Most stainless steel or glass cups sweat when filled with cold or iced beverages. But do Yeti Tumbler Cups sweat and if not, why don’t they sweat?
Yeti Tumbler Cups don’t sweat when filled with cold beverages or hot beverages. Cups sweat due to the beverage making the outside of the cup cold, causing condensation. Because Yeti cups have a vacuum sealed gap the outside doesn’t get cold but rather stays at room temperature and thus doesn’t cause condensation.
I tested the Yeti cups myself and proved that while glass, plastic and non-insulated stainless steel cups all sweat and get wet, the Yeti tumbler cups don't.
Why Don’t Yeti Rambler Cups Sweat?
Cups sweat when the cold outside of the cup comes into contact with the warm moisture in the air. This causes the moisture in the air to change from a gas to a liquid form, sticking to the cup.
But in order for this to happen the exterior of the cup needs to be colder than room temperature.
Yeti tumbler cups are made of double walled stainless steel. In between the inner and outer wall is a vacuum which lets little to no heat through it. Stainless steel is also a terrible insulator of heat.
What this means that that when you put an iced beverage in your Yeti cup the inside walls get really cold, but the outside walls of the cup stay at room temperature.
Because the outside walls of the cup stay at room temperature this does not cause the moisture in the air to condensate and stick to the walls thus the cups don’t sweat.
My Own Test
To test this out I filled up 5 different cups with ice and tap water and filled them about 3/4 full so we can clearly see any condensation lines.
- Yeti Lowball 10oz Tumbler
- RTIC 30oz Tumbler
- Kids Stainless Steel Cup (not double walled)
- Plastic cup
- Glass cup
I then left them on my office table while I was writing this article (literally I’m writing this right now as they sit there)
Very quickly, within a minute, the glass and stainless steel kids cups began to sweat. Shortly after the plastic cup also began to sweat.
But throughout the entire test neither the Yeti Tumbler nor the RTIC Tumbler cup showed any signs of sweating.
In fact when I took the temperature of the outside of the cups I could clearly see the glass, plastic and kids stainless steel cups exterior had dropped in temperature close to that of the iced water.
The outside of the Yeti and RTIC cups however stayed at room temperature and didn’t seem to cool down at all.
Why Do Regular Cups Sweat?
Regular cups sweat because of condensation. You likely learned about this in school but totally fine if you’ve forgotten how this works (I did) so let me explain it.
Warm air (whether it be outside or inside) is full of water in the form of gas. When that gas comes in contact with a cold cup it turns from gas into a liquid and sticks to your cup.
It’s like your cup is acting as a mini-fridge and turning the warm gas H2O into cold liquid H20.
Without a double wall or any insulation the outside of any regular cups will always decrease in temperature when filled with a cold beverage, thus causing condensation to happen.
What Can Cause Yeti Cups To Sweat?
While through regular use it’s extremely unlikely that Yeti cups will sweat, there are some circumstances that can cause them to sweat.
If Your Yeti Cup Has Been In The Fridge/Freezer or Cold Area
If your Yeti cup has been in the fridge or freezer, or if it’s been in a cold place and you are bringing it into a warmer room then the exterior of the Yeti cup will be colder than the air and will likely form condensation.
This is not because of any beverage inside the cup, but rather the exterior of the cup was already cold and that’s why sweating or condensation occurs.
With time however the outside of your Yeti cup will warm back up to room temperature and will stop sweating, while the contents of the tumbler will continue to stay cold for some time.
Where To Purchase Yeti Tumblers
You can purchase Yeti tumblers direction through Yeti’s website, at any store that sells Yeti products or you can purchase them with free shipping from Amazon.com
I’ll link up to the different sized Yeti tumblers below if you’re interested and you can see the latest prices and reviews on Amazon:
