Nope. I remove labels, too.

I freeze my homemade jam in jars and I like the original label gone too. I have been in people houses and they will still have the labels on things like clothes baskets, etc. What's with that? Is it to let us know they bought a name brand and not a cheapie?

I remove all labels from everything I purchase, new or used. I cut labels off of all towels, clothing - everything.

I can't stand labels. I'm not advertising anything for any company.

And what's up with the nuclear-powered glue used on these unwanted labels? I have to go through the soaking-in-hot-water / hair-dryer / alcohol / turpentine / Goo-Gone / Goof-Off dance to budge some of them.

If new products were made with half the quality of the glue used on their labels I'd be much happier. But I'd still remove the labels.

This post was edited by caroline on Fri, Aug 15, 14 at 14:37

I think I learned this sort of thing from my mom. She liked to clean things up and make them look like new. She'd brush the barbie's hair, maybe even trim it up, wash them in soapy water, put fingernail polish on their lips to simulate lipstick (and even on the fingertips too, I think), and even made some clothes for them. But she did that with everything! Made it better than new, actually. I too remove whatever label there is. If there's residue, I use ammonia on a cotton ball and "scrub it". Or if I can soak it, like the sticker is on the stem of a glass, I just add a few drops and it rinses right off. I've been cleaning up a car, and it came with sticker residue on the steering wheel?!!!! Ammonia/cottonball worked on that too! Great stuff, and only $1.50 for a bottle.

I hadn't heard of ammonia cleaning up the gummy residue. I don't like using oily substances on my buckets....there's such a large area, it does leave some sticky parts and the dirt sticks to it then.

I'll try ammonia. I have some, as I use it as part of a homemade all-purpose cleaner. Whew, I'm thinking of the smell, this might be best done out on the balcony when I tackle it.

Heh. Yes, outside would work. But really, just a dab on a cottonball will do. No need to stink up the whole house for that!

:)

I removed labels also. I hate when they put labels on places like the glass on a picture frame. Really? You have to put it there? And it's like moving a mountain to get some of them off.

I just finished removing the labels from a glass jar...I hate labels on anything. My family thinks I'm nuts, but I think it looks tacky to have a worn out label sticking to something.

I don't like labels or price tags either! Not even stickers on fruit. If I keep any containers, I always remove the labels. Actually, glass jars are quite beautifully shaped, like King Kelly orange marmalade and the Honey Baked Ham mustard jar. They come in handy if you have space for them. I often use them to freeze homemade dog food.

I also take stickers and labels off. Jas, I use baby oil. I have a bottle that's about 10+ years old... and a little dab usually does it. Sometimes I soak a cotton ball with the oil, and put that on the last sticky parts till it just about dissolves the sticky.

Moni

I also remove labels on jars that I want to keep but I only keep jars that also have nothing printed on their lids. I use Lyles Golden Syrup jars for lots of things and those little tiny jam jars you get at Christmas from a Hickory Farm gift box I use those for spices I get from Bulk Barn. I also like the White Linen marinara sauce bottles from Costco that I use to store things in. I don't have use for plastic so don't have to worry about getting labels off them.

haha I wish they would stop putting stickers on my fruit and veggies. Sometimes they don't just peel off easily and I have to cut them out. I have had to use a putty knife to get one of those fruit labels that got stuck on my floor or on the metal near my kitchen faucet,

Anything that comes in my house in a cardboard box or packaging goes straight to jars especially for the cottage. I hate meeces to pieces....or airwigs or silverfish or anything that has more than two legs. Even with that precaution I have put grains, and barley in straight from the dishwasher clean jars the same day they were purchased and have had bugs in them that arrived with them from the store. I usually don't have too many stubborn labels and have used peanut butter in a pinch as it was right there beside me. It worked. I use all bottles that are purchased for something or other. Cherryfizz mentioned only ones with non printed lids. I bought a can of chalkboard paint, and some chalk and painted all my lids. I just put on top what it is or if easily identified I will write the date on it instead. I bought black paint but now you can get an array of colours and it would be easy to match your kitchen décor. My next project will be get brave and do the fronts of the bottles in a decorative manner.

Here is a link that might be useful: chalkboard painted jar tops

Anything that comes in my house in a cardboard box or packaging goes straight to jars especially for the cottage. I hate meeces to pieces....or airwigs or silverfish or anything that has more than two legs. Even with that precaution I have put grains, and barley in straight from the dishwasher clean jars the same day they were purchased and have had bugs in them that arrived with them from the store. I usually don't have too many stubborn labels and have used peanut butter in a pinch as it was right there beside me. It worked. I use all bottles that are purchased for something or other. Cherryfizz mentioned only ones with non printed lids. I bought a can of chalkboard paint, and some chalk and painted all my lids. I just put on top what it is or if easily identified I will write the date on it instead. I bought black paint but now you can get an array of colours and it would be easy to match your kitchen décor. My next project will be get brave and do the fronts of the bottles in a decorative manner.

Here is a link that might be useful: chalkboard painted jar tops

I don't get many things in glass jars and I don't save them anymore for the most part, used to save mayo or Miracle Whip jars and can in them but they are plastic now, and I don't save those.

Sue

I save the jars from spaghetti sauce and pickles. I peel off what i can and then rub some cooking oil on it and let it set over night. The residue usually comes off pretty easy after that.

I thought it was wd40 that removed the gunk...
don't keep jars, esp since we have recycle trash can....we've gone from 2-3 cans, to 1 can and 1 recycle can...

If I am going to save the jar, yes, I soak off the label, but I don't save very many jars. I love big old, old jars and I have a lot of them that I keep marbles and stuff in, but I don't save jars unless the are fairly unique....then I will save it for a marble jar. I have literally thousands of marbles.

Marilyn, what do you do with all the marbles??

I just removed the labels from my buckets.....one side of each bucket had a huge label that I scraped off.
I'll work at getting the residue off tomorrow. I won't put WD-40 or anything strong and oily smelling as I don't want the bucket to stink.

Glass jars are hard to come by, and I love getting some out of neighbours' recycling bins

Not any more. Some are in the basement to store screw & nails. For food, I use several sizes of Ball jars.

Gasoline, diesel or kerosene works for several of those glues - but use it outside, not near flame. And don't rub too hard.

Here's an alternative: get some paper and some clear plastic packaging tape, and paper over those dratted labels.

You could title it what's inside, or just "Can't stand to look at the dratted label that's under here!"!

Hi Marilyn C ... has anyone accused you of losing your marbles ...

... oh, right - that's what the jars are for, to preclude just that eventuality!

o j ... always happy to be helpful

Jasdip, I don't do anything with them. I think it is just one of my obsessive/compulsive things....I collect them and put them in jars. I just like the way they look. I have been collecting marbles since I was a kid...most aren't valuable...I have a few antique hand made German marbles and a few new what are called art marbles...handmade modern marbles. I probably have 30 big jars full of marbles. Maybe more. I am always finding more jars of marbles that I put up somewhere and forgot I had. I don't add to them very often....but if I go to the flea market I may buy one or two. Just whatever appeals to me at the moment. I don't spend much money on them...and marbles can be very expensive...like hundreds of dollars apiece. A friend of mine bought a storage unit and gave me a jar of marbles recently and others I have picked up at yard sales but often people think old marbles are very, very valuable and while I don't consider myself an expert on them by any means, I can look at a bunch of marbles and recognize if there are any new, cheap, Chinese marbles in the group and then I know that pretty much all of them aren't any good. Mexico makes some pretty marbles though...as far as just liking pretty marbles goes. The ones I like best are older ones. I don't mind if they are in "played with" condition...meaning chips...because I just put them in jars...I don't display them individually like most real marble collectors do. Here's a picture of some mini marbles I bought recently....they are as tiny as seed beads, but real marbles...complete with swirls and cat eyes and just like the bigger ones. The cup they are in is about half an inch high.

I'm a label taker offer too. Especially from washcloths. Can't stand the label scraping my face. I own Goo Gone, and when I buy something out comes the Goo Gone and then a soap and water bath of the whole item. I wipe down food jars, PB, and rinse off chip bags and frozen foods. Just about everything. Guys usually stock stores, and we all know that men are not the best hand washers... Just a part of the many reasons why I would not remarry if I was paid one million dollars a day. I also scrub my hands as soon as I get home from ANYWHERE. I turn the faucet on with the back of my wrist. Door knobs and fridge handles get wiped with Lysol wipes. I'm really a nice person but you wouldn't want to live with me. Being honest.

Deeby, just curious....and I hope you don't mind me asking...but do you get sick a lot or have allergies? The reason I ask is the other day I read an article about kids growing up on farms getting sick less than other kids, and not as prone to allergies.

I handle a lot of dirty animals...and yes, I wash my hands, of course, but I get really dirty on a daily basis....cleaning up after them, taking care of all my horses, donkeys and mule, digging in the dirt. I am almost never sick and I have no allergies. So I am wondering if there is something healthy about not being so clean. Again, not trying to be-little your beliefs on cleanliness...just curious if it is true that a body is better able to fight off infection if you are not as careful with
wiping everything down, all the time. For example...when I go to the supermarket, there are those wipes to wipe off the grocery cart. I see a lot of people doing that. I don't. I just don't put my hands on my face or in my mouth unless I know my hands are clean. Also my daughter who lives in the city, has very bad allergies. She is also super neat, which I think is good because she is married to a guy who is also, so they have no contention between them on that account, but when she grew up, living in the country, around the horses, etc., she was never sick. Didn't have allergies. Now she is sick all the time in the spring and fall. I feel badly for anyone who has to suffer with them. I haven't had as much as a cold in at least 15 years.

I love those big plastic jars that Costco uses for their nuts. I remove the labels and use them for some snacks and baked items. Great to send home with the kids.

It isn't a germ phobia. I just cannot feel comfortable unless I'm the only one handling items. You have a MULE????? I would just love to have a mule. A white one with brown eyes and tall pink inside ears. I have three rabbits and two cats.

I think every old woman ought to have a mule. ;) This is Sabrina. Actually, her name is My Sabrina. She is named after the first quarter horse foal I raised....her name was My Sabrina Dee. (That's me standing behind her....before I had my knee operated on...which is why it is so swollen).

(Sorry to hijack your thread in so many different ways, Jasdip.)

Yes, if I am going to keep the jars and reuse them, I will take the labels off. They are usually used to hold dry food items. I don't keep any jars to be reused as canning jars for two reasons: 1) they are not as good of glass quality as regular mason jars and will frequently pop the bottom out when put in a canner, and 2) most do not have the same size mouth as regular mason jars have so you cannot buy new flats for them.

Deeby, I was about to ask the same question Marilyn_c did. As an RN, I know that I saw far fewer sick farm children and children that their parents let them get dirty playing without rushing them in to immediately wipe them down or put them in the tub. As a matter of fact, growing up it was nothing unusual for Daddy to throw calf fries on the fire where we were heating the branding iron and when they were cooked, we all shared in eating them. Five star restaurant with linen table cloths and napkins it definitely wasn't! We also kept a water bucket and dipper up at the barn that we would fill from the windmill and all of us would drink from the same dipper. And to go one step further, frequently when I helped Daddy with the milking, I would get that dipper and fill it with milk and drink it right there, especially in the winter. We have a couple of our Beefalos that will come up and stick their nose up to mine as their way of showing trust and affection. Nope, don't get sick very often either.

Research has shown than children who are exposed to pets growing up are far less likely to develop allergies or be sick as frequently as children who are not.

What a beauty, Marilyn ! You lucky duck ! Gmatx, I agree 100% about letting kids get dirty. It's just how I am. It just bugs me to turn a handle or open a food bag or jar that has been handled by who knows who. I know my life would be easier if I didn't have this preference. Here's an example: Yesterday I had my car serviced, and as soon as I got in the driver's seat I whipped out my Lysol cloths that I keep in the car and went over everything the mechanic had touched. Sigh... Marilyn, what do mules eat? Are they boys or girls or what? I just know that I like the looks of them and wish I could have the kind of life where I could have one. I'd love to have a little goat too.

Thank you threejs for the tip about painting jar lids. Really, I never would have thought of doing that but what a great idea!

Marilyn, I love marbles too and have been collecting them for years here and there but they are scattered in many different boxes in the attic, I should put them in jars like I do my button collection haha although there are some marbles and small board game pieces and dice mixed in with them. Someone from a swap sent me a canning jar with a cookie mix in it and I like the jar so much I keep it in the corner on my kitchen counter and I put those glass beads in it, the ones that hold flowers in vases. Jar isn't filled yet because I just want certain colours of beads. I love when the sun hits it.

I'm anal about removing labels as well and reusing the jars or containers for other things.

Here's a tip for any of you that use that canned cake frosting,those labels come off very easily and the container is perfect for storing your cupcake papers,among other things..

pill bottles and the little container my diabetes strips come in work well for thse that are seed savers.The only thng wrong with the diabetes strip containers is that they are stamped/painted on,so i have to put a label over that,but the size is perfect.

I like odd shaped jars,i use them for change,beads etc etc.Those big ones from costco are great for storing craft supplies.

As far as getting sick,i also grew up in the country and always played in the dirt,making mud cakes etc,etc,and truth be told,i still play in the dirt,only it's called gardening.I've never had the flue,don't get colds,sinus's are fine,never have or never will get the flue shot and i'm 76 now so i'm still doing good.

I think there's a lot of truth to that getting dirty,playing in the dirt and our health.All though i like being clean just like everyone else,i don't obsess over it.Shower every day etc,but show me a garden and some plants,and i'll get dirty in a new york minute!!
Kathi,

Deeby, mules eat the same as horses but better a lower protein...like about 10% and less sugar....because too much sweet feed (molasses added to oats and corn, etc.) can make them hyper. I also have 3 donkeys and they eat about the same as the mule...lots of good quality hay and they are all on pasture as well. Mules are different than other equines. The old saying goes (something like)....you tell a horse, ask a donkey and negotiate with a mule. Mules are very smart and they can be easily ruined if badly handled. You really do need to form a bond with a mule....if they like you, they will do so much more for you. Mules are male or female, just like horses...except a boy mule is called a john and a female is called a molly. It is preferable to geld a john mule when they are very young (geld means castrate...neuter, if you prefer). They are a hybrid of a horse and a donkey and they are sterile. Only very, very rarely has one reproduced. Interestingly enough, there is a farm in Florida that raises Gypsy Vanner horses, which are a large breed, supposedly the ones that Gypsies used to pull their caravans. Often paints, sort of like a draft horse....anyway, they do embryo transplants from Gypsy Vanner mares into female mules. The mules carry the little Gypsy Vanners and raise them and are said to make superior mothers. The reason they do that is because Gypsy Vanners are very expensive and they can produce many more foals that way....by having the mare mules carry the babies.

Male donkeys are called Jacks and females are Jennies. My donkeys are named Amos, Moses and Hobo.

Cherry Fizz, I collect dice too....I have four big jars of dice and also those flat craft marbles....two big jars of those. I have all kinds of things in jars....cookie cutters, scoops, polished stones, little ornaments, weird odds and ends....little bones, teeth. I'm sort of a cross between a pet coon and a magpie.

I remove the labels if I'm keeping the jars...I keep butter tubs and soup tubs to send home leftovers with the kids...I used to send stuff home in my rubbermaid/tupperware stuff but never was getting it back unless I went and retreived so now they get stuff that can be thrown away or used at their will!

I'm not a label removerer...unless it's bothering me and most stuff doesn't bother me!

Here's a picture of a couple of jars i repurposed several years ago.I found these at a yard sale,and they reminded me of my childhood and the old fashioned milk bottles.So i bought them,cleaned them up and poured paint on the inside,swirled it around until the inside was covered and wrote on the outside with a paint pen.They are on display in my country kitchen.

My bows are a little off!!! LOL
{{gwi:144377}}

Kathi

Marilyn, I can see that they are well cared for. That was all interesting too, about the foster mothers. When I see a mule on TV I'm all ears, haha. I don't know why I, a suburbs girl, find mules so appealing-I just do.

I can't remember the last time I removed a label. Or the last time I saved a jar.

The only labels I worry about are those inside clothes. Recently I bought a new pullover top and really liked it because there was no label in the back of the neck. Well, I liked it until I discovered that the label was in the sideseam, right at your waist where you tuck it in your slacks. WTF! (Pardon my French.) That's even worse than at the neck!

Clothing labels...I must have the world's most sensitive skin. Those tags at the neck drive me nuts. And I swear, they are stiffer and have sharper edges unlike in the past. When some manufacturers went with printed tags, I thought 'great'... until those items have been washed many times... and the lettering begins to separate... and you have tons of rough de-laminating letters rubbing your neck. Also, I almost cut into the fabric of many items just attempting to cut off sewn in labels.

Kathi, me too ! i planted lemon verbena today, and strawberries around the trunk of my mini potted orange tree. I hope no one thinks I'm the epitome of a ladylike princess. Gosh, far from it-I have 3 rabbits, 2 cats, alot of container gardening, and have been a caregiver for 30 years. Why I'm so Felix Unger-y I don't know but life would be easier if I weren't !

Deeby,
I have and do a lot of container gardening.Our backyard backs up to a canyon and i got tired of the critters getting in the yard and digging up all my bulbs and other things,so we have pots all over the place,and now with our water shortage,i'm glad i do.Makes watering easier,and takes less of it.
Kathi

Yep. I grow everything in pots. I fill empty spring water gallons with tap water and store them in the garage in case we're told we can't water at all. My goal is half the garage full.