All You Need Is Duct Tape To Open Those Extra-Stubborn Glass Jars

That jar isn't budging. Your palms are burning, knuckles white from gripping, and somehow this innocent container of olives has become your nemesis for the afternoon. Before you choose to abandon your snack plans entirely and settle for something that doesn't require this level of combat, check if you've got a roll of duct tape anywhere around the house — it could be exactly what you need to deal with that stubborn jar.

Duct tape's superpower is sticking to things, which makes it perfect for gripping a stubborn lid — even if that seems counterintuitive at first. Tear off a piece about four inches long and line up the tape's edge with the lid's rim. This part matters because you cannot let any tape touch the actual jar body, or you'll just be fighting yourself when you try to twist it open.

Press that first strip down firmly. Add a second piece overlapping the first to build your handle. Hold the jar steady. Pull the tape straight out (don't twist, just pull), and that stubborn seal suddenly gives way like it was never really stuck to begin with. The tape peels off clean, leaving no residue, just you and your newly accessible pickles and the small victory of solving a problem without buying another single-purpose kitchen gadget.

Outside of stuck jars, there are plenty of other ways duct tape can help you in the kitchen. When you run out of labels for your freezer containers and need to mark which batch of soup is which before everything becomes mystery stew in three months, duct tape works perfectly if you don't have freezer tape handy or a label maker, as it accepts permanent markers and peels away clean when you're ready to reuse the container. Bag of flour won't close properly? A small strip creates an airtight seal that keeps pantry pests out. You can even use it to bundle herb stems together for drying in your air fryer or to create makeshift piping bags by folding parchment paper and sealing the edges with tape.

One thing though: heat is duct tape's enemy. Don't use it near your oven's heating element or close to your stove's burners because the heat will cause it to lose its stickiness or, at worst, become a fire hazard. But duct tape proves what the best kitchen hacks already know — not every solution has to look elegant or Instagram-worthy. It really just has to work.