packaging is a total nightmare, as somebody else said not a lot of thought is given for the person who is going to ATTEMPT to open it….

This reminded me of a child safety gate my cousin lent me when my DD was about 8 months old. I could not fathom the damned thing so I just climbed over it.
I was gobsmacked when DD walked over to it (yup, early walker) and undid the latch and walked thru. But, try as much as I could, that gate would not open for me!
I have lots of problems opening 'child safe' stuff - bleach has the same opener as the mouthwash and it takes me ages to open them. Getting worse now, too, because of arthritic finger's!!
Child safe my ass!! Lol

MayBee70
Try putting the handle end of a teaspoon up under the rim of jars, then push or twist til you hear a pop or air being released.
This might help you.
Also rubber band around the lid to help grip it!
I have a lot of trouble with bottle lids as I just can't get a good grip.

I often put things upside down in hot water but that usually only works with jam and honey etc

I always wear an old leather glove when opening cans of sardines with a ring pull. I cut the skin between thumb and forefinger and left a trail of blood that went on and on and seemed to bleed all afternoon. That happened last year and I'm still using the glove!

Yammy

Thanks for the tips Hetty 58.
Now I think of it I have seen a gadget somewhere maybe Lakeland to pull the ring cans.
Also remember now you say mum puncturing the lid of jars with old fashioned tin openers.
We are going to need a tool kit in the kitchen.
One tip I can pass on after finding myself in a compromising situation ie in the shower wet through no specs which were in the bedroom and I could not read which was shampoo or conditioner. I now put them back on the stand in alphabetical order. I have also gone around all spray cans and nozzles and turned the spray nozzle to the front where the label is so I can aim without my glasses.
My spice and herb racks are in alphabetical order as well!!!! My GD thinks I am a control freak.

I use a sharpie pen to write a big letter C or S on the bottles of conditioner and shampoo in the shower, large enough to see without my glasses!

Only this week I complained to Birdseye about the packaging of their frozen peas. They have got rid of the zip so the whole packet can be recycled. They will lose me as a customer as I can neither open or reclose the new packaging, if OH is not around I just go without.

I can never open a squeeze and twist top ever, OH thinks it funny as he finds them easy.

Now I think of it I have seen a gadget somewhere maybe Lakeland to pull the ring cans.

For tips like that one, Shinamae, I used a bottle/jar opener which I inherited from my MIL. It's many years old but similar to this:
www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-Tasty-Universal-Opener-Light/dp/B07NJJ5JJK/ref=asc_df_B07NJJ5JJK/?hvlocphy=1007420&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=309859607248&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=gransnetforum-21&hvtargid=pla-750898953014&hvrand=18403375310000807007
Other retailers available.

Another tip for jam jars which are difficult to open is to tap smartly but not too hard around the rim of the metal lid with the back of a knife which seems to ease the lid. Warning, do it very carefully.

Sorry, should have said that those ring pull can openers are very good.

Ali08
?

Yes, DGD showed me how to open the stair gate

And DD bought a modern playpen for DGS when he started crawling to pop him into for short periods while she was cooking etc.
He took it to pieces systematically.

Hetty58

Yammy, in my kitchen, I keep a sharp awl (for punching a hole in jar tops) small scissors - and large tweezers - along with a jar/bottle opening tool. Still, I struggle with ring pulls, so must get a gadget for them!

I use a teaspoon for difficult ring pulls. Put the spoon through the pull with the bowl of the spoon on top of the tin then pull upwards.

The trouble with punching a hole in the lid of jars is that the contents can dry out or, if it is something sweet eg honey, it can attract ants.

I think I read this jar-opening tip here on Gransnet within the last couple of years:

Bash the side of the lid hard (I put a cutting board on the floor and hit it against that).

I presume that it distorts the metal lid slightly, thus breaking the seal, and then it will open quite easily.
It has worked every time I'v needed to do it, though just once I had to do it twice, as the first time I must have been too gentle

Thank you to whoever it was who shared this tip, as I haven't had to run out and greet my neighbour with cries of "I'm so pleased to see you- I need a man" since then, and I'm sure he is very relieved

Ask a neighbour or friend. I frequently do.

You can also get electric bottle and jar openers. Go on ebay and type in 'jar openers' The range, choice and type is mind-boggling.

travelsafar

Ask a neighbour or friend. I frequently do.

My 28-year-old son lives with me and even he can’t do it, he did it in the end by using his teeth and I was horrified and said never to do that again!!… I feel like ringing somebody like Jeremy Vine and getting them to try to open it on air but then knowing my luck they would probably do it straight away and I’d look like a right idiot ?

Bash the side of the lid hard (I put a cutting board on the floor and hit it against that).

I presume that it distorts the metal lid slightly, thus breaking the seal, and then it will open quite easily.

I presume it works in the same way as my tip, MamaCaz:

"Another tip for jam jars which are difficult to open is to tap smartly but not too hard around the rim of the metal lid with the back of a knife which seems to ease the lid. Warning, do it very carefully."

this is getting a bit competitive now...

I am with grannyactivist shove it in a door