Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/23/worlds-best-jar-lid-opener-2.html
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Isn’t that true of all wives?
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Another useful tool for opening jars is a pad to prevent your hand from slipping - I use this, albeit purchased more cheaply from my local grocery store instead of through Amazon.
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There’s also a Maxi JarKey for tall lids: http://www.brixdesign.com/414/maxi-jarkey-abs-jar-opener
Similarly to Warren, I use rubber-coated kevlar kitchen gloves to increase my grip. It also helps to briefly invert the jar and hold the inverted lid under running water. That way the rubber seal gets lubricated both outside and inside and makes the job just a little bit easier. I try really hard not to bend the lid. Things spoil fast enough in my fridge without me helping things along by ensuring the lid will never seal correctly again. rubber coated kevlar kitchen gloves
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You know what else works great for breaking that seal, and is probably something you already have in your kitchen? A table knife. Or, really, any flat stiff item you can stick under the lid and twist, breaking the seal.
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Ya I have a drawer full of seal beakers that double as teaspoons. Multi-function tools are the best!
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Give the job to an octopus.
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Cap Snaffler! One of Ron Popeil’s best.
In a pinch, wrap a wide rubber band around the lid; twist.
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So am I the only one who bangs the jar on the counter?
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It’s what I use, and it opens all but the most stubborn of lids for me. I wonder if a jarkey would take care of the rest.
If you use warm water, it will expand the metal (but not the glass) making it a bit looser.
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So, my mom uses something like that because the operations for her carpal tunnel syndrome have radically reduced her grip strength. And they do work, but for someone with normal grip strength, something that reduces slip (or this key) is proably all you need.
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Real Men use an oil filter chain wrench.
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One technique I have not yet seen mentioned. Grasp the lid tightly, turn the jar. Usually the jar has a larger radius than the lid, which means turning the outside of the jar applies a little more torque. The larger the difference between lid radius and jar radius, the larger the advantage of this method.
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This type is still unbeatable.
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Table knife doesn’t work nearly as well as this, and is more likely to damage the lid or chip the jar rim.
I spent years prying at vacuum-lidded jars with knives and can openers and whatnot, and this is much simpler and easier. Slides on; goes pop; first time, every time.
And it doesn’t turn your airtight reusable storage jars into “almost airtight, but not quite” storage jars. (-:
It’s a worthy addition to any kitchen gadget drawer, even if you could manage to make do without it.
(Also available in a cast-aluminum version for plastics-avoiders.)
My grandparents had one of those! They do work, but honestly, a grippy plastic/rubber mat gets em all as long as you don’t need the extra leverage, and/or the vacuum isn’t tight enough to need to remove that first.
The benefit of the type your showing is that you could also break the vacuum seal if you deformed the lid enough, though then you could end up with a permanently non-fitting lid as a result. I was responsible for that at least once as a kid with that tool. 
