This woman’s viral post shows how dirty your travel mug lid can get

Caffeine on the go is a glorious thing. But if you like to sip a cup of joe from a travel mug most mornings, you should know it can get pretty grimy. The lid of your to-go cup is a hotbed of germs and gunk. And don’t think that just because you run it through the dishwasher every once in a while, you’re off the hook.

Unless you take apart the lid and clean the parts separately and properly, it probably has some mold hiding inside it. When Facebook user Veronica Lucas learned about this, and heard it was making a lot of people sick, she checked out her own travel mug to see if it was true.

To her horror, there was a ton of hidden mold underneath the lid’s removable seal. For the good of others, she took to Facebook to share photos of her mug to let people know what may be lurking in something they drink out of daily:

Alongside photos illustrating just how dirty her lid was, Lucas explained the motivation behind her post.

“Apparently doctors have been finding that some patients are struggling to fight off unexplainable infections…even after multiple antibiotics,” she wrote. “A couple have finally discovered it is due to the lid on their #yeticup (and/or other brands of similar cups)!!”

She then went on to explain that she checked her own mugs and found the mold.

“Seriously y’all…go check your lids! (This applies to ALL brands of cups…not just Yeti),” she added.

Lucas’ post has since gone viral and has been shared more than 122,000 times.

Although Lucas stressed that the problem can happen with any brand of travel mug, because Yeti was implicated, they issued the following statement to Good Housekeeping regarding the proper way to clean their mugs:

“We take our customer safety very seriously here at YETI and encourage customers to follow all product usage instructions, including proper cleaning of Rambler lids. For a thorough cleaning, we recommend removing the lid gasket and MagSlider, which should both be washed and dried separately before reinstalling. Learn more about how to clean YETI Rambler products here.”

According to the CDC, exposure to mold can lead to a stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes or skin. People with allergies, asthma or compromised immune systems may have more severe reactions.

Dr. Carolyn Forte, director of Home Appliances and Cleaning Product Labs at the Good Housekeeping Institute, confirms that all pieces of your travel mug should be separated and thoroughly scrubbed to eliminate bacteria.

“To get rid of all the residue and resulting mold, you should totally disassemble the tumbler and scrub all the pieces by hand in hot, soapy water to be sure they are clean,” she told the magazine. “These cups and thermal carafes have removable seals for a reason.”

Have you checked your mug lately?