I use a table vice. It's great! Good for electronics and holding things while you solder, and for opening jars!

I use a rubber glove, which I imagine works the same way -- most people will already have them floating around the kitchen. Works every time!

i just slam the corner of the lid on the ground or my countertop. the shock breaks the seal, and makes it super easy to open.

andwhile i use this method frequently, i've never broken a jar!

Yep, like jessiem I also always use rubber dish gloves. Works like a charm.

I have some of those rubber jar helpers too. Usually though, like Konar, I just tap the lid on the corner of the countertop a few times and use my super strength to open the jar.

Bottle opener. Use it to break the seal, and then twist open. Only method that has ever worked consistently for me.

I usually just use a rubber glove, but when that isn't enough, I make my can opener do double duty as a jar opener.

It's the cheapo kind you can find at any store -- like this -- with vinyl coverings on the handles. Basically the handles function as the grip that turns the lid.

Open the handles wide, put them around the edge of the jar lid, grip, and turn.

This is exactly what I use to open jars, and, has always worked like a charm!

I normally just hand it to my husband.. :)

I use a rubberband. Just wrap it around the top and turn.

I just throw the jar on the floor hard enough so it shatters, and then I pick out the shards of broken glass and scrape the contents back up. Simple!

J/K -- I also just hand it my husband ;-)

Rubber jar helpers. They are frequently freebie promotional give-aways at the State Fair.

I have one of these two.
So Effective!

i was having a hard time the other day with a salsa bottle. i usually put it under hot water for a while and then can open it, but always looking for new tricks.

I use thermodynamics. Any time a lid is stuck tight, I hold the lid (NOT the jar) under steaming hot tap water for five or ten seconds. The lid will expand and pop right off. If a lid puts up an extra serious fight I dip it briefly in boiling water (again, lid only). This has never failed.

I use rubber gloves as well. Work every time.

rubberbands work for me!

another vote for rubber band!

Good ideas-I usually just knock the handle of a knife or screwdriver around the rim and that usually does the trick.

I use rubber gloves and do the same thing rosebud does too. A few taps with the edge of a butterknife in 3-4 spots at the edge of a lid (just hard enough to make a little dent) will break the seal.

Huh. I didn't think I'd be the only one to say this, but maybe I'm weirder than I thought.

I keep a strap wrench in the kitchen. It's almost infinitely adjustable, so it will open anything from a stuck soy sauce bottle to a five gallon jar of pickles.

Not a cheap choice, I suppose, but I like the way it looks in my utensil jar on the counter and how I never ever have to strain at all.

i use a rubberized jar opener like this - i think they were 4 for $1 at the dollar store, as well as some of the other methods described here - heating the lid under hot water and banging on the lid with a utensil. every jar is different.

RMkoske: You sound like an engineer to me! Meaning you sound just like my sister. I should totally get her a strap wrench for her birthday.

deliriumsama - not an engineer, but I'm flattered. *grin* My father taught me working on cars that if you're straining, you don't have the right tool, and then one day I used a strap wrench out of desperation trying to open a can of sealed-shut contact cement. It worked perfectly and I was sold on it.

I have a flat, square silicone potholder that I also use as a "trivet" to set hot dishes on. Works like a charm!

I've had two little squares of this exact stuff in my drawer for a few years now! Coupled with banging the jar upside down on the counter, it has never failed me.

I use a screwdriver under the rim to pry up the top until the seal pops. Works like a charm when rubber gloves or a rubber jar opener aren't nearby.

I've always used the handle of a heavy (not sharp) knife to whack the edge of the lid in a couple of places and the it opens right up.

If I know I'm going to use everything in the jar then I just poke the top of the lid with a sharp knife.

Eh...I guess I'm fortunate because I've never had to use more than my hands. I've always been able to get it.

hehe...we had those scraps growing up. For a long time I never knew they were supposed to be anything BUT jar openers!

When all else fails, take the handle of a table knife (the heavier end) and knock/bounce it against the lid, going around the edge, three or four times. I don't know why, but it works like a charm.

I bang on the lid's perimeter with a butter knife.

same thing basically...
I had one of those non skid pads that went under a carpet...I cut it up and gave them away to everyone I know.

I use my cutlery!

I've got an issue with my right wrist which means I don't have much strength in it, but since I hate handing things over to other people to do, I've found ways around it :)

I originally used knives, but since I've purchased a lovely set I don't want to ruin their tips, now I use the thin handle end of the teaspoon and wedge it into the thread of the jar and it forces it open enough to break the seal, then a quick twist and the lid is off.

On particularly stubborn ones I run the lid under hot water to assist in breaking the seal.

I use a Tupperware jar opener... It's flat, rubber, bright orange and fits basically anywhere. I put it behind a magnet to keep the magnet from marking my fridge.

My friends call it a "flatman". Because it opens things like a man, but it's flat. Huh. I've always said "Jar Opener".

W bad arthritis in my hands I need help. I had a gadget from oxo good grips (http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Good-Grips-Jar-Opener/dp/B00004OCIV), that I truly regret passing on to a friend. IT was ergonomic, compact and worked like a dream.

My new one from (http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=182389) is so clunky by comparison - hate it!