What are your best methods for cleaning teenager / adult water bottles and travel mugs?

[Nailsbythesea]

We don’t have a dishwasher.

We use a small thermos, travel mug each a water bottle each pretty much daily.

DS water bottles are grim - we have 4 screw top, suck on the spout type and and a bugger to clean. I could Milton them every night (we have enough for this) the bottles gets black mould on the bottom despite my best scrubbing with a bottle brush. Difficult to get them and the tops completely dry

Travel mugs- the screw bits where the lid attached is full of brown gunk - presumable hot chocolate. The cups themselves are ok. The bit around the spout where you drink pretty grim and impossible to clean with bottle brush. Again we have enough that I could Milton them.

Thermos ok ish again lid is more of an issue

All of them are a bugger to stand up on the drying rack - when dry do people screw the lids back on ??

This is going to be my one news year resolution as it bugs me endlessly

I’ve seen various things on YouTube, use bleach , don’t use bleach, use rice on bottle (great idea but what about the lids)

We have numerous bottles as we like them for car journeys, schools, soda stream, walks etc and people give them as presents.

Mainly we have metal ones and few plastic ones.

I find washing ours daily with does a sufficient job for our water bottles/flasks

Sorry, I mucked that up

I find washing ours daily with 'this' is what it meant to say.

After you have washed them - do you air dry? Put the lid on in the cupboard?

Are the screw lids really clean? Spouts etc I just looked this morning and they are grim - maybe I’m over thinking this and a rough good clean with hot soapy water is enough ! 😂

All of them are a bugger to stand up on the drying rack - when dry do people screw the lids back on ??

I stand mine upside down on a piece of kitchen towel and then turn them right side up to air dry inside, I never store clean drink containers with the lids on. I use washing up liquid and an old toothbrush (bleached after retiring from teeth cleaning) to clean the fiddly bits. For the main bottle part I put a squirt of fairy and a bit of hot water in then screw the cap on and shake, empty the suds out and rinse with very hot water. The twist tops I milton.

Fill bottle with hot soapy water. Soak lid in a bowl of hot soapy water - be sure to leave it in there for at least 20 minutes. Especially coffee mug lids.
I prefer to use coffee mugs with uncomplicated top bits that are easy to clean or ones where I can completely disassemble it for a wash. Thermos do one like that.
Once dry I store with lid loosely placed on top. Never fully closed so they don't start smelling stale if there's some residual moisture.
If your son's bottle got mouldy in places then it's probably best to just get a new one and follow this routine. It worked for me.

I had to get rid of one of my travel mugs because I just couldn't reach inside the lid mechanism to get it clean (no dishwasher here either)

I do give my flasks and water bottles a soak in milton occasionally. It does seem to lift brown stuff (coffee, in my case) out of my travel mug's hard to reach bits. I also clean my coffee machine with it too.

Sports cap or floppy straw bottles should only every have water or dilute squash. Then you shouldn't have a problem with those.

I air dry both thermal mugs and other water bottles and store them lid on. If I've left one with milk stuffs in by mistake I tend to find a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda with boiling water and a little lemon juice sorts it out. Then wash as normal. If it's really manky I'll soak the whole thing in a bowl of that mixture. Will work for water bottles too.

Do you have a very small thin wire bottle brush?

You might find getting something like the built vacuum flask better for you. They can be quite hard to undo (always get black lids not white) but they are super simple so there really isnt very many crevices for muck to hide in.

I have to carry full milk for DS(14) for medical reasons. I've never had to throw out a flask (I've lost a few though!! )

I use a couple of egg cup full of rice with cold water upto 1/4 full of the mug / bottle, put the lid on firmly and then shake the life out of it. Do this with music so you can dance and shake away at the same time 😁
Lids I soak with 1/2 denture cleaning tablets.

Pour the cold water over the rice until 1/4 fulli meant to say.
Empty, rinse then soak with a denture cleaning tablet.
Finish off with a wash of hot soapy water.

I use a bottle brush and I never store with lids on.

Thanks. I'm going to blitz them all bit by bit and store with a lid loosely

We use steradent false teeth cleaning tablets. Just drop one in the bottom and leave overnight. I do the tops with a toothbrush using the steradent water.

You need dental cleaning tablets , 70 p

Will with warm water , add two tablets and leave overnight

Can also be thrown in toilet to clean it

@FaLaLaLaLaaaar

We use steradent false teeth cleaning tablets. Just drop one in the bottom and leave overnight. I do the tops with a toothbrush using the steradent water.

Haha great minds! Strange my post didn't send

Fill your sink with boiling water add bicarbonate of soda then soak all your flasks. Once the water is cool enough to stick your hands in then scrub everything out with a tooth brush/bottle brush