Customer Reviews

OXO Good Grips Jar Opener

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This jar opener was one of my favorite gifts from my bridal shower! I was sick of using those rubber pads; not only did they tear easily, but also they didn't work very well. So far, OXO's version has been a big improvement: the little metal grips easily take hold of most lids, and with a simple twist, the lid is off cleanly and neatly. I have found that the unit can sometimes slip, especially with a very small lid, but if you use it carefully and on a firm surface, you should have mostly success, as I have.

The handle sure is comfortable, just as you'd expect from OXO. Unfortunately this jar opener does not work all that well. Instead of gripping the jar lid with non-slip rubber, it grips it with metal teeth. These sometimes slip off rather than gripping. And when they do grip, the usually leave quite a mark in the jar lid -- sometimes even cutting through very thin lids. Often takes 2-3 tries to open a single jar.

Skip this product and instead buy a jar opener that grips the jar lid with rubber or a similar non-skid, non-damaging material.

The opener is too fragile for the task. The serrated blade is held in place by thin, brittle plastic that is easily broken if one inadvertantly twists or "levers" the handle even slightly up from the plane of the lid - easy to do with a tight lid.

Should you decide to use it, try to keep the body of the opener pressed flat against the cap - easier said than done when trying to stabilize the jar and get leverage on the tool handle.

Being relatively young and arthritis-free (at least for now), I don't usually have any problems twisting off jar lids. But, once in a blue moon, I get that one jar that almost requires explosives to pop the top off it. And I hate opening one of these with just my bare hands. Fortunately, I found this little device, which has a good sure-grip handle, which acts as a fulcrum to apply the necessary leverage and loosening force, but with significantly less effort than I would if I did the job bare-handed. Just secure the gripper onto the cap, give it a firm, but not-too-hard turn, and another almost-impossible-to-open jar is rendered easily accessible! The opener's metal gripper teeth do dig into the lids a bit, but never to the point of turning them into injury hazards (danger of cutting yourself on the grooves the teeth leave on the lid) in the cases I've used it.

All in all, this labor-saving device is a simple, yet very helpful and highly valuable kitchen helper!

`Late

I have tendonitis in my hands, and this makes opening jars a bit difficult at times. There isn't always someone else around to open them so we picked up the OXO jar opener to give me a hand. It's a funky thing, combining one of OXO's large, soft rubber Good Grips handles with a fan-shaped piece of plastic that grips the edges of a jar lid in metal teeth, grasping it and giving you leverage with which to twist.

You simply slide the fan over the lid until the lid can't sit any further inside the edges, which means it'll adjust to fit a wide variety of lid sizes. The teeth grip, and you twist, holding onto the Good Grips handle.

The good: That handle is very comfortable for hurt hands to use. It also gives plenty of leverage and thus works fairly well in opening jars.

The bad: The teeth don't grip perfectly, sometimes slipping a bit, so it still requires a bit of hand strength to push the opener on securely enough to work. Also, it didn't take too long before the metal teeth-strip along one side just came right out of our jar opener.

For some reason our OXO products don't seem to last all that long or hold together all that well, although most people I talk to don't have so much trouble with them. Perhaps it's just that we put our kitchen things through a whole lot of use; maybe if we were less intensely active in the kitchen it wouldn't be a problem. Regardless, the good thing is that their products are designed so well in other ways, and usually not too expensive given that, that we keep buying replacements instead of simply going with other companies. I do believe the jar opener is a handy item, particularly for occasional use. Just be aware that it might not stand up to heavy use.

This device has been a real help. It opens almost any everyday sized product with a minimum of effort. I recommend this to anyone with arthritis, fibromyalgia or any problem that causes weakness of the hands.

I love this jar opener. I'd give it a 5, but it does occasionally slip off the jar (what opener doesn't?) and it does leave grooves in the lid at times. However, 9 times out of 10, it does an effortless job of opening even the toughest jars. I've even used it on plastic bottle tops for sticky Karo Syrup, and soda tops that have pressurized themselves onto the bottle. The positives far outweigh the negatives with this tool. It's size is great, too! It's able to accomodate small caps to large jar lids. I even catch my old jar opener (my husband!) using it once in a while :)

This Jar Opener was given to me as a wedding gift with several other OXO tools. I love the other items but this thing isn't even good for a door stop. It doesn't open any of the jars I've tried it on, just does a good job of scratching the lids up.

I haven't found a jar opener that works better than this one, even though it isn't perfect. The lever action works much better than the kind that require you to grip the jar lid and turn, but the "teeth" will occasionally slip and scratch the jar lids.

Works really well on plastic lids.

I had the same experience as another Oxo Good Grips customer. The teeth broke off the plastic holders on the first jar I tried it on. I later opened it with my bare hands. A total waste of money. I wish I could find one of those old metal ones that mounts on the wall....