I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier

[venta]

Enquiring minds wish to know...

[Poll #1990058]

Comments

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Right hand would be on the jar lid before the deploying of the Device, but I do have a widget for getting recalcitrant jar lids off.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Can you provide details of your widget? I have a Device, but as far as I can tell it is only useful for getting off lids that are no trouble at all.

The mother has an excellent Device which features metal teeth, but I've never seen one for sale.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I tend to try both hands, and then tap the edge of the lid with the back of a large knife; that usually releases the vacuum which is holding the lid on, maybe it easier to take it off.
(Also, Whiskey in the Jar, and I see what you did there.)

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's clever. I do the same, but tap the jar upside down on a work surface, which unsettles the contents rather.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

LTIWM - laughed till I wet myself at your option 'I have staff for that sort of thing.'

I'd apologise for offending people who have bladder control disability, and people whose carers do personal things for them, but no: I'm entitled to say LTIWM. Here's my Crip Card.

Anyway, if your poll had allowed more than one response I'd have chosen 'left hand'. I'd also have tried stabbing the lid with a sharp object - useful trick from the catering trade - because lid stiffness is usually caused by vacuum in the jar. Another useful trick is to warm the whole thing slightly, perhaps in a bowl of hot water, so that the metal lid expands. If all else failed I'd have put the damn lid in a door hinge.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

I do have staff for that! My husband :)

[shermarama]

Not quite that I have staff for this sort of thing, but in dire circumstances I've been know to try a four-hander, i.e. one person each for jar and lid, so the lid-holder can use two hands to maximise grip. Works best with the jar sat on a worktop, though, or it just leads to a sort of fruitless aerial wrestling.

(I'd be much more nervous of the knife/jar combo since I heard about sabrage.)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I used to have a Device but I'm not sure where it is now. (There are at least four possibilities.) If I can't get it off using my right hand I tend to give up; there's not enough strength in my left to bother trying.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

Crip strikes again - do you like any of these? http://www.welcomemobility.co.uk/Departments/Kitchen/Openers.aspx

[venta.livejournal.com]

Aha! I do indeed like this one: http://www.welcomemobility.co.uk/Products/Universal-Opener__KK_T7206.aspx (this is what we've been discussing up thread, and what I haven't been able to find anywhere).

The rubber sheet thingies are all a bit useless (to me, I'm happy to believe they help others!) But these bitey metal Devices are just the ticket. Thanks :)

[ylla.livejournal.com]

The most useful Device I know of is just to get an elastic band and wrap it around the edge of the top - it might have to be quite a wide one for a flat jar top. Don't think it's ever failed for me, unlike more sophisticated Devices!

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

My One Weird Trick when dealing with recalcitrant jars is to put on rubber washing-up gloves to improve my grip. Doesn't always work, and the gloves themselves have to be properly dry for it to have any chance, but it can make that little difference which does the job.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I do this! The glove doesn't have to be all the way on, either.

If that doesn't work, it's time to hit the lid with a wooden spoon to release the vacuum as mentioned elsethread. (The kids like this one.)

And if that doesn't work, it's time to go to the garage to get plumbing tools, or the hot-water-to-expand-the-lid trick if I remember it.

[dr-bob.livejournal.com]

Right hand on lid for initial attempts. Then I resort to a gadget that looks a bit like a torture implement and has a habit of gouging the edges of the lid, but generally works. I remember my folks having one when I was a kid, so the style has been around a long time.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

I sometimes break the vacuum by gently levering up the edge of the lid (usually with a teaspoon).

[ozfroggirl.livejournal.com]

This also works with a butter knife.

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

boling water dashed over the lid will expand it before the glass does

[hirez.livejournal.com]

It usually goes 'right hand', 'left hand', 'Good Grips jar opener', 'strap wrench bought for removing Landie oil filters', 'door frame', 'fuck it lets have a takeaway'.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I've heard good things about the Good Grips jar opener from friends, and plan to buy one myself when my hand strength and DIY toolbox prove insufficient. (Which hopefully will be many years yet.)

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Attempt 1: Right hand on lid.
Attempt 2: Same again wearing (dry) washing up gloves.

I used to own a "device", but rubber gloves work way, way better. I have never tried ylla's elastic band approach, but suspect that might also work well for similar reasons.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should try rubber gloves. I have decent grip, so thus far failure to open jars (which is rare, it's a talent I'm usually quite proud of!) is more of a lack-of-torque issue.

At present, I can't open jars at all due to a thumb injury sustained while wrestling with a particularly recalcitrant one a month ago :(

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I will have tried both hands, and I will have put on dishwashing gloves to increase the mu as well. I will also have tried tapping the jar, possibly breaking it if I am really annoyed.

[uitlander]

Righthand on jar lid, followed by prolonged putting under a running tap of hot water and then using a tea towel to help grip the wet surface. Heat expands metal.

[mister-jack.livejournal.com]

This is also my technique.

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

Right hand on lid first, if that fails other way round, if that fails, then we just use what I thought the entire country called a "brabantia":

http://www.philipmorrisdirect.co.uk/brabantia-essential-universal-stainless-steel-opener/product/?utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&gclid=CjwKEAiAy8ujBRCY6c-hveijhFASJAAcyGic1798fTjNfalxWL6-i14_Sc2JseQhNjtBA-1SQB3ekBoCGhnw_wcB

[ceb.livejournal.com]

Right hand -> rubber glove -> give it to Ian who is a climber so has really strong hands

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

I use a sharp knife punch a hole in the jar lid thus releasing the pressure; the lid then comes off.

[shui-long.livejournal.com]

Right hand, and if that doesn't work, dig in the kitchen drawer for the device (it's listed as a "Baby Boa" on the page that SamMason pointed to), or if it's serious, the car oil filter wrench, and/or put the jar lid upside down in hot water before trying again.
When my mother had rheumatoid arthritis they gave her some pieces of blue rubber non-slip sheet which she thought were called "Dyson" - though I see this should probably be "Dycem" - which worked well for her.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

One of my great-aunts' gardening advice: 'Tread your brassieres in firmly.'

[augeas.livejournal.com]

1: Rotate both palms in the opposite direction to the one in which they'll turn before taking the strain.
2: Just bash the edge of the lid quasi-gently on the counter-top.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

I am mostly right-handed, but do some things (like this, and dealing cards) 'left-handed'.
I sometimes use a table knife under the rim to slightly prise the lid, clearing the vacuum. It's sometimes impossible to get the knife in properly though before coffee, which is when I'm mostly opening new jars. Toby is good at opening jars though because he is stubborn and doesn't give up. I don't think he'd want to live in your kitchen drawer though.

[venta.livejournal.com]

One of my motivations for enquiring which hand people use is because I'm not sure which way round is right-handed! I do things a mixture of right-handed and left-handed, and I'm vaguely curious which I am for jar-opening.

I'm a left-hand-on-lid, which is the minority case (11 vs 17) but I'm not sure if it's minority enough to be left-handed. Maybe this is a thing in which there's more variation than most?

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

My escalation goes like this:
1) Turn lid
2) Bend knees slightly, take deep breath, and push jar away from body while turning and breathing out, thereby using core muscles for undoing and arms just for gripping, usually effective.
3) Take pliers. Apply to side of lid and pull lid upwards until it goes slrrrrpPOP and the vacuum releases.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Also there is usually considerable muttering of "fuck you Lidl and your men-only food" involved.

[killalla]

Left hand grip (as I am left handed).

Next steps include:

Gentle thump of lid edge against counter, retry.
Run hot tap water over lid area (avoiding jar if possible), retry.
Rubber grip cover (could count as device, works on the same principle as washing up gloves, I imagine), retry.

If none of these works, give up and go out for pizza. (I live alone, and can't therefore ask for assistance.)

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

Bit late, but the gadgets you've been directed to are just like mine - rescued from Nana's kitchen drawer when Dad cleared the house 35 years ago this month. Wonder what it had cost then! But it does work on all sorts of containers and is bound to be good as it's German, by Leifheit (in joke for Venta to understand)

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

Left hand. Better torque.