I grew up using Smuckers Jam jars to store my dyes in.  They were a good size, and wide-mouthed, but they were glass (breakable) and the lids were metal.  After a year or two the lids would start rusting from the water and vinegar, and crumble away into the dye.  You couldn’t replace them easily, unless you ate more jam.....

And they were heavy, and you had to be careful when putting eggs in--if they bounced too hard against the glass, the eggs could crack.

My cousin Vera came up with a solution–plastic storage jars that she bought at Meijer’s.  They weren’t cheap, but sealed well, the lids didn’t rust, and they were light weight.  I bought a bunch.  And then one day I tried mixing a new jar of dye–and the jar melted. Ooops!  I learned to mix up the dyes in glass, and then pour them into my dye jars once they’d cooled. Problem solved!

And then the store stopped selling those jars.  I switched to Chinese restaurant soup jars.  I love hot and sour soup, and would by it at the local restaurant.  The jars were great–heat resistant, and held a quart.  It was a bit more than I liked, but better more space than less, and it made dyeing goose eggs easier.  But the tops were not screw on, they were pressed into place; taking them off sometimes involved splashing.

And one day I saw, in the store, ZipLoc round Twist n Loc containers. They were leakproof, heatproof, and made of nice heavy duty plastic. They stack. Perfect. I bought a bunch, and have been using nothing else since.

NOTE:  You can buy generic equivalents, often more cheaply.  Those sold by Gordon Food Service are quite nice.  DO NOT mix lids between different brands–they may not seal properly, and you’ll get leakage.  And watch out for dollar store jars–they may not be Type 5 plastic (not heat resistant), and may not be meant for liquids (not leakproof).

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