After an article was shared by the Daily Mail this week warning of the dangers of mould growing in reusable water bottles, we thought we’d share our top tips to keep your bottles clean and illness-causing bacteria at bay…
Dangers Of Drinking From a Mouldy Water Bottle
The article shared the experiences of several people who had regularly fallen ill and didn’t know what was causing it…until they discovered black mould on the inside of their reusable bottles. Now don’t panic too much, if you’ve drank out of a mouldy bottle a couple of times by accident, you’re not going to turn into a mushroom-spouting zombie like in The Last of Us. BUT ingesting black mould daily could affect your skin, eyes, nose, throat and stomach, according to the article. The worst effects are likely to occur in people with an already weakened immune system, such as very young or very old people, people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or those suffering from sustained stress.
How to Keep Reusable Water Bottles Clean
But fear not, black mould is easily avoidable, and no it’s not going to mutate and infect the entire human race (can you tell we’re not over that show yet…?). Of course washing regularly is important, but follow these steps too and drink nothing but pure H2O…
-Invest in a stainless steel bottle
Of course we’re going to suggest this, but for good reason. Stainless steel is the enemy of black mould. Non-porous, there are no tiny cracks or scratches for bacteria to hide in, it can withstand regular washing without rusting or leaching chemicals, plus it is resistant to stains (duh) and odours.
-Let your bottle dry thoroughly after washing it
This will prevent the damp conditions needed for mould to grow in
-Keep your bottle somewhere cool
Mould is more likely to grow in warm conditions so now the weather is getting warmer, don’t leave it in a sunny window or hot car (unless it’s completely dry).
