Glass jars from thrift stores

[AlpineMama]

Are they OK to store food? I'm talking about beans, flour, etc.

DH is convinced that it's dangerous due to not knowing what the previous owners put in it. Rat poison, maybe? Seriously, what's there to consider? I'm making a pantry from scratch and new glass jars cost a good amount. I'm using mostly old spaghetti jars etc but I need a couple of BIG jars for larger amounts. Is there a surefire way to know if they're safe? I can't imagine anything that would stay dangerous after a good boiling maybe - then again I don't have any pots big enough to fully contain a huge jar, so I don't know how I would boil those...

[yogafeet]

Yes, they're safe. Just wash them!

I have nice jars from Ikea for this. I also reuse jars from the grocery store.

[spring978]

Wow, I never even gave that a thought I buy all my canning jars and storage jars at yard sales and thrift shops every thing gets washed in hot soapy bleach water then ran in the dishwasher.

[CameronsMama]

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to safely use them. Especially if you have a dishwasher you can run them through. If your dh is that concerned about the safety and you don't have a dishwasher, could you maybe soak/wash them in a bit bleach to kill anything worrisome, then wash them thoroughly in soap/hot water?

[Tangled Hill]

We store all our dry goods in glass jars we find at various thrift stores. We just run them through the dishwasher first.

[Ruthla]

Glass is non-pourous. Nothing can really "stick" to the glass because of its inherent nature- which is also what makes it such a good material for food storage.

Even if a jar had previously been used to store lead filings, the lead is going to wash out with good old fashioned soap and water. Any germs that might be on the surface of the glass (say, from food getting moldy in it) will similarly wash out with a good washing. Bleach probably isn't necessary, but it will kill any germs that the soap might miss, and won't damage the glass at all.

[AlpineMama]

Thanks! Looks like I'll be making a trip to the thrift store soon.