Jars impossible to open

We had to eventually leave the jar upside down with the lid in boiled water and it worked OH had been trying for 30 minutes Did think how difficult it would be for anyone with painful hands or wrists.

Maybe try rapping the jar, upside down, on kitchen worktop or floor: like the piercing trick, this breaks the vacuum.

Like you Charleygirl5, I have most trouble with bottles of bleach and have been know to resort to skewering a hole in the bottle and squirting it from there! Luckily I live alone but put the bottle up aloft in case of small curious visitors!

Many lids are sealed in such a way you need to sort of blip the top and them they let you unscrew. It's to de-pressurise the contents.
I have a little plastic tool for levering down on the lid.

how do people get the top of the Harpic which need a thumb pinch to get over the child proof locks?

I have a Xyliss -Strong Boy jar opener, works well and was around £15.00. Also, if particularly tough, pour boiling water into plastic bowl for less than a cm and stand jar upside down into it so lid warms up before I use Xyliss to open it.

Try inverting the jar over hot water with the metal lid immersed but not the glass.

The metal will expand and maybe allow you to open.

Turn it upside down and tap on the work surface or floor

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Another vote for the jarkey.

www.lakeland.co.uk/7706/Jarkey-Screw-Top-Jar-Opener

I put a rubber glove on when trying to open jars, it sometimes gives that little extra to twist it off, I have also tried a damp cloth. Tapping on the side of the screw top sometimes helps too, it has to be quite hard so it releases the vacuum. My favourite opening tools a pair of nut crackers. Even my husband uses them, really good on bottles

I always use to have problems until I discovered some silicone/rubber grips mats. The are larger than a coaster and a kind of rubbery net. Never fails to help me open jars.

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I have arthritis and have tried many of the tips here but I also have this device which is brilliant. Takes couple mins to work but it does work.

I put the jar upside down in a little very hot water. Almost always works.

Put a blunt knife under the edge till you hear a pop .or put it under hot water tap

I have an implement from Lakeland that releases the vacuum certainly works on 1lb jars.

I have trouble with my hands. Tried all the gadgets going over the years. Only thing that works for me if it's a jar or bottle put it in the sink run very hot water on the lid it for a minute or two. Dry it. Wearing a part of rubber gloves hey presto its open.

Buy a so-called cap key if wrapping a tea towel round the lid doesn't work.

You could try inserting the prong of a tin-opener under the side of the lid. That usually breaks the suction.

Some companies make lids on jars that have a rim you push up to break the suction. Look for them next time.

It is annoying, isn't it? I had to go back to the optician's once with a bottle of contact lens cleaning fluid and ask them to unscrew the lid. An elderly lady I knew brought pill bottles to Mass and got someone to open them for her after Mass.

Some jars are vacuum sealed, especially pickles. I struggled until I learnt to put a knife or spoon just under the lid and twist ( it takes a little practice ) until you hear a pop, and it should then open easily.

I have a cheap gadget from Lakeland which I use on a daily basis with a 90% success rate. It’s a kind of strong plastic, colour dark blue and has a lip which fits wherever there is that indentation on a jar for any kind of prising. You can often hear the air pop and then unscrewing is easy. However, usually opens even without the pop. Wouldn’t be without it.

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!

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

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.

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

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'.

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!