Mason Jars Still Smell After Washing

[crusher47]

As the thread title states, had some tobacco stored in mason jars, finished said tobacco, washed them...old tobacco smell is still present....washed them again...still smells. I'm reluctant to store new tobacco in there...does glass ghost? LOL
Any ideas?

 

[sw0snuff3r]

Are you re-using the lids? Perhaps the smell is coming from there, I've never heard of glass ghosting. I would try clean lids and put some baking soda in the jars for awhile maybe.

 

[prndl]

I suspect it is the waxy substance on the edge of the metal lid that is the culprit.
I had one mason jar that held two ounces of Nightcap for over two years. When the Nightcap was gone, the smell remained even after repeated dishwashing until I scrubbed the lid.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If you are just running them through a dishwasher, you might as well just piss on them and rinse them off, because that is all that's happening. In a dishwasher the soapy water os sprayed on and sprayed off, no scrubbing or wiping is taking place, and the tobacco oils are staying put. The only way to really get a canning jar clean is hand washing them in soapy water with a rag and sponge, dip them in a sink of cold water with a quarter cup of Clorox, and then rinse and towel dry. People that use canning jars for constant garden preservation do this religiously. We all know that the dishwasher is ONLY of light dish cleaning, never jars or cookware. You can't be lazy with jars. YMMV

 

[deathmetal]

The only way to really get a canning jar clean is hand washing them in soapy water with a rag and sponge, dip them in a sink of cold water with a quarter cup of Clorox, and then rinse and towel dry.

This is useful. I've always hand-washed with an abrasive sponge, which is difficult because my hands don't fit in the jars and so a handled scrubby brush must be employed (frequent masturbation has left me with oversize hands). This seems to get the smell out but I do not reuse lids -- they go into the recycle heap with the rest of the cans.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ha ha! My wife washes the jars and has small hands but a big... Um nevermind... I don't want to end up in the doghouse with hands too large to get out of there.
But yeh, lids are cheap. I buy them by the gross in the Summer and Fall.

 

[mso489]

I've noticed that with food smells after scrubbing out refrigerator dishes with dish soap several times. So my two-bit theory is that, sure, tiny traces of the former contents of a jar may still carry a scent. You can air the jar and wash it some more, by hand, with a good dish brush, and eventually the ghost may fade. My suspicion is that your nose is more sensitive than the new tobacco will be, and that you won't compromise the new tobacco by putting it in a jar where the previous blend is faintly detectable. Only a blend that would be of concern in a pipe bowl, like the Lakeland blends, might be of further concern. What is really important is to make sure the jar is, in fact, thoroughly washed with ample dish soap and then rinsed thoroughly, but most of all, dried really well. After that, I think you are wasting your time trying to exorcise every last sniff's worth of scent from the previous leaf.

 

[deathmetal]

Sorry for the link to this greebo-hole website, but there's a secondary (or tertiary?) career awaiting you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/320zmu/
Working title: "My Wife Has Small Hands, But..."

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I could maybe start a literary niche in erotic tobacco reviews.

 

[crusher47]

Thanks for the replies....I should have added, I do wash them by hand and scrub with a sponge and hot, soapy water...I let them air dry, then put the lids back on until ready to use. I washed them again after posting the original thread and the smell is now gone from the glass jars themselves, but the lids still smell. I will buy new lids.
Thanks again!

 

[prairiedruid]

I clean the glass jar and throw away the lid. Lids are like $2 for a dozen so I just put a new lid on the jar and don't have to worry about the ghost.

 

[michaelmirza]

I've never had any residual smell after using the dishwasher, and I reuse the caps too. Guess my dishwasher is better than Cosmic's. :rofl:

 

[teufelhund]

I swish mine with alcohol after washing. Definitely helps with ghosting.

 

[mayfair70]

Bleaching the lids will help tremendously. The glue/sealant holds odors. Yes hot soapy water for the glass should do the trick.

 

[fnord]

Lids are cheap and they don't wash well.
Lids get thrown away/binned.
Buy new lids
Fnord

 

[ray47]

I use a bleach/water solution to clean the lids and the jars. After washing by hand I put lids & jars in the dishwasher. Works everytime. I just recently cleaned a large jar that had Mixture 79 stored in it for over a year using the aforementioned method and there was no odor from the Mixture 79.

 

[perdurabo]

Yea, Yea, Yea, you can piss on 'em, dishwash'em, Clorox'em, etc....but if it Has a Lakeland in 'em, you might as well buy another tin of your Favorite Lakeland and throw it back in that same ole jar.

 

[bigpond]

Cosmic, grab a NSF/ANSI Standard 184 certified dish washer. They effectively sanitize dishes using an extended hot water cycle. I have one and it get's jars clean and odor free in one cycle.
That said, I don't think a residual odor is a problem, but I do tend to keep jars style specific. Rarely feel the need to wash them.

 

[perdurabo]

I do tend to keep jars style specific

I'm with bigpond on that idea. Time to buy some more jars.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I just rinse the jar with very warm water and the smell typically goes away right away.
I do recall Brian mentioning on a radio show episode that it can ghost in the lid. That might be your problem. As others suggested you might want to try swapping out the lid.