[ContainerTed]

I always take a sharpie and write the month and year on the lid. No labels to come off or get smudged. It won't wash off. But each of us has their own methods and they are all good as long they work when needed.

I also let the jars stand on a table for at least 72 hours before I commit them to my storage area. Even with this, I've still had one jar lose its seal in the last 7 years. I do about 250 to 300 jars (or more) each year. Everything from applesauce to jams to tomatillos - lots of tomatoes - and we freeze a lot of corn, some green beans, peas, sliced peppers, and okra.

Worth, I like your method of combating the rust problem, but I keep rings on everything and just go ahead and replace the rings on anything that contained tomatoes - no exceptions - and everything else gets a close inspection. New tomato jars always get new rings.