Easy Ways To Clean Bad Smells and Mold From A Yeti Tumbler Cup

If your Yeti cup smells bad or seems to contain mold what should you do about it and how should you clean it?

If you're anything like me then from time to time you'll forget to wash your Yeti and leave it full of your latest drink for days or weeks at a time.

When you come back to finally clean your Yeti cup you open it to find signs of mold growing in your cup or bottle and a really bad smell hits you in the face.

Mold is bad for your health and it can easily grow in your Yeti tumbler cup or bottle if you aren't careful and don't clean it properly. In this article we'll look at how to clean mold and get rid of bad smells from your Yeti, both the cup/bottles at the lid.

Can Yeti Cups Get Mold and Bad Smells? If So, How?

Yeti cups can definitely grow mold or get bad smells if you leave them long enough and don't clean them properly.

Mould likes to grow in wet dark places and because your yeti cup is used for drinks, which are wet, this can create ideal conditions for mold to grow and thrive.

Just leaving some water in your Yeti cup or bottle for a couple of days or even a week is unlikely to create a bad smell. However, if you've got drinks like smoothies, or coffee, or anything with milk in it then your Yeti can turn disgusting really quickly.

What Happens If You Drink From a Moldy Yeti Cup?

There are actually many different types of mold and some are good for you and some are bad for you.

Generally speaking, the mold that grows in your yeti cup or drink bottle is not going to be of the healthy kind and is likely going to be harmful to your health.

The below video talks a little bit about the risk of mold and what may happen if you end up drinking mold.

The video below is quite alarming. It's from a chiropractor who had a patient who kept getting lots of infections and having lots of problems. The chiropractor found out that these issues may have been caused from mold growing in the Yeti cup lid.

Under the gasket of the Yeti cup was lots of mold growing. You actually need to remove the rubber gasket from the lid and clean it properly so mold doesn't build up. But a lot of people don't know this.

Check out the video below where he talks about this issue with mold in Yeti cups:

How To Get Rid of Bad Smells From Your Yeti Cups

If you have a bad smelling Yeti cup or bottle and you don't have a mold problem, it just smells really bad, how do you remove that bad smell?

Maybe you left a drink for too long, or a particular drink had a strong smell and flavor that just won't go away.

What are some easy ways to get rid of bad smells from your Yeti cup or bottle. Well there are a few different things that seem to work for most people:

Wash it well

The first thing you should try, if you haven't already, is to wash your Yeti Cup well.

.Fill your sink up with warm soapy water and give it a good scrub with some sort of bottle brush. You can also throw it in the dishwasher as Yeti cups are dishwasher safe.

Once you've cleaned it leave your Yeti cup to air dry or dry it with a towel and leave it to air out for a bit.

This often is enough to remove minor smells from your Yeti cup or bottle

Soak it in vinegar

Another method you can use is to get a small amount of white vinegar and pour it in your Yeti cup or bottle.

Put the lid on and then shake your Yeti so the vinegar covers the inside surface of the cup or bottle.

Then leave it to sit for about 15 or 30 minutes before washing it out well, rinsing your Yeti and then leaving it to dry.

The vinegar can eat away the bad smells leaving your Yeti fresh and ready to go.

Yeti Cleaning Tablets or Bottle Bright Tablets (from Amazon)

If you're a bit lazy or the above methods haven't worked then using some cleaning tablets is a super easy way to give your Yeti a solid clean. It should also remove the bad smells as well as some built-up residue.

These are really easy as all you need to do is put one or two tablets in your cup or bottle, fill it to the top with water and let the chemicals in the tablet do it's thing.

It'll fizz and it'll bubble and the chemicals will clean your Yeti and get rid of the bad smells in stains.

I've done a full review of Yeti cleaning tablets which you can check out but I usually recommend the cheaper Bottle Bright tablets from Amazon as they are very similar but a lot more cost effective.

This article by the kitchn states that:

The main ingredients are hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, citric acid, and salt, plus a few other plant-based agents like cellulose.

You can buy these cleaning tablets from Amazon for a very affordable price and get them shipping to your door. Use them once a month or so to keep bad smells out of your Yeti.

Get some bottle bright tablets for cheap at Amazon

Sacrificial Water

For minor smells I've always found it really helpful to fill up my Yeti with hot or boiling water and then leave it to sit for a few hours (or all day) to soak up any smells.

I then tip out the water (don't drink it) and repeat the process if I need to.

The water smells to absorb the bad smells and odors and flavors and leaves my Yeti smelling like normal.

I find hot water works a lot better than cold water and boiling water seems to work the best.

Dry Rice and Detergent/Vinegar

If you think that there's built-up residue on your Yeti and that's what is causing the bad smells then cleaning the inner walls with dry rice can work wonders.

Sometimes a bottle brush doesn't do the job quite right and won't remove tough residue.

Put a handful of dry rice into your Yeti cup as well as a bit of water and detergent or vinegar.

Put the lid on and then shake your Yeti vigorously for 2-5 minutes. Get in there and give it a solid shake.

The dry rice will act as an abrasive cleaner as it hits the walls of your Yeti and it'll remove residue but won't harm the stainless steel. The detergent or vinegar should help to remove the stinky stench.

How To Get Rid of Mold From Your Yeti Cups and Bottles

If your Yeti cup or bottle has some mold growing in it then you'll want to do a deep clean in order to make sure you remove all the mold.

Let me show you step-by-step how to get rid of mold from your Yeti cup or bottle.

Step 1: Rinse Well

Before you start washing your car make sure you rinse it really well to get out any of the leftover drink that's in there as well as some loose mold.

I like to partially fill up my Yeti with water put the lid on and shake it then pour the water out and rinse again.

At this stage I might even rub off the mold with a cloth on my hand.

Step 2: Add a Bit of Vinegar and Shake (Then Leave For 30 Minutes)

Now add some vinegar into your Yeti and put the lid back on and shake it to ensure the vinegar covers the entire surface of the inside of your cup or bottle.

Leave the vinegar to soak for about 30 minutes.

If you don't have vinegar click here to get some directly from Amazon

Step 3: Make a Baking Soda Paste

Next you want to make some baking soda paste by putting baking soda into a bowl and adding a little bit of water and mixing it to create a thick paste.

Baking soda is really cheap and good for cleaning lots of different items.

Get some cheap baking soda directly from Amazon

Step 4: Use Paste + Bottle Brush To Brush Away Mold

Put the paste on a bottle brush or dish cloth and use it to scrub the inside of your Yeti cup or bottle.

Take your time and scrub really well as you want to scrub away the mold from the entire surface of the Yeti.

You'll likely notice some fizzing as the baking soda reacts with the vinegar already in your bottle. This is normal and can actually help the cleaning process.

You can also use a toothbrush for more precise cleaning which can be good for the thread on the Yeti bottles as well as on the different parts of the lid.

You can also use the dry rice method mentioned above to clean the inside more aggressively.

Step 5: Leave To Sit For 15 Minutes

Now that you've given it a good scrub with the baking soda paste, leave it to sit for another 15 minutes.

Step 6: Rinse With Boiling Water

Boil some water and rinse your Yeti cup or bottle with boiling water as this will clean away the mold, baking soda and vinegar really well. Be careful not to burn yourself.

You can also just use warm or hot water from the tap or even room temperature water if you prefer.

Step 7: Scrub Again

once your bottle is rinsed out rinse your brush or cloth as well and then give your Yeti another good scrub to remove any remaining baking soda or vinegar as you don't want to drink that…yuk.

Step 8: Rinse Well

Now rinse your yeti cup or bottle extremely well and leave it to dry and air out.

How To Clean Mold From Your Yeti Lid

One of the main places mold can build up in your Yeti is in the lid.

Mold likes to grow under the rubber gasket which often doesn't get cleaned properly as well as in the little grooves of the lid or in moving parts or hidden parts like on the straw lid.

It's important that you give the lid the attention to detail it deserves in order to get it completely clean and free of all mold. You can also get more detailed instructions about how to clean a Yeti MagSlider lid.

Step 1: Fill Up Bowl With Vinegar

Get a small bowl and partially fill it up with vinegar.

Step 2: Remove Rubber Gasket and Soak Gasket and Lid Parts in Vinegar for 30 Minutes

All Yeti lids (both cups and bottles) have a rubber gasket on the inside to make it completely leak proof. Use a knife, your hand or another tool to remove the rubber gasket from the lid.

For the straw lids remove the straw and pop off the swivel mouth piece from the main part of the lid.

Put all the bits in a bowl of vinegar to soak for about 30 minutes.

Step 3: Scrub Well With Baking Soda Paste

Just like we did with the cup or bottle you want to use your baking soda paste to scrub the small parts of the lid really well with a brush or a cloth. Do you want to make sure you get into all the crevices and little nooks and crannies don't leave any part uncleaned.

Step 4: Leave To Sit For 15 Minutes

One scrubbed put it back in the bowl of vinegar and soak it for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 5: Rinse With Boiling Water

Now rinse all the different parts of the lid with boiling water to wash away the baking soda or vinegar.

The boiling water also helps to kill germs and sterilize your lid but you can also just use tap water if you prefer.

Step 6: Scrub Again

Give the pieces another scrub with a clean brush or cloth to remove any leftover mold or chemicals and you want a completely clean lid.

Step 7: Rinse Well

Now give everything a really solid rinse under the tap.

Step 8: Leave Out To Air Dry

Leave the parts of your lid to dry separately otherwise they can stay wet, leading to mold building up again.

Step 9: Reassemble Lid and Put Back on Bottle

Once your lid components are completely dry put them all back together making sure the rubber gasket is firmly in place.

Now you can put your lid back on your Yeti and it should be mold free and smell free.

What NOT To Do With a Smelly or Moldy Yeti Cup or Bottle

There are a few things you should NOT do with a moldy Yeti cup or bottle.

Don't Soak It In Water

Yeti advise you not to soak your cups or bottles in warm soapy water as it can have negative effects on the paint, causing it to become discolored or for paint to chip off your Yeti.

If you want to soak your Yeti then just fill up the inside of the Yeti with warm or hot soapy water while keeping the outside dry.

Don't Clean With Abrasives or Steel Wool

Using abrasive cleaners or steel wool on your Yeti can be a bad idea because it can potentially scratch the paint off the outside of your Yeti.

Super light abrasives can be a good way to remove light scratches from powder coated bottles or cups like Yeti but generally speaking it's going to ruin your paint or scratch your Yeti.

Using super fine 0000 steel wool or a magic eraser on the inside can polish the stainless steel well and help to remove hard stains.

Get some 0000 Steel Wool at Amazon

Get a Magic Eraser at Amazon

How To Avoid Getting a Smelly + Moldy Yeti Cup in the Future

It's best to try and avoid your Yeti cup getting smelly and moldy in the first place. To do this simply clean and dry your Yeti on a regular basis.

It doesn't take very long to clean a Teti well and if you take good care of it then it should last you a lifetime.

Learn how to clean your Yeti cup properly every time