How To Loosen Jammed Glass Stoppers

American Soap Journal and Manufacturing Chemist, Volumes 11-13:

 1. Hold the bottle or decanter firmly in the hand or between the knees and gently tap the stopper on alternate sides using for the purpose a small piece of wood and directing the strokes upward.  

2. Plunge the neck of the vessel in hot water taking care that the water is not hot enough to split the glass. If the stopper is still fixed use the first method.  

3. Pass a piece of lint or stout string around the neck of the bottle which must be held fast while two persons draw the lint backward and forward. 

4. Warm the neck of the vessel before the fire, and when it is nearly hot, the stopper can be removed. 

5. Put a few drops of oil around the stopper where it enters the glass vessel which may then be warmed before the fire. Then apply process No 1. If the stopper still continues immovable, repeat the above process until it gives way, which it is almost sure to do in the end. 

6. Take a steel pin or needle and run it around the top of the stopper in the angle formed by it and the bottle. Then hold the vessel in your left hand and give it a steady twist toward you with the right and it will very soon be effectual. If this does not succeed try process No. 5 which will be facilitated by it.