Our sippy cups get clean in the dishwasher, as long as I remove the valves (I put the lids and cups on the top shelf and the valves in the silverware basket). I seem to think you don’t have a dishwasher, though, in which case you just have to make sure you rinse them out as soon as you can after you’re done with the cup. When we lived in our old house in AZ with no dishwasher, I used to remove the valve and drop it in the cup and fill the cup up with HOT water to let it soak till I washed dishes. Then when I washed, I would put soapy water in the cup, add the valve, screw the lid on, hold it low in the sink (to avoid water spraying all over the kitchen), and shake hard for a couple of seconds. Then I’d check the valve to make sure it got clean, and rinse.
If none of that works, try soaking the valves in vinegar. Its mildly acidic and naturally antibacterial, so it should help eat away the gunk.
I found a pretty good straw sippy cup from gerber that you can break down and clean really well, especially with a pipe cleaner type brush. Some of the sippy cups out there are really hard to clean and can get pretty gross.
I throw mine in the diswasher, but if you don’t have one, try using a bottle brush to clean out the valves. I am sure if I didn’t have one, I would have been throwing away a lot more cups.
6 Comments
OMSH
YES! Seriously – sippy cups with those suction things in them GROSS ME OUT. There is NO way to get them clean … even in the dishwasher.
Once every 3 months or so I’d soak them in a very light mixture of bleach and water for a few minutes, but they still LOOKED gross.
Now THAT is an invention that could make someone a slew of moolah.
Bethany
Our sippy cups get clean in the dishwasher, as long as I remove the valves (I put the lids and cups on the top shelf and the valves in the silverware basket). I seem to think you don’t have a dishwasher, though, in which case you just have to make sure you rinse them out as soon as you can after you’re done with the cup. When we lived in our old house in AZ with no dishwasher, I used to remove the valve and drop it in the cup and fill the cup up with HOT water to let it soak till I washed dishes. Then when I washed, I would put soapy water in the cup, add the valve, screw the lid on, hold it low in the sink (to avoid water spraying all over the kitchen), and shake hard for a couple of seconds. Then I’d check the valve to make sure it got clean, and rinse.
If none of that works, try soaking the valves in vinegar. Its mildly acidic and naturally antibacterial, so it should help eat away the gunk.
Bethany
Ow! The punctuation typo in my last sentence is causing me physical pain. That should be “It‘s mildly acidic…”
gorillabuns
i’m all about disposable sippy cups.
Jennifer
I found a pretty good straw sippy cup from gerber that you can break down and clean really well, especially with a pipe cleaner type brush. Some of the sippy cups out there are really hard to clean and can get pretty gross.
BeachMama
I throw mine in the diswasher, but if you don’t have one, try using a bottle brush to clean out the valves. I am sure if I didn’t have one, I would have been throwing away a lot more cups.