How to Clean a Water Bottle or Travel Mug

Why do I need to clean my water bottle/travel mug?

Cleaning your water bottle or travel mug regularly is essential for several reasons:

1. Hygiene: bacteria, mould, and other microorganisms can accumulate in your water bottle or travel mug over time, especially if it’s not cleaned regularly. These can lead to unpleasant odours, tastes and even potential health risks if ingested.
2. Preventing contamination: when you use your water bottle or travel mug, especially if you’re carrying beverages other than water, residues can build up and contaminate the container. Regular cleaning helps prevent cross-contamination between different drinks and ensures the container is safe to use.
3. Maintaining freshness: stale water or leftover beverage residues can affect the taste and freshness of your drinks. Cleaning your water bottle or travel mug regularly helps maintain the freshness of your beverages, ensuring a better drinking experience.
4. Durability: proper cleaning can help prolong the lifespan of your water bottle or travel mug. Residues left uncleaned can lead to staining, discoloration, and deterioration of the material over time.
5. Odour control: without regular cleaning, your water bottle or travel mug can develop unpleasant odours due to bacterial growth or leftover residues. Cleaning helps eliminate these odours and keeps your container smelling fresh.

What you’ll need

• Dishwasher basket
• Dishwashing liquid
• Scrubbing brush
• White vinegar
• Baking soda
• Baking sheet

How to clean a water bottle or travel mug

For most situations, using dish soap and water is the simplest solution. Just pour a bit of dish soap into your bottle or mug, fill it with warm water, and give it a good scrub.

If your bottle is wide enough, you can use a sponge to clean it. However, many bottles and mugs have narrow openings that make it hard to reach the bottom by hand. That’s where bottle brushes come in handy. Depending on the shape of your bottle or mug, you might need brushes of different sizes to get into tight spots like the lid mechanism, spout, or deep inside a vacuum-sealed bottle. These brushes help ensure a thorough clean, leaving your container fresh and ready to use again.

Some water bottles come with linings that can get damaged if you use bottle brushes or rough sponges. In such cases, it’s best to rinse them with soap and warm water. If your bottle is dishwasher-safe, you can also place it on the top rack for a cycle to ensure thorough cleaning without risking damage to the lining.

For stubborn stains:

If you use your water bottle or travel mug for drinks other than water, residue can accumulate over time. Using bottle brushes along with a simple mixture of baking soda and vinegar can help remove stubborn residue or staining. You won’t need much of either ingredient.

Simply add about half a teaspoon of baking soda into your mug or bottle, followed by approximately half a cup of vinegar. You’ll notice it foaming vigorously for a few seconds, but then it will settle down. Once it does, you can start scrubbing with your brush or sponge.

Alternatively, denture-cleaning tablets work just as well as baking soda and vinegar.

Remove and clean any silicone parts

If your bottle or mug has silicone gaskets or seals, you might find that they start to absorb the smells of the beverages you’ve been using. Here’s a simple way to freshen them up:

Preheat your oven to 120 degrees Celsius. While most silicone cookware can withstand much higher temperatures, it’s best to be cautious with travel mug gaskets since they don’t typically come with specific heat limits. Ensure that the gaskets are made of 100% silicone before attempting this method. Avoid putting plastic or rubber materials in your oven to prevent damage.

While the oven is heating up, wash your silicone gaskets carefully with dish soap and hot water. Then, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven. Set a timer for 20 minutes.

Check the gaskets every 10 minutes or so and take a sniff. After about 40 minutes, most of the unpleasant odour should be gone.

If you still detect a faint coffee scent, it could be due to lingering coffee oils on the silicone. In that case, give the gaskets a quick scrub to remove the residue, and the scent should vanish almost completely.

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About the author of this page

This article was written by Canstar Content Producer, Caitlin Bingham. Caitlin is an experienced writer whose passion for creativity led her to study communication and journalism. She began her career freelancing as a content writer, before joining the Canstar team.