How To Clean Old Jars
If you have several containers I would fill the first up to the top line of the deposit with cheap strong vinegar then stir in a spoonful of bicarb.
How to clean old jars. The old wax and pieces will melt come to the surface and re. The labels should come off easily without any sticky residue. Then I washed the outside of the bottles and jars with hot soapy dishwater.
Then squirt a teaspoon of dish washing liquid into the full jar. This batch was particularly gross and covered in rust. Close the lid and shake.
White vinegar is effective to remove dried milk of magnesia though often requires an overnight soak. Place jar in the kitchen sink and fill it all the way to overflowing with HOT water. That removes most deposits of that sort.
You can also soak the candle jar in warm water for 30 minutesthis will release the wax from the bottom of the container so you can pull it out. Let sit for 24 hours. Washe and repeat as necessary.
Now some collectors would want the old used look lids but this look is not so much a patina like you would find on brass or bronze things so much as Baked on corrosives of vinegar and salts that have leached into the water bath. Pour in one cup of white vinegar per gallon of hot water. White film on canning jars is generally due to washing them in hard water.
Either way make sure all traces of soap are rinsed away. Rinse the affected glass item off or rinse it out if it is a vessel of some sort such as a vase or bottle. It will fizz up a.