What’s the Difference between Jars and Bottles?

Jars and bottles are probably one of the most common container units when it comes to consumers. They are seen in the food, medicine, and utility sectors, and they won’t be changed anytime soon because of their perfect design. However, there are major differences when it comes to these 2 containers.

Bottles and jars are both containers, but their designs tell a different story. Their use cases and sealing methods highly differ from one another and yet people seem to overlap or get confused with what these containers can do. It’s also good to take note that maximizing a storage unit is good in the long run since they also help in controlling space. Storage units ultimately help in de cluttering, sorting, and being portable, identifying what their uses are a great way to create perfect space.

To further explain their difference, here are the 2 major points between Jars and Bottles.

Opening Difference

Obvious as it may seem, jars and bottles can be easily distinguished by their openings. Jars have a wider opening to accommodate solid and liquid items. This means that it can store a wider variety of items without much hassle. They also allow users to either pour or scoop out the items. Having a wider opening means that it also has a wide top cover that is perfect for stacking multiple jars.

Bottles on the other hand, have a narrow opening which is designed for liquids and really small solids. This design is due to the fact that bottles are more of a consumer grade item rather than a storage unit. This means that a major contributing factor of the bottle’s design is being able to be easily used by people.

Bottles are more known to carry drinks such as soft drinks, liquor and juices. They can be consumed as quickly as they are opened or they can be sealed again so that one can savor their drink. One of the major benefits of the bottle’s narrow opening is being able to apply a tighter seal to make sure that the drink can stay as fresh as possible.

The current design of both opening may overlap with each other on some occasions but it’s good to note that the uses is what separates the containers from one another.

Sealing Methods

Because of their openings having different designs, the sealing methods are also very different. This is very important since seals help users plan which item they will be storing inside these containers. It’s also great to note that sealing methods greatly differ when it comes to container size.

Jars have a bigger opening therefore the usual sealing methods are screw lids. Jars used to have corks for lids but since corks in jars are very hard to utilize, the screw lids have become the staple. Screw lids are perfect for storage and reuse since they provide an air tight lock for the jar. Screw lids also help make sure that food is safe from contaminants and that the item’s smell won’t leak outside the container. Companies also add in an extra security layer to their container with the method of vacuum sealing. This is to make sure that the lid is sealed tightly and won’t compromise the integrity and freshness of the contents inside. It also adds a tamper evident layer since the lid will be popped up that the vacuum seal has been broken.

Bottles have a bit more variety when it comes to lids, they can come in screw lids or corks. However, bottles are mostly designed for quick consumption and recycling so the idea of reuse is not as accommodating compared to jars.Bottle lids are also designed with food safety and tamper evidence. The bottle lids are made with one time lock systems to create an extra security layer for protection and also as a tamper evidence. This kind of locking system is very convenient since it’s easier to notice and less problematic for the users.

Bonus Content

Difference of Glass and Plastic

Bottles and jars are mostly made up of glass and plastic. These 2 base items are the benchmark when it comes to containers, however, plastics and glasses have different qualities and use cases that one should consider before they buy any container.

Glass containers tend to be more used in food items that are temperature sensitive, since glass containers are more temperature friendly than plastic containers. This is why we see some food packaging that have temperature guidelines, because this also considers the container’s limit or effects on temperature.

Plastic containers are more for the dry and everyday portable items like pills, baby food and salves. Portability is also one of the major qualities of plastic items since they don’t weigh as much as glass and they don’t break easily when they come in contact with other stuff.

Weight is also major concern since stacking is a major component when it comes to containers. Most users would buy a lot of containers and will probably stack them on storages. Stacking plastics containers are safer while glasses can easily break if they go beyond their weight limit.Recycling is also a different story when it comes to these 2 materials since glass and plastics are recycled differently. Glass is considered to be 100% recyclable. but according to the glass packaging institute, it’s not that easy. 

There are other types of glass that needs to be considered before they get recycled. For plastics, recycling is a bit harder since it’s also state dependent. Plastic recycling differs from every state, so one should check on what are their state’s guidelines when it comes to recycling.

Different Containers for Different Purposes

Bottles and jars can easily overlap in terms of usage since both can carry liquids or small solids. However, one should understand that each container has different purposes and limits. Understanding what each container can offer can easily help anyone find the container that’s right for them.

Check out the Plastics 101 guide article to know more about plastics and to know more about ePackageSupply’s bottles and jars, head over to this page.