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I found a really useful guide to reusing jam jars. It's quite simple and has worked very well for me on many occasions.

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Have you tried WD40 (available from Wilkinsons, Robert Dyas, B&Q, All good supermarkers - car section)? The stuff is amazing! Although it does say on there that it is silicone free....
Apparently it dissolves crayon marks, grease, tar, gum, adhesives etc. It's great if you have squeaky doors as well! I usually use it on jars and stuff and it works a treat. Just let it soak in a bit. As above I usually use a metal scourer to finish the job! I have some marks stained by a white board pen on the fridge, am just going to go and try it out......

I found this product recently and have found it very effective, available by mail order too.

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I soak the jar in cold water overnight then use a metal scourer to rub it off

Have you tried peanut butter to get the glue off? I know it sounds silly, but i read about this method somewhere and I've used it ever since - it usually works for me!

Just smear some peanut butter over the glue spot and leave it there for a while (experiment with the length of time), then, using a scrubber pad, wash it off with warm water and detergent.

With really tough spots, you may have to do this twice; it works for most glues.

Trimethylbenzene ? Hum? Now that sounds like a good idea. I'll have to pay another visit to Halfords and see what they've got.

The betterware suggestion? well I'd have to get the M-I-L to try to source that, as we don't tend to get them round our way.

TVM for that suggestion Mrs Woof Woof.

I've tried the "sticky tape" on the glue trick cheese obsessive, and the glue they use just retains the glue off the tape.

It's not just Gales (a.k.a. the brand holder, the food taliban know as Nestle), I had a glass jar from tescos that had held strong pickled onions as well. The dishwasher put paid to any residual smell, but again they've used clear plastic labelling, the glue appears to be the same stuff as the honey jars.

I'm pretty convinced it's gonna need some kind of solvent to remove it. Which is a pain, though I suppose once I know what will do the trick, then it shouldn't be a problem (just a good excuse to make even more mead - the average being about 4lb of honey per gallon and I usually make it in 5 gallon batches - yum yum! hic!).

It's certainly cheaper to re-use jars than have to buy them. The cottage industry jam making wouldn't stand up to having to buy jars in small quantities!

i should point out i've only tried this with plastic containers, not glass, but it works with the clear type plastic labels on plastic containers, i cant see why it wouldnt work for glass containers

i found something a while ago that was good for removing the sticky stuff, i'm not sure, but i think it might have been sticky tape, just press the tape on to the sticky patch and rub firmly, then tear off. it might take a few goes, but i seem to remember it works really well. the only thing is i think it probably has to be clear sticky tape like sellotape, rather than a cloudy tape like scotch tape, i dont think scotch type tape would be strong enough

Trimethylbenzene (not sure of spelling) is what you need. I've got a product which the generic name of is "Tar & Glue Remover". It is used in the automotive industry (ie, car valeting). I'd have thought Halfords would have something like it.

Alternatively, Betterware do something (but in smaller quantities and more expensive) which is simply called "Sticky Stuff Remover" - but they don't say on the label what the active (or any at all) ingredients are.

Lighter fuel ? Hadn't thought of that.

I did go to the local halfords and get a tin of brake cleaner - unfortunately the only one they had was their own brand, and that doesn't contain Trichlorethane - it didn't work.

I've made some progress though, I found a tin of "Carb Cleaner" (a silkolene product) that is Xylene based. It took a long time to break the glue down and I had to try 2 or 3 times but I managed to get 2 of the "waste" jars clean enough to go in the dishwasher.

The type of glue that Frizbomb is refering to is probably the same stuff that they use to stick the paper labels onto the Tesco own brand honey jars - yes the dishwasher usually does the trick with them.

At least I have something that does the job eventually now. Though I'm still gonna keep looking for brake cleaner thats got the Trichlorethane in it - though I know it's getting harder and harder to obtain - I understand that there are some health issues attached to "Tric". I'm also gonna get a tin of lighter petrol as suggested by Rosti - afterall, if it doesn't work, I can always just put it in my Zippo!

Thanks for the suggestions all, if/when I find the definitive answer I'll post it. Afterall, I can't be the only person who uses "gales" honey, but also wants to reuse the jars !

p.s. Oh and my partner Clare "struck again" this morning. Except instead of Jam and Marmalade, this mornings efforts where Lemon Curd. It was terrible, I had to finish all of what didn't go in jars, on hot toast. Foul I tell you, foul

Hiya!

I've found that putting the sticky gluey jars in the dishwasher with a dishwasher tablet in on the hot cycle has worked for me in the past. The glue melts off and then is washed away (unless my dishwasher will eventually sieze with an overload of nasty sticky stuff!!) - not sure if you've tried that on the Gales jars?

The bomb

Have you tried lighter fluid? The swan one I have does say it removes sticky marks from labels etc.

Or is it already covered by one of the things you have used?

No, but the nail polish remover doesn't even seem to start the cleaning process (small snotty balls of glue that might be "harvested" with a dry cloth), which the evostik glue remover managed a little.

I'm thinking that I might try "brake cleaner" as it's "trichlorethane" (engineering cleaner) based, and should (theoretically) clean just about anything, so if the xxxx glue is oil/hydro-carbon base in any way it might do the trick. Though if it turns out to be silicone based in some way, I'm stuck for ideas!

have you tried pure acetone available from ships chandlers