Six months ago I bought two non-spill pots like this.

When new, their push-on lids were tight-fitting. I put Ilocut cutting oil in one of them and used it for about three months before I noticed that the lid had become very loose, to the point where it could be lifted off the pot with just the weight of the empty pot pulling down on it.

Since this non-spill pot had now become a "spill pot" I deployed the second pot, whose lid was still nice and tight at this point, as it was when originally purchased. Three months later,though, the lid on this second pot is just as loose as the first one was after three months.

I don't understand the chemistry of why putting oil in the pot makes the plastic shrink, but if anyone can recommend a specific non-shrinking non-spill pot I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for the replies.

Michael, it's Ilocut 154, yes.

I don't know whether the lid has expanded or the pot shrunk, but I assume the latter from that fact that, most of the time, significantly more oil is in contact with the pot than with the lid.

Either way, the pots are now unusable, as two accidental spillages have already attested.

ETA: I don't know whether the two plastics are the same, but the lid is coloured whilst the pot is translucent.

I tried that, Maurice. Access to the oil through a simple hole wasn't quick enough for me, though, even when I bonded an inverted shower cord pull in the lid to guide the brush down into the oil.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 30/07/2023 18:52:43

Thanks for that, Michael.

The second of my mysterious shrinking pots/expanding lids is now in the bin. I have replaced it with something of older vintage.

Thanks for the further replies.

Jimmy, gluing the lid in place wouldn't be much good if I wanted to clean the swarf out that inevitably accumulates in the bottom of the pot.

Nick, the magnet idea is a good one, though again I wouldn't want to have to clean the swarf off it each time I come to renew the oil. I suppose you could put it in a small ziplock bag.