Comments

1
Please to be washing your mug; I say this out of love.
2
That shit's nasty.

More important, though: what's on the side of the mug? If it's a really cool mug and you don't want to take it home to wash because you need to keep it at work where you can show it off, you may get a pass.
3
Lotta that OCD going around. You've probably developed immunity already.
4
That is horribly disgusting. Take the damn thing home once a week and run it through your dishwasher.
5
@1, et tu, yelahneb?

@2, it's just an old Starbucks mug but I like it because it's got a big handle. My problem is I mostly walk to work and my bag isn't big enough for the mug so I never take it home. I actually have five travel mugs on my desk in addition to this mug. Sigh.
6
dude, just take it home and clean it.
7
One day I wandered too close, and Cienna's mug scum bit me!
8
Good lord. Now I use a single mug for every goddam thing, myself. Cabinets with glorious glassware, but it's one oversized mug with a creepy heraldic whatnot for me. I wash it now and again, but not often by any means. You could toss this up on r/askscience if you wanted a factual answer, I suppose.
9
On the other hand, the continual reexposure to certain things might actually increase your life and resistance to certain diseases.

What does not kill you only wounds you in the soul.
10
Heat keeps an "unwashed" cast iron pan safe and healthy prepare food in. Unless you're blasting 12,000 BTUs under that mug, it's not quite the same thing.

What @6 said.
12
I have a couple nalgene's that I only use for water, that I wash on rare occasion. Mostly, if the water has been in there a while (more than a week), I might throw it out and fill it with all fresh, but I find that it stays pretty fresh even after a few days. It's not coffee or tea, but along the same vein.
13
I don't wash the mug I drink my tea out of all that frequently. Maybe once a week.
14
If your putting water for tea in the (180 degrees or more if you're brewing properly for most teas) than you're probably killing anything that might be growing in there, do whatever you want with the mug (I do the same with my mugs at work, no kitchen here either...I do rinse it out with boiling water once a week though)
15
@5 So travel mugs have lids, right? Seems to me if you used a mug with a lid then no one would know whether you wash it or not. Problem solved!
16
Mine is the same way. It's OK! Don't listen to these OCD suffering rubber glove wearing neat freaks!
17
All that scum will come off really easy with a slurry of baking soda and water. (Barely any water, a whole teaspoon or more of baking soda and hardly any elbow grease.)
18
I used to keep drinking water in my fridge in a rubbermaid container with a flip lid. I never washed it, using your exact same logic, until the day my sister pointed out the stuff growing on it...

Maybe it was because it was cold beverages instead of hot, and your hot beverages are killing the germs before it reaches this point. Nonetheless, bacteria is EVERYWHERE and the stuff you're leaving on your mug's rim aren't the only bugs on it. Wash your mug, please.
19
1) Take mug home.

2) Fill with hot water and put in the bottom of kitchen sink; add 1/4C OxiClean Free (which will slowly foam up over the side and dissolve all the lip-scum on the rim). Let sit overnight.

3) Rinse thoroughly, wash, and use.

4) Repeat weekly, but just use a teaspoon of OxiClean.

I use this on flower vases to remove the smelly residue. And my regular coffee/beer mugs.

Also, if you can find one, use a glass mug. It's more impervious to stains than ceramics.
20
+1 for @14's boiling water alternative.
21
My grandfather hasn't washed his coffee mug since the 70s. It's horrifying, but he's one of the healthiest people I know.
22
BTW, Cienna, don't think that you're decision not to label this poll "legally binding" means that it isn't. This is SLOG after all - ALL the polls are legally binding.
23
Further anality: Use a white or blue Scotch-Brite (green has carborundum-like stuff and will scratch your mug).

No, I have not been paid for my bruiting-about of brand names.
24
Unless you are a master chief currently serving on a ship, wash that shit.
25
@14,

Not so much. Making water suitable for drinking in areas where the water isn't treated requires boiling it at a full boil for (I believe) 20 minutes. There's also the matter of what clinics and hospitals have to go through to sterilize equipment. Germs are tough motherfuckers.
26
Lastly: is that kombucha in the bottom there? The ecologist in me wants to preserve lower life-forms and ecosystems whenever possible, so those naturally would take precedence over your own health and the aesthetic sensibilities of those around you.
27
GODDAMIT Cienna. You got me agreeing with Goldy. *cries*

P.S. If you've never seen mold grow on coffee...
28
Won't anyone think of the small world that might be living in said mug scum!! I say don't wash it...for the love of God (a.k.a Cienna Madrid, in this case) let the circle of life continue! (With each beverage nations rise and fall...new species evolve, fads come and go...gay bacteria continues to fight for equal rights...etc, etc, etc...).
29
Re: 5, "...my bag isn't big enough for the mug..."

edit @19: 1) Take mug home by its big-ass handle.
30
Isn't there a kitchen upstairs?
31
In two years she's never touched that with dirty hands or had a lingering contagion? It's not just moldy coffee residue to worry about, but general filth. Ewww. I want to see this cup sprayed with that black-light germ-seeing stuff.
32
I'd still kiss Cienna after she drank out of that mug.
33
I assume you bathe every day, and you are clean when you towel yourself off. Do you not wash your bath towel?
34
All you need is a baking soda and hot water concentration, repeatedly. That is gross. You have icky mouth now (cooties in medical parlance).
35
Good point, rob!. Maybe this mug should be preserved, and Cienna can get a new one and WASH IT REGULARLY FOR GOD'S SAKE.

Then again, I also wanted to save the cave-dwelling critters in The Descent. I mean seriously, a strange off-branch of humanity and the main characters want to wipe them all out, just because they're trying to eat their faces in the dark? Pah.
36
PS - if only you could ask your shop steward to take it up with management, you might get a break-room with a sink. Probably too luxurious to provide to Stranger staffers. That, and you aren't a union shop.
37
@33 ftw
38
It's true that you can view the world more flexibly and realize science doesn't have all the answer but unless you wash the mug you are denying basic tenants of empirically observed biology.
39
Ew x 5!
40
I don't wash the mug that I use for tea almost ever, but I'd never mix a coffee mug and a tea mug. That would ruin the taste of both.
41
You know, we have a dishwasher up here on the mezzanine.
42
Apparently, Cienna needs to take a field trip to the mezzanine of her office building. With her coffee/tea/bacterial infection waiting to happen, big ass handle cup in tow.
43
@25, last time I checked Seattle had treated water and you only need to boil unpurified water for 1 minute at a rolling boil to purify it (dept of healths number). Also this is the offices of the stranger, not a hospital (wait, i dont know if that makes it better or worse....)
44
Nice patina. I haven't washed (nor rinsed) my coffee mug for >5 years, and it has lovely rings in it similar to the growth rings you'd see in a tree.

Protip: completely drain it of all liquid periodically and allow to air-dry completely.
45
Meh, it's gross, but not as gross as a lot of commenters are making it out to be.
46
You know I love you, Cienna.... But once every month or so, you could use a brown paper shopping bag and take everything home. All the travel mugs and the big ass mug. Being super clean isn't necessary. Being stain free isn't necessary. But lip scum on the rim really should be scraped at once in a while. The win lies in the mediocre middle, like the Kinetic Sculpture Race....
47
I will wash this for you if it really is a hardship. Just tell me when is good for you, and I will come by the office some day and wash your mug. Please, Cienna. That mug needs to be washed.
48
Possibly the bacteria in your cup have slowly formed a precarious and perfect balance, and this tiny ecosystem is now actually keeping you alive. Who knows what could happen if you wash it now?!
49
If it were just used for water and tea, it could be arguable that rinsing it well with hot water could be enough (the stains and residue aren't too bad). But coffee, even if it's black, is definitely adding oils to the grime that would feed little orphan bacteria and fungi. If you use milk or sugar in your coffee, the mug is their Disneyland.
50
Best Dinosaur Post EVER!
52
@9: "continual reexposure to certain things might actually increase your life and resistance to certain diseases.

What does not kill you"

It's not that you guess a lot Will, it's that everything you say is wrong to the point where you HAVE to be intentionally saying wrong things, but I don't think you're capable of trolling.
53
Yes.
You are a disgusting freak.
Cleaning your (fucking disgusting) mug will not change that.
54
1) Completely disgusting and nastily unhygienic.
2) You do know that the water from the faucet in the bathroom sink is exactly the same water as from the faucet in the kitchen sink - right? Good God man, Archie Bunker made your "point" to everyone's amusement in the 60s.
55
@43,

Yes, we have treated water, but Cienna's mouth and lips are not sterile. The backwash alone would coat that mug in germs. Barely hot water from a water cooler will sterilize nothing.
56
Cast iron is seasoned from natural oils, whereas you probably aren't putting oils in your mug. This is important because oil will keep bacteria from growing and preserve the cast iron whereas that mug is fucking disgusting.
57
When I leave coffee grounds for a few weeks in my coffee maker, stuff grows on it. I don't think it's sanitary just because you don't put sugar or milk in it. Similarly, I have a cup I use at work only for water, but I wash it out about once a week. It gets gross if I don't. Just wash your cup in the bathroom already.
58
Wow, look at all the haters and clean freaks...

I have a friend who had a special coffee mug. He loved coffee (lives in Michigan), brewed it at home with care, and drank only coffee from that mug. He never washed his coffee mug, preferring to let the layers of oil build up inside it. It was interesting to look at. I doubt its seriously dangerous at all, nor "nastily unhygienic". And can possibly challenge your immune system enough to actually keep you healthier than most.

Do let it dry out completely over night. That won't kill all germs, but it will keep the colonies under control.

Screw 'em, don't wash it. And heck, if it keeps Goldy away from your desk, so much the better. ;>)
59
You should switch to a yixing clay cup. You're not supposed to wash those with soap anyway (like cast iron). That way you'll have a valid excuse!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yixing_clay…
60
I do the exact same thing in my office. Don't wash your mug! Be more like michaelp!
61
Hygienic or not (hey, it's your body) this is just disgusting.
62
"Personally, I think it's more disgusting to drink out of something you clean in a bathroom."

Do you not wash your mouth every day in the bathroom?
63
whoaaa that is gnarly

I wouldn't drink from that with Lenny Bruce's mouth
64
@55 barely heated water from a cooler makes lousy tea too, just another reason to get yourself one of those fancy electric kettles. Boiling water for your tea and to rinse your mug in once a week...
65
You need to watch Mythbusters. Kitchens are much germier than bathrooms.
66
Most popular Slog post of the day.
67
This made me LOL on an otherwise horrifying day.

Thank you.
68
Cienna, you're a nasty freak. (I mean that in the best possible way.) Seriously, wash that mug out at least once a week. Isn't there a sink in the office anywhere? Even the bathroom sink is better than nothing. Or you could just bring an extra bag on Monday and Friday, and carry the cup in that.

Hell, you could probably get Goldy to wash it for you, as long as you give it to him in a big zip-lock bag with a pair of latex gloves. Maybe you should try that.
69
Okay, I can kinda deal with the people who believe in letting tea or coffee stains build up. But not washing the RIM? That's just vile.
70
I take my mug home every Friday, run it through the dishwasher, and bring it back on Monday. Is it that hard to do?
71
What @12 and @18 said.

A co-worker of mine had a Nalgene she only used for drinking water and never washed. She started feeling sick all the time and finally realized there was a giant moldy ring at the bottom of the Nalgene. I guess if you're healthy and haven't felt the effects of not washing the mug, you could argue that it's totally harmless. Still, it's pretty yucky. I chuck my toothbrush out every time I'm recovering from a cold. Things just feel better when they're fresh and clean.
72
Cienna, darling, personally, I would just throw that mug away and start over. I wouldn't want to be looking in there while drinking anything. Plus, I can't imagine how you could drink tea out of a cup that tastes of coffee. Ewww.

That said, if you're drinking coffee and tea without milk or sugar, there probably aren't any pathogenic germs that could survive on that, which is probably why you're not either seriously dead or have multicolored fungi growing on your tongue..
73
@18 is correct. Plain water is the dirtiest thing around. If you cleaned it vigorously, filled it with tap water, and let it sit for a week it would be filthier than toilet water. The dirtiest thing in your office is either your bathroom sink or any surface that gets wet and stays that way. Bacteria LOVE water. When you shower in the morning, you have more bacteria on you when you get out than when you went in.

There's nothing wrong with that cup. The floaty stuff in the bottom is gross, but that's gone with just a flick of the wrist.
74
Unless you use milk in your tea or coffee, of course.
75
You don't even RINSE it?
76
You wash your mouth twice a day, but you probably wash it in the bathroom. Therefore, you are always drinking everything through something you washed in a bathroom.
77
@71, Your immune system has already beat the cold, you don't need to chuck your toothbrush just for that. But you should replace it every 3 months anyway, because our mouths are disgusting and the most widespread cause of transient bacteremia is tooth brushing. (Source: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/…)

I work in a microbiology lab and when we need to sterilize our dry equipment, we use an autoclave. Typically, those go above boiling point (ours goes to 121C) as well as extreme pressure. Although that mug is nothing compared to the doorknobs and elevator buttons you push every day that NEVER get cleaned, I still voted for washing because I don't like the way it looks.
78
I'm all for properly seasoning teapots, but that isn't the same as just leaving tea in cups around. Tea is a good place for bacteria to live. I love tea. But if you ever make a big pitcher of tea (just plain tea, no sugar - that's how I like it) and stick it in the fridge so you have iced tea for a while, you'll find that after a couple of days, you have to chuck it if you haven't finished it. The problem is you'll see stringy things floating in the tea. Those are visible strands of bacteria. As other people mentioned, coffee also attracts bacteria. So, the fact that you're just using it for coffee and tea, with presumably no milk or sugar, is not sufficient to mean you aren't putting food products into that cup that make a home for bacteria.
79
Take this mug to a Navy recruiter. They will promote you to chief on the spot.
80
My coffee mug is kinda crusty, but I rinse it out every day. I'm sure we will both be fine.
81
Back when I was young and first in the military was put in charge of coffee duty for my shop. My job was to clean shit up and make sure coffee was made. So there was a coffee cup quite like yours that I washed one day. Some crusty old sergeant ripped me apart for that, and the shop thought it was the funniest thing ever. Since then, whatever you do with your coffee cup is not my concern.
82
The mug simply reiterates how your teeth are being stained by the beverages you habitualy drink. If it helps to remind you to brush your teeth and have them cleaned regularly to see that build-up, then keep it nasty.
83
Just rinse it out everyday and let it dry, and it wouldn't get that gross. Takes 12 seconds.
84
I had a narrow-mouth Nalgene bottle that I only used for water. Sometimes I would leave water in it overnight but always rinse it out. regularly shook up soapy water in it, and even scrubbed the parts I could reach with my fingers. After a while, I would consistently feel a "slickness" that would reappear.

One day, I used a paper towel to dry it out. IT CAME OUT BROWN.

I took the water bottle home, soaked it in baking soda, then bleach, ANYTHING to get rid of that reappearing brown growth. I ended up chucking it and vowing only to use wide-mouthed water bottles that I can easily reach in a scrub.

At my last job, my boss had the same narrow-mouthed water bottle that was cloudy. I shudder at what might be teeming inside. He had a persistent cough that didn't go away from the day he interviewed me until the day I quit (~5 months). I hated working there so I feel justified in not informing him of THE WATER BOTTLE MOLD.
85
I wash my tea mug at work 4 times a year whether it needs it or not. Between the tannins, the salivary proteins, and the bacteria that love them, you could take the paste off with a putty knife. No ill effects detected in almost twenty years of this shit.
86
No.
87
Don't be a hippy with a 9 year old's mentality, Cienna. Wash the damn mug on a regular basis.
88
I'll start by saying I'm a germaphobe. I probably go through 5 or 6 glasses a day and if I have a second coffee, it's often with a new mug.

Utterly repulsive. Looks like a toilet from one of those hoarder shows.
89
I don't know where you get the idea that washing something in a bathroom is disgusting. You get your water there from the same place as you get your water in a kitchen. Scientifically, bathrooms tend to be the cleanest places in our homes and offices because they are cleaned and disinfected regularly. In fact, it's our desks that are the cesspools. PLaces our hands touch and we rarely, if ever, disinfect.

Your mug probably is covered in substances and probably some sugars which are food for bacteria. If you got a home slide kit and made a smear, you would be sure to find all manner of beasties in that smear. But you won't do that, because you seem to be the type who prefers to live in the comfort of your own delusions. Which is your choice, of course. I fully advocate pulling the wool over our own eyes. But like it or not, you're sharing your cup with a lot of others.
90
Even if no other human being touches the mug, bits of dust and debris from the air will get into it, with bacteria and other yuck riding along.

Regarding OFFICE bathrooms, because they don't have lids for the toilets, every flush sends a spray of germy mist through the air. So yes, the water coming out of the FAUCET is clean, and the soap is clean, but that's about it.
91
I never used to wash my favorite office mug. "What's the point," I thought- "I am continually making new tea or coffee the 8-10 hrs/day I am in the lab, and it seems to just wash itself! And if I get sick and die from any m/os, then I never have to come back to work in this stupid place ever again anyways. Win-win." Then, last night I was working @ 2am, went to take a swig from good ol' mug, did a spit-take, and dropped my mug on the floor. Cockroach, in my mouth! Probably every night, cockroaches would walk around in my mug, and I would drink from it the next morning. That's something you should consider.
92
THE MUG IS FINE, AS IS. MANY PEOPLE FRENCH KISS THEIR PARTNERS IN THE MORNING WITH DRIED "DROOL" ON THEIR MOUTHS. FOR THIS TOPIC TO BE ON A HOMOSEXUAL SITE IS SILLY, SINCE MALES PRACTICE ANALINGUS [WITH SCAT] AND FELLATIO [WITH SEMEN SWALLOWING]. PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL COMFORTABLE IN THEIR OWN SO-CALLED, "FILTH."

CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
93
"CreLa8,"

COCKROACHES ARE A PART OF LIFE - ESPECIALLY, IN RURAL AREAS. AT NIGHT, I CAN GO TO MY KITCHEN AND TURN THE LIGHT ON; COCKROACHES ARE ON THE RANGE-TOP OF MY GAS STOVE. IF I LEFT A POT SITTING ON THE STOVE, A COCKROACH IS "CHILLIN'" ON THE POT-LID. PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK COCKROACHES ARE A SIGN OF A DIRTY HOUSE. THIS IS NOT TRUE. COCKROACHES ARE LIKE HUMANS - THEY RESPOND TO TEMPERATURE CHANGES. AS LONG AS, THE COCKROACH IS NOT IN MY WAY, I WILL NOT KILL HIM - HE IS ONLY TRYING TO SURVIVE, LIKE I AM.

CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON

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