On the surface the idea of Yeti Cleaning Tablets sounds great. Throw a couple of tablets in your Yeti tumbler or bottle, fill up with water and let chemistry do its work to clean your tumbler. However, it seems these don't work quite as well as you would hope.
Yeti Cleaning Tablets have a hit-and-miss success rate, working well for some people to remove coffee, tea and drink stains but not working at all for others. They are also expensive at $1.87 per tablet compared to just $0.30 for similar tablets in other brands.
In this article we'll have a look at the ingredients inside Yeti Cleaning Tablets and talk about if they work, how they work and some better ways to clean stains from your Yeti Tumbler cup or mug.
Do Yeti Cleaning Tablets Work?
These tablets have really mixed reviews as to whether or not they actually work to remove stains from your Yeti Tumbler or bottle.
Some people say they work, like this review from Curtis CR said:
Was bummed my tumbler was stained from coffee. Could never get it out. 1 tablet of this followed by a light wipe out with a sponge made it look brand new again!! Great cleaner for every once in a while to knock off hard to clean stains!
While other people said it doesn't work at all:
Bought 2 packs of these for some stained tumblers I have drinking coffee and tea. Cleaned them out 3 times letting them soak longer and longer then running in the dishwasher and it did absolutely nothing for my cups.
It's also unclear exactly why it worked for some people while not others given the stains most people are trying to get rid of is stubborn coffee or tea stains from their Yeti cups.
You can read the full reviews here
What Are In Yeti Cleaning Tablets And How Do They Work?
Looking at the ingredients list of the Yeti Cleaning Tablets you can see they contain a variety of different materials.
Ingredients include:
- Sodium carbonate (water softener, creates fizzing reaction)
- Citric acid
- Sodium percarbonate (hydrogen peroxide)
- Potassium silicate
- Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (foaming agent)
- ethoxylated alcohols (wetting agent + degreaser)
The main ingredient that does the cleaning is the sodium percarbonate. This is sodium carbonate that has been reacted with hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide is both a disinfectant and a stain remover. It's a bleach, but not a chlorine based bleach (which will ruin your Yeti) and it reacts really well with protein based stains.
This means it will react well with stains that are caused by milk based proteins (like coffee).
The sodium carbonate acts as a water softener, requiring less soap or cleaning agent in your water to get the same job done.
It reacts with the citric acid to create the fizzing reaction and the sodium lauryl sulfoacetate is also a foaming agent and the ethoxylated alcohols are a degreaser.
For Better Results Combine A Dish Cloth With Yeti Tablets
While Yeti tablets will work for some stains the “set and forget” method of cleaning your Yeti tumbler by using chemical tablets isn't going to be as effective as getting in there and giving them a good clean.
For better results you want to give your Yeti a good scrub after using the Yeti tablets.
You can use a dish cloth or sponge but for better results use an abrasive cleaner like this super fine steel wool or even better than that are these magic erasers.
Yeti Cleaning Tablets Are Overpriced
One of the problems I have with Yeti tablets is that they seem extremely overpriced to me.
They sell for $14.99 for just 8 tablets. This is $1.87 per tablet and the instructions tell you to use 2 tablets per clean. That's $3.75 per clean.
If you've got a couple of Yeti bottles and tumblers like I do then this gets expensive fast.
Compared to other bottle and stainless steel cleaning tablets on the market these are completely overpriced.
These bottle bright tablets are extremely similar and a pack of 30 is less than $10 and you only have to use one tablet per bottle, making them way way cheaper than Yeti.
See the Clean Hike Bottle Cleaning Tablets at Amazon
How To Clean Stains From a Yeti Rambler Cup
Stainless steel is a self protective material, which means you can scrub and polish it and it will create a new protective barrier over itself and stop it from rusting.
This means you don't have to worry too much about using abrasive cleaners like steel wool or magic erasers.
These are perfect for cleaning away coffee and tea stains and even work for scrubbing away the toughest of stains and even rust and corrosion.
I try to avoid using steel wool as little flakes of the steel can break off and then rust inside your bottle.
A better thing to use is a magic eraser. These are made from a plastic that creates a foam that just happens to be micro-abrasive.
This is perfect for polishing away old stains inside your Yeti cup or Yeti bottle and it also won't leave any steel behind that could rust.
Once polished and looking brand new leave your bottle to air dry and your stainless steel will as good as new.
Get some Magic Erasers from Amazon
You can also use more natural cleaning ingredients like baking soda and vinegar to give your Yeti an amazing clean.
Click here to learn how to clean a Yeti Tumbler cup properly
If you've got a dirty lid then they are easy to clean too. Learn how to clean a Yeti MagSlider lid.
Cleaning tough stains off Yeti coolers is a bit harder but still possible if you know what you're doing. Click here to learn how to clean hard stains from a Yeti cooler.
