Advice on getting the paper off pasta jars?

[ShellieC]

I want to re-use our pasta jars but find that most of the brands I buy have paper labels that are really hard to remove. Does anyone have tips on how to get that stuff off? Thanks!

[SequoiasMom]

I either soak in water and then scrub, or, if they are really stubborn, I use goo gone. Works like a charm. I don't know if goo gone is eco or not, but....it's all I know that is successful.
Good luck!

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I soak and scrub too. Sometimes a little bit of vegetable oil will help break down the glue.

[number572]

hot soak and scrape with a paint scraper

[athansor]

I'm not sure about how eco-friendly they are, but the magic erasers seem to work well for me.

[blairhoney]

Soak in hot water and vinegar. The labels should peel right off - even if they don't, the glue should be gooey enough that you can scrape it pretty easily from there.

[hippiemum21580]

I soak them in a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda in hot ater for an hour or so. They usually come right off after that.

[choli]

I don't understand why the labels are a problem. Why not just leave them on and save the water, time and effort of removing them?

[tinybutterfly]

Peanut butter will take the sticky stuff off where the label was.

[ShellieC]

I don't care about the label if I am using the jars in a cupboard or other area where they aren't in plain sight, but I display my dried beans & grains on an open kitchen shelf and they look really nice if the labels are removed from the jars. Especially because the labels get stripped a bit in my dishwasher and don't look very nice.

Shellie

" don't understand why the labels are a problem. Why not just leave them on and save the water, time and effort of removing them?"

[Denvergirlie]

I toss them in the sink of soapy water and let them soak a bit. Whatever isn't able to be removed easily, I use rubbing alchol to take off the goo. Goo-Gine works very well too, but rubbing alchol is cheaper and will always be found in this house.

I keep a container of subbing alchol in the kitchen cabinet, I did write cleaning only all over it with a sharpie, so there is not chance of cross containmation.

[mamadelbosque]

I wash them with all the normal dishes, then soak them in the sink for a few minutes and they usually come off pretty easy. If they arent' I let them soak a bit longer and if they still aren't coming off super easy I use the scrub brush to get them off.

[MomInCalifornia]

Warm water with soap and goo be gone for anything extra!

[cristeen]

Possibly not the most eco-friendly, but bleach breaks down the glue nicely. Just a tiny splash of bleach in a tub of warm water - let them soak for a couple hours, then scrape off with an old credit card or bench scraper. That's how I get the labels off the beer bottles for homebrew - we soak them before bottling in bleach for sanitation purposes, and the labels slide right off.

[hibana]

Leave them in a sink full of warm soapy water overnight. They wipe right off the next morning.

[Ola_]

I normally wash the jar with the dishes and then soak the dish cloth with water and lay over the jar (while laying on it's side in the sink). As is typical for me I forget about it for a bit and when I come back the paper has softened quite a bit. Then I usually just use my fingernail to scrap strips of the mushy paper lengthwise from the jar (against the glue lines). Once I've done that the paper is gone and any glue residue comes off easily with a wet scrubbie.

[littlemizflava]

soak in hot water or wash in dishwasher. to get the stickie off you can use a little tea tree oil and rub a litte with ur finger comes off