New twist on old problem

When it comes to opening jars, are you a wedger in the door hinge, a not-to-be-beaten twister, straining and going red, or a curser who passes it to someone else? As Annie Makoff discovers, it could be time to try something new as, once again, it’s low tech (and at £4.99, low cost) that solves the darndest problems

Having always struggled opening pesky items like jars due to a hand deformity I’ve had since birth, I was rather sceptical about how well any jar opener would work. I’ve always got by without any need for help. My partner is the official jar opener in our household; failing that, I use the good old clamp-item-between-knees-clench-teeth-and-twist-lid-before-hand-is-put-out-of-joint technique. It never fails. Usually.

The scepticism that we disabled people have about gadgets that promise miracle results is too often confirmed when, once again, we find ourselves let down and left with yet another odd-looking piece of gear that’s no earthly use. This jaundiced me from an early age: when I was young, a well-meaning occupational therapist gave me a jar opener that was just a bit of shell-shaped rubber with textured sides. It was meant to help one’s grip. With a light squeeze and a bit of pressure (as if you were squeezing a lemon) the jar should have opened miraculously. It never did.

So I was nicely surprised by how well the Easi-Twist jar opener worked. Even though I was still thinking as I was using it, “na, this is rubbish, it will never work”, hey-presto, work it did! It even makes that satisfying ‘scwaaaarps!’ noise when the lid finally gives away and slides deliciously from its container. Result!

Even so, I continued to be sceptical and decided that the lid had been put on too loosely by the factory. My partner duly tightened it and after proving to me that even he couldn’t open it again, I tried again with my trusty opener. It worked. I was even more impressed.     

I still needed two hands – one to grip the jar lid in the opener, the other to stop the jar from skidding across the kitchen work surface. A disaster waiting to happen, surely. But it worked pretty well. I didn’t need to apply much pressure at all. It felt vaguely satisfying.

Helpfully, the Easi-Twist has four different sections for different sized lids. This means you can have great fun (no, really) working out which size fits best. The part where you grip is also slightly corrugated so fingers can fit neatly into the grooves.    

It’s such a ridiculously simple design, I still can’t fathom how it works as well as it does – but it does, with hardly any effort at all (apart from the size matching, of course).

More info: http://wackypracticals.com/easi-twist-jar-opener