How To Remove Lingering Food Smells From Glass Jars Without Lifting A Finger

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Banning odors from the kitchen is a never-ending quest, especially since some of the most delicious foods — garlic, fish, kimchi — can have strong smells. There are plenty of low-cost methods people use to tackle this issue, from repurposing coffee grounds to soak up fridge smells to baking silicone ice cube trays to get rid of lingering odors. When it comes to glass jars, the best method is one that is completely free and that barely requires any work: placing them in the sun.

This time-honored method may seem like an old wives' tale, but science actually backs it up. Ultraviolet light breaks down chemical compounds that are responsible for odors. In other words, the sun eliminates smells. UV light is so effective that researchers are working with it to see if it can be applied to industrial food production that requires live (and smelly) animals. While they're using specialized equipment, their work shows how effective UV light can be at combating unwanted smells.

To use this method, wash your glass jars and lids and then place them under the sun for a few hours. The more direct exposure, the better. If you don't have outdoor access, place them by a window that receives sunlight and leave them there for as long as possible.

Besides doing away with bad smells, the sun also has the incredible ability to sterilize utensils. In fact, UV light has been found to eliminate as much as 95% of airborne pathogens. Some popular purifiers, like the Steripen personal sterilizer, use UV light to turn questionable water into safe drinking water by killing viruses and harmful bacteria. Going by the same principle, monks in many Korean Buddhist temples dry their bowls directly under the sun to disinfect them, believing this to be more hygienic than drying them with towels. Given how gross kitchen towels are, they're probably right.

This isn't to say that the sun should replace other sanitizing practices, like thoroughly washing your glass jars. Rather, it's an effective and completely free tool that can be used in addition to other methods. The same goes for vanishing smells. For the best results, you can soak the jars with baking soda and/or vinegar and then place them in the sun. If the odors linger even after being exposed to the mighty powers of the giant helium sphere that dominates our solar system, it might simply be time to replace your jars.