{"id":1500,"date":"2026-09-30T13:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/?p=1500"},"modified":"2026-09-30T13:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:51:17","slug":"best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every November I pull the cupboard apart and find one jar I can&#8217;t name. Last year it was a pint of something dark and oily with a lid gone the color of a penny left in the rain. No label, no date, and a ring of rust where the metal band had been sitting against damp glass since September. I unscrewed it, smelled it, and put it straight in the compost. That&#8217;s the moment I stopped treating storage as an afterthought.<\/p>\n<p>By now you&#8217;ve probably put up a fall&#8217;s worth of infused oils, tinctures, honeys, dried leaf, and salves, and in a few weeks some of it becomes gifts. The container decides whether that shelf looks good in January or turns into a row of small regrets. Here is what I actually reach for after thirty years, with the pros and cons of each, and the gaps I haven&#8217;t filled yet.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"cmg-supplies\"><p class=\"cmg-supplies__title\">What I store and gift my preparations in<\/p><div class=\"cmg-supplies__body\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B001DIZ1NO?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ball wide-mouth pint jars, 12-pack<\/a> \u2014 my workhorse for tinctures, infused oils, honey, and dried leaf and flower<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07V71SQPP?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2 oz salve and balm tins<\/a> \u2014 light-proof, pocket-sized, and the easiest thing to give away<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072V18F5L?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grade-90 cheesecloth<\/a> \u2014 for straining, and for covering a jar of infusing oil while it works<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00B3U0FW4?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beeswax<\/a> \u2014 what turns a strained oil into a salve that sets up in a tin<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07PNYG6J1?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jojoba oil<\/a> \u2014 a carrier that keeps well on the shelf, for salves and balms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/div><\/aside>\n<h2>Wide-mouth pint jars: the one I&#8217;d buy first<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-02-jars.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 jars\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>If I could own only one container, it would be a wide-mouth pint. I&#8217;ve used the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B001DIZ1NO?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ball wide-mouth pint jars<\/a> since before they came in twelve-packs, and a case of them has never once sat unused. The wide opening matters more than people expect. You can get a fistful of dried calendula in and out without crushing it, and you can pack a root or a handful of fresh leaf into a tincture and reach a spoon down to the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Pints are also the right size for most home batches. Enough oil to fill several tins, enough tincture that you&#8217;re not topping up every week, and small enough that a jar gets used before it goes stale. I keep a few quarts for bulk dried nettle, but for anything I&#8217;m putting up in fall, pints are what I grab.<\/p>\n<p>Now the honest part. The standard two-piece lid is steel, and steel rusts. Alcohol-based tinctures are mostly fine, but anything with vinegar, and anything that sweats a little condensation, will eat at the band and the underside of the lid within a season. I keep the bands off oil and vinegar jars once they&#8217;re sealed, or I switch to a plastic storage cap. The clear glass is also a real cost. It lets in every bit of light, so these jars live inside a closed cupboard or a cardboard box, never on a shelf you can see. And glass is glass: pour hot infused oil into a cold jar and you&#8217;ll learn about thermal shock the loud way. I warm the jar under the tap first.<\/p>\n<p>If you want a fuller walk through what goes into these jars, my guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-store-dried-herbs-so-they-last\">storing dried herbs so they last<\/a> covers the dry side in detail.<\/p>\n<h2>Small tins: for salves, balms, and gifts<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-03-tins.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 tins\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>A salve wants a small, sealed, dark container, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07V71SQPP?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2 oz metal tin<\/a> is exactly that. Two ounces is a sensible amount to open and use up before it&#8217;s been handled too long, and a tin has no light to fade the contents. Pour the warm salve straight in, let it set a few hours undisturbed, and put the lid on the next morning. A batch from a half-pint of infused oil fills me about eight or nine tins, which is a fair stack of gifts from one afternoon. If you haven&#8217;t made one before, <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-make-your-first-herbal-salve\">my first-salve walkthrough<\/a> takes it from infused oil to set balm.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s where tins let you down. The lids are a friction fit on some and a screw on others, and either can loosen in a coat pocket, so I wipe the rim clean before closing or the salve creeps out and glues the lid on. A tin dented in the mail will never seat properly again. They also aren&#8217;t for anything water-based. Damp and bare metal make rust, and a rusted tin is a ruined gift. Tins are for oil-and-wax preparations and dry powders only, and I never store anything wet in them.<\/p>\n<p>For a salve you&#8217;ll want good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00B3U0FW4?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">beeswax<\/a> to set it. I like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07PNYG6J1?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jojoba<\/a> as a carrier because it has kept longer on my shelf than any of the olive or sunflower oils I&#8217;ve tried, though I still date every tin.<\/p>\n<h2>Cheesecloth: not a container, but it earns its place<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-04-cheesecloth.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 cheesecloth\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I include cheesecloth because half of storage is what happens before the lid goes on. A doubled square of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072V18F5L?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grade-90 cheesecloth<\/a> strains the plant matter out of an oil or tincture so nothing is left sitting in the jar to spoil. Fine bits of leaf left in an oil are how you get a cloudy, short-lived batch. Strain twice if the first pass looks murky.<\/p>\n<p>I also rubber-band a square over the mouth of a jar of oil that&#8217;s still infusing, so the air can move and nothing crawls in. The cons are plain. It sheds lint on the first wash, it stains for good with anything dark like elderberry, and I treat a square as a single-season item. It&#8217;s cheap enough that I don&#8217;t mind.<\/p>\n<h2>Where I don&#8217;t have a pick yet<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-05-gap.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 gap\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Tinctures really want an amber dropper bottle for the little ones you give away, and I don&#8217;t have a listing I&#8217;d stand behind yet. I&#8217;m not going to point you at one to fill the gap. For now I decant small gift amounts into clean small glass bottles and keep the main supply in a pint jar in the dark. When I find a dropper bottle whose dropper doesn&#8217;t perish and whose glass doesn&#8217;t chip at the neck, I&#8217;ll say so.<\/p>\n<h2>How I label, date, and shelve a year&#8217;s batch<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-06-label.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 label\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The container is half of it. The rest is a routine I&#8217;ve kept for decades. Every jar and tin gets a label with the plant, what it is (oil, tincture, honey, dried leaf), and the month and year. I write on masking tape, since it peels off clean, and I write small on a tin lid because a stack of them looks identical in a drawer.<\/p>\n<p>Shelving is simple. Dark, cool, and dry. A closed cupboard on an inside wall, not above the stove and not near the sink where steam climbs. Here on the Olympic Peninsula, the damp between November and March is the real enemy, so I check my dry goods for any fog inside the glass at the first of each month. Leave a little headroom, about an inch, in a jar of oil so you can shake it and so it doesn&#8217;t push at the lid.<\/p>\n<p>A few rules I keep by preparation. Oils and salves go in the dark and get used within the year. Alcohol tinctures are the most forgiving and keep well in a sealed pint. Anything water-based, like a syrup or a vinegar, goes in the refrigerator and gets used fast, and never in a tin. Honeys keep on the shelf but I still date them. If a jar smells off, cloudy, or sour when you open it, I toss it. I don&#8217;t argue with my nose.<\/p>\n<h2>What I&#8217;d buy first<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/best-jars-and-tins-for-storing-herbal-preparations-07-buy.jpg\" alt=\"Best Jars and Tins for Storing Herbal Preparations \u2014 buy\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Start with a case of the wide-mouth pint jars. Everything you make this fall can go into one, and none of it is wasted if you never buy a second thing. Add a small stack of 2 oz tins only if you&#8217;re making salves or planning gifts, and a square or two of cheesecloth for straining. The amber droppers can wait until you find a good one.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re making gifts for December, <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-make-herbal-gift-sets-for-the-holidays\">my holiday gift set walkthrough<\/a> pairs well with a shelf of labeled jars, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-make-an-herbal-infused-oil\">infused oil guide<\/a> is worth a read before you fill anything. A jar is only as good as what goes in it, and I&#8217;d rather you gather with care. If you&#8217;re working with anything foraged, confirm the identification with multiple reputable sources, and when in doubt, leave it.<\/p>\n<p>That question, what goes on the shelf and how the generations before us kept and prepared it, is what I spent most of my time on in my book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0H25WDQ35?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants<\/em><\/a>: 115 wild plants of this coast, how to tell each from its look-alikes, when to gather, and how each has traditionally been put up. A good jar keeps what you make. The book helps you decide what&#8217;s worth making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The best jars for storing herbal preparations: the pint jars and small tins I actually use, what rusts or leaks, and how I label and shelve a year&#8217;s batch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-1500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foraging","tag-affiliate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1547,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions\/1547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}