DIY Replacing Rubber Jar Seals

Bren20 on 02/05/2020 - 18:54

I am wanting to replace the seals on a large number of 'bail lid' glass jars - maybe 20 jars total. You can buy replacement seals in packs of 5 but the jars are a range of sizes, so I can't easily buy a pack of new seals to fit all the jars.

I'm wanting to DIY so I can make various sizes, but I can't find a cheap source to cut them from
A youtube video suggests using foam board - this would be a cheap solution but I'm not convinced the resulting seals would be airtight
Does anyone have any advice on this? Any suitable and cheap sources for the material?

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Comments

  • Stewardo on 02/05/2020 - 19:12

    Aren’t they “Ball” jars?
    Amazon prime has them

    • D C on 02/05/2020 - 20:05
      +1

      “Ball” jars?

      Ball jars are screw tops, bail jars have the wire spring clip thingy.

  • D C on 02/05/2020 - 20:08
    +2

    suggests using foam board

    Not sure it that would work. May cut out one of the silicone cooking sheets, might be a bit thin.

    Neoprene rubber should work. Waterproof, no problem with oils, heat etc. Easy to cut.

    • Bren20 on 02/05/2020 - 22:00

      Thanks, do you know if I'll need to buy "food grade" Neoprene rubber, or should Anything work? Would this be fine?
      I was thinking the same about cooking sheets, I might head in to the reject shop and see what they have

      • D C on 02/05/2020 - 23:18
        +1

        "food grade"

        Thinking about it, neoprene won't be food safe as it's a foam. The material isn't the problem, but you'll have voids where you cut it, and that's where the bacteria will hang out.

        Stick with the silicone or see if someone like Clarke Rubber have something suitable.

    • Bren20 on 02/05/2020 - 21:40

      Yeah but these are all the same size, need mixed sizes!

  • eyeballz2770 on 03/05/2020 - 15:16

    Silicone sheets might be an idea for cutting your own sizes. They're meant for making gaskets. I don't know how different they are to silicone baking materials but since the rings won't be in direct contact with food, it's up to you.

    These are the first two results that opened up and seemed right for the job. I have zero knowledge of them, personally.
    https://www.swiftsupplies.com.au/silicone-rubber/
    https://www.industrialgaskets.com.au/soft%20silicone%20rubbe…

  • Bren20 on 10/05/2020 - 12:07

    I ended up measuring a bunch of the jars, they're all pretty similar sizes so I bought a few different sizes of seals to try out. The seals should have a bit of stretch in them so i'm hoping the sizes I bought will do the job

    For anyone stumbling across this thread in the future, i bought my replacement seals from ozfarmer, they sold a pack of 24 seals for $8.50, far cheaper than i saw elsewhere

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