Reusable cups and straws are great for your wallet and the environment. However, the bad news is that many of these types of cups or mugs don’t get clean enough. If you aren’t cleaning them properly and are using them every day, you could be making yourself sick over and over again.
Just because your travel mug says that it is dishwasher safe, doesn’t mean that the dishwasher cleans it effectively. If you have a travel mug that boasts staying hot or cold for long periods of time, it likely has a removable seal. If the seal isn’t removed and properly cleaned, it could trap moisture and eventually bacteria and mold.
How Can You Get Sick From This?
This basically means that every time you take a sip of your drink, you are also sipping on mold. Ew! After this news went viral, people were removing the seals and sharing how gross it looked on social media. Additionally, a chiropractor in California posted a video warning about YETI and other similar cups after one of his patients got sick from sipping on mold.
How To Clean Them Properly
So, how do you clean these mugs effectively and stop mold from making you sick? While cleaning the mug in the dishwasher is fine if it is dishwasher safe, you may need to hand wash certain parts too. Take apart the travel mug, including that removable seal, and scrub all of the parts with hot, soapy water.
If you do decide to throw it in the dishwasher, make sure you wash it by hand AFTER it comes out of the dishwasher. The dishwasher can actually exacerbate the problem. Water from the dishwasher can become trapped in the seals and cause more moisture and more mold. That is so gross!
Make sure that you check all of your travel mugs and tumblers and give them a good deep cleaning. Have you ever found mold or anything else gross in these mugs? What is your favorite way to deep clean them and make sure they don’t make you ill? We recommend using a scrub brush and making sure you clean the brush regularly too!
If you found this article informative, please SHARE with all of your friends and family who use YETI cups or similar travel mugs! It may stop them from getting sick!
Watch the video that went viral from the chiropractor warning about mold and bacteria in your YETI cups:
