My very picky DD will only drink from like 2 different sippy cups so I do not have the option of putting them in the DW. (We only run our DW once a week) What I do is I take the sippy valve out and use the small nipple brush that comes with the bottle brushes to clean it out. For the crevices in the lid, I just take a toothpick and get out the gunk from the milk. It works for us.

Holy cow!!! How can you only run the dishwasher once a week!! I am lucky if it is only once a day!!! (Probably will be at least 2x a day until school starts again!)

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We only run the dishwasher once a week because for the majority of the day it is just DD (18mo. old) and myself. DH works usually through 2 meals, either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. He is a manager at a restaraunt so he usually eats at work. That just leaves the dishes for myself and DD. Since I have to wash her 2 sippy cups everyday anyway (she has more but she will only use these 2) I tend to wash her plastic plates for the day at the same time along with any pots or pans that I use. I also hand wash my leftover containers as I have tried everything to keep them from getting spots on them in the DW and I can't so I just wash them by hand. Silverware and the plates/bowls/cups that I use go in the dishwasher. When DH is home he usually just uses 1 cup for drinks and maybe a plate for eating from. I usually only use 1 cup a day, as I have a reusable water bottle that I use for my water intake and only use the glass for pop or iced tea and maybe 1 bowl, 1 small plate (for lunch) and 1 large plate for dinner each day. I only run the dishwasher when it is full or when we run out of silverware.

I struggle with this without a dishwasher. I've had to throw a couple of the straw type sippys away because I couldn't get them clean enough. (Pulled the straw out of one accidentally once and there was mold growing. So freaked me out!!!! Now I try to take these to the in-laws every so often to run in their dishwasher.)

Anyone have any tips for those of us without dishwahsers? It'd be appreciated!

I also just toss in the dishwasher, BUT before we moved and did not have a dishwasher, I just would soak the lid, valve & cup in hot, soapy water & clean with a bottle-brush. But, for stuck-on, nasty grime (like when one rolls under the seat of the car or under the bed & you forget about it only to find it 3 days later....yeah, come on ladies, I know I'm NOT the ONLY one!!!) I found that the best thing to clean them with is Q-tips. The Q-tips are just small enough to get in all those crevices. And, for the sippy cups with the straws...the LONG Q-tips, like they use at a doctors office. You can buy the long Q-tips at Wal-Mart, CVS or anywhere that carries regular sized ones.

me too

The q-tips are a lifesaver. I have had to use them to clean the values even after they had been in the dishwasher. My mom's dishwasher just doesn't get the valves very clean. You can also use a toothpick covered with a paper towel to get in there. I'm not a fan of using the nipple brushes on the valves because I have had them leak when I pushed the nipple brush too far in and separated the slit in the valve.

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The diswasher gets them perfectly clean and it is all I use

we use the dishwasher here also. but if one cup gets left some place for a while I will pre wash by hand and I have used qtips before to get the valves really clean.

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