How Often Should We Wash Coffee Cups?

It's best to wash coffee cups after drinking it, but we often cannot wash it in time because of other things. For office workers, they usually start to work after brewing coffee at the company workstation. Sometimes it is interrupted by other things, let alone washing the cups.

So, more people like coffee and tea, but they show less care for cups, such as Turkish tea cup. Especially for those people who use reusable drinking cups such as reusable bubble tea cup and reusable iced coffee cup have no time to wash it carefully. If we don’t wash it immediately, the cups will also produce tea stains or coffee stains after a long time. Some people may choose to pour hot water into the coffee cup, which may have some effect. After all, hot water will kill some bacteria. But even if it is an empty cup which is placed on the table like this, some very "terrible things" will grow rapidly over time.

Why Should We Wash Our Coffee Cups?

All kinds of bacteria can breed and most of them are harmless. But those flu bacteria are easy to spread and easily fall in the cup. In addition, bacteria in the mouth and hands will also be transferred to the cup. With the warming of the external climate and the humid indoor environment, bacteria are more likely to overflow. Biologists have also stated that Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and any number of oral bacteria may be present in unwashed cups.

Dr. Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, published research results in 1997, and these research results are still evolving today. His team evaluated the bacteria found in office coffee cups and coffee preparation areas, and found that 41% of the bacteria in the tested cups were contaminated with E. coli. Only a small office cup washer is needed to eliminate these bacteria and other types of bacteria.

How to Wash Coffee Cups?

Most people think that simple rinsing and wiping is enough to prevent the growth of bacteria, but this method is not enough to kill the bacteria, because the bacteria can adhere to the surface of the cup, especially for the plastic drinking cups. Just in January this year, public health officials in the United Kingdom issued an appeal, requiring users of reusable cups to thoroughly clean the container after each drink to prevent the spread of disease. Especially since they imposed a coffee tax on disposable cups, this is also a response to the surge in the use of reusable drinking cups.

If your coffee is added with cream or sugar, proper cleaning becomes especially important. Because both substances contain the nutrients needed for bacterial growth. Although washing with water will remove most of the sugar, the oil and protein in milk or cream need to be removed with detergent. The following are simple steps to reduce bacteria in coffee cups:

1. After each use, please wash the cup with detergent and water.

2. Try to use paper towels instead of sponges to clean, otherwise E. coli and Salmonella may be put into the cup.

3. Dry the cup with a paper towel after cleaning.

4. If your cup has a lid, please remember to clean it too.

In addition, if you really don’t have time to clean the cups, it’s also a good choice to replace the cups in time. There are many kinds of cups in the market, such as martini plastic cups, polka dot coffee cups, 20 oz reusable coffee cup, vintage metal drinking cups, 12oz reusable coffee cup and so on.