Jars really are the unsung heroes within the home, serving a million purposes in every room (and nook and cranny). From kitchen storage to floral vases and even DIY wind chimes, jars are one of the most useful and budget-friendly vessels to keep around, especially those you can reuse after you’ve finished the food. The trickiest part of reusing glass containers that held edibles is the smell: some scents can linger no matter how many times you wash them with soap and water, or how often you try the simple oven trick that sterilizes jars. So how do you get rid of these aromas to ensure they aren’t affecting whatever you upcycle your vessel into? One option on the internet is the easiest trick to try: leaving jars out in the sun. This method is said to eliminate scents and leave your glass fresh (even as good as new), but does this actually work? The only way to find out is to test the theory, so I grabbed a few jars to give it a try!

The reason the sun hack could potentially help eliminate odors in your food jars is because strong UV rays can help rid surfaces or in this case the interior of your jar of the bacteria that causes strong scents. The sun is considered a decontaminant, which is why it’s so tough on bacteria. Extreme heat is often useful in cleaning and sanitizing, so it makes sense that it could work on your jars. This also helps to prep your jars for new food items you plan to store (like dried goods or any other ingredients), since it’s clearing away any bacteria.

The obvious place to start is to thoroughly wash out each jar. I decided to use a few pickle jars and a sauerkraut jar to test the effectiveness of this hack with various scents. After thoroughly washing and drying the jars using dish soap and water, I took them outside and placed them in direct sunlight, along with the jar lids (which I also washed thoroughly). These I placed upside down so the underside was toward the sun. I decided to leave the jars outside for 24 hours, though one social media user said you can also just allow them to soak up the UV rays for a few hours if you prefer.

I checked them again the following day, and the scent of both pickles and sauerkraut was gone. Before I put them outside I had given each jar a sniff to see how pungent they were after just using soap. While they weren’t very strong or scented, there was still a little leftover aroma from the food. This lingering odor was gone completely after 24 hours in the sun.

I decided to bring the jars inside and leave them on the counter for another few hours just to make sure the smell had completely subsided. I screwed the lids back on so that if there were any aromas from the sauerkraut or pickles left, they would be noticeable when I reopened the jars. After about six hours, I revisited each jar and noted that the smells were in fact completely cleared. While the food scents were not super strong after washing out the glass, it does seem like the sun trick helped to eradicate any remaining hints of what had been in the jar before.

I gave each jar another wash as they had been outside in the elements, let them dry, and now they are ready to use for a variety of household storage needs. While I can’t be completely certain this would work with every jar that has contained pungent foods, it definitely works on edibles like pickles and sauerkraut, which are usually household refrigerator staples. 

This clever and simple hack is definitely one I will use again to clear out old food jars and prep them for other items. Rather than throwing out your glass jars, give this a try to make them reusable for anything from dry storage to decorative creations. Thanks to the UV rays and a little scrubbing power, you will always have storage (or a glass container to upcycle) on hand. If you have a jar that holds onto a food scent despite washing and leaving it in the sun, one of the most clever ways to use baking soda in the kitchen is as a deodorizer. 

For those really smelly jars, you can try adding baking soda and warm water before shaking it to disperse the mixture all around the interior. Since baking soda can neutralize odors, this might help with many food jars. Most glass bottles and jars are resilient to heat, as well, which means your glass should be fine when kept in the sun for longer amounts of time. There is always the potential that extreme heat can damage some glass, so make sure to keep an eye on your pieces while they are outside and avoid leaving them in really hot temperatures for too long if you’re worried about this.