Repurposing Kitchen Jars? Easily Remove Labels With This Cleaning Staple

We all know the feeling: Those jars that used to hold spaghetti sauce are just way too high-quality to simply throw out or recycle. Bur they can be reused in many ways — as drinking glasses, to grow herbs, hold flowers, or to create a seasonal vibe at parties for years to come. The only thing standing in the way is a label and annoying glue. Thankfully, there's a simple cleaning solution that almost every kitchen has (or can easily acquire) that makes removing the sticky residue from those labels a cinch: OxiClean. Yep, the laundry stain remover. 

Fill up your sink, or a large receptacle to put in your sink, with warm water. Add a scoop of OxiClean, stir the water until the product dissolves, and then gently place your jars with their frustrating labels into the solution. Wait about 20 minutes or so, and then gently peel off the label. There should be little to no residue left, but honestly, every label is a little different, so you may need to scrub off the gluey remains with a Brillo pad or another similar sponge. Of course, if you don't want to go the OxiClean way, there are alternatives.

Fun fact: Orange essential oil is one of the main ingredients in the commercial adhesive remover Goo Gone. If you don't want to purchase that product, but love the smell of oranges and have some labels to remove, you can follow these steps for a more organic way to repurpose kitchen jars. First, soak your jars in warm water for approximately two to four hours, or at most, overnight. Then peel the labels off. If you have some residue left over, add some orange essential oil to the sticky area — just as you would with Goo Gone — and let it soak in. Then put in some elbow grease and use a Brillo pad or the rough side of a sponge to take off the remaining little bits. That should do the trick for just about any label. 

If you don't have orange essential oil, white vinegar is in most kitchens and always useful for a multitude of ways to keep your kitchen fresh and clean (as well as other rooms). First off, you should always have a cup of vinegar out in your kitchen to absorb your cooking odors, but you can also soak jars in vinegar to remove the labels, or you can dampen a paper towel with white vinegar and let it rest on top of the jar's label. After about an hour, it should peel right off!