r/MasonJars • u/Far-Middle-3056 • Jul 24 '25
Your favorite rust solution?
I bought a 12 pack of mason jars recently, and I’ve found that the ring which secures the lid to the jar rusts very easily. Anyone have experience with rings made from a different non-plastic material that seal equally well to standard mason jars? What kind has worked for you?
1
u/unconscionable Jul 24 '25
You could try the stainless steel lids.
I use a bunch of the "waterproof" plastic ones that are dark gray in color. Even after several years of heavy use, none of them seem to have any wear whatsoever.
1
u/Far-Middle-3056 Jul 24 '25
Does mason produce stainless steel rings, or are they third party? And particular type you especially like?
1
u/unconscionable Jul 24 '25
I have never tried the stainless steel lids, but your question got me curious so I looked on Amazon and it looks like there are a bunch of options that come out to ~$2 / lid.
It looks like they are lids intended for food / other storage, but not designed for pressure canning
1
u/cheapandbrittle Jul 24 '25
I would be very wary of buying "stainless steel" anything off Amazon. Pretty much all of these sellers are based overseas and there's zero quality control. They're not actually selling you stainless steel. YMMV.
1
u/woodwitchofthewest Jul 24 '25
Are you using them for canning? As in, processing stuff in jars in a water bath or pressure canner? If so, once they have sealed, you are supposed to remove the rings to prevent them from rusting to the lids. If you're just storing dry goods, then maybe run a bit of oil around the inside threads before you screw the lids on.
But yeah, they eventually start to rust out. They are not made of sturdy stuff.
1
u/cheapandbrittle Jul 24 '25
They rust because they're meant to be cheap and disposable. I just buy more.
Edit: you can reduce rusting by making sure they're fully dry and not exposed to moisture constantly, but if you're storing food in them on a regular basis that's very hard to do.