How to properly clean a sippy cup!

By: Natasha Biasell

 

After becoming a mom, I soon realized a large portion of time became dedicated to cleaning. Be it toys, grubby fingers, or a baby’s bottom, I too often find myself at the sink, sponge in hand, wiping off milk, ketchup, peanut butter, or worse, from my daughter’s toys, clothes and body.One of the hardest items to keep clean is her sippy cup. We own several of them, but all parents know the best kind of sippy cup is both easy for the child to drink out of, and is also spill proof. Our favorites are the kind with a screw-off lid and a pop-up straw. They are fabulous in almost every way…until it comes time to clean them.

After being filled with juice, milk, or water, my daughter’s cup often gets left in the hot car for hours, or in the diaper bag overnight. There it sits, building up mold, bacteria, film and all kinds of questionable grim. Some of you might be thinking, who cares? Just screw off the lid, pop out the bottom straw, and pop it in the dishwasher, right? WRONG. These genius little cups have all kinds of nooks and crannies that an average dishwasher, or even a good handwashing can’t properly clean.

The first time I properly disassembled the cup and took a good look at all the little areas that weren’t getting cleaned, I almost gagged. These tiny, hard-to-reach crevices that not a sponge or bottle brush could reach were slowly building up with film, bacteria and mold. GROSS. I immediately scowered my kitchen for something to reach all these tiny little places – the inner straw, middle straw and rubber valve, and top straw – all desperately needing a thourough cleansing. Would a chopstick work? Too thick. What about a toothpick? Too short. I then I found the perfect, inexpensive, handy dandy little trick….a bamboo skewer! It’s the perfect size and length for reaching those near-impossible-to-clean spots.

Here are my step-by-step instructions for properly cleaning a sippy cup:

  1. Disassemble the cup completely. This part is crucial. Most of the modern pop-straw cups have a total of five parts (see pic). Don’t worry, it’s easy to put it all back together.              
  2. Soak all of the parts in a warm soapy water for about 5-10 minutes.
  3. Take a long, thin bamboo skewer (you can buy a pack at your local grocery store for about $3) and rinse it in the hot soapy water. Scrape all of the cup parts with the pointy tip of the skewer – the inside of the straws, and the interior of the rubber valve where gross things tend to collect. Discard the skewer (don’t reuse it on another cup).
  4. Place all the parts on the top shelf of the dishwasher (to prevent over heating/melting), and run the cycle with Lemi Shine Original. If you don’t have a dishwasher, simply increase the soaking time (in Step 2), follow Step 3, then wash by hand with an anti-bacterial dish soap, rinse, and let it air dry thouroughly.
  5. Reassemble the cup, and voila!

The result? A squeaky-clean sippy cup for your little one to safely use. Now you don’t have to worry or feel guilty the next time you leave apple juice in your toddler’s favorite sippy cup overnight!