Cleaning Your Mugs for Cider Season

September 27, 2021

Cleaning your mugs doesn’t have to be an ordeal. With cider and hot chocolate season almost upon us having pristine mugs for your friends and family is essential. Nothing detracts from a steaming cup of autumn brew more than a dirty mug. Unfortunately, many older mugs have unsightly coffee stains in them. Here’s how to use Bar Keepers Friend to remove those stains with ease.

How to Clean Your Coffee Mug with BKF

Although you can use original Bar Keepers Friend to clean your stained mugs, I prefer BKF’s Soft Cleanser. There are two reasons I prefer soft scrub, first of all, it works, and secondly, it’s quick and easy. So, if you get a surprise visit from your Aunt Alice and Uncle Willard, you can clean your mugs in seconds while they wait on the patio for their beverage. Hot cocoa for Aunt Alice and hot cider for Uncle Willard.

All you do is take your mugs to the sink, squirt a little soft scrub in them and wipe with a soft cloth or paper towel. Be sure to rinse thoroughly. Here’s a one-minute video from our friends at BKF New Zealand showing how effective and quick this method is.

Deep Cleaning a Coffee-stained Mug

If you have a deeply stained coffee mug that you’re ready to toss in the trash – don’t! I have a surprise for you. You can use BKF Coffee Maker Cleaner to clean your coffee-stained mug! That’s right. The same BKF product that can bring your old coffee maker, carafe, or Keurig back to life can also renew your mug. It’s easy, but it does take about 30 minutes.

• Set your mug in the sink
• Turn the faucet to hot and let the water warm-up
• Add 1 ounce of BKF Coffee maker cleaner to every 8 ounces of hot water needed to fill the mug, so, if it’s a 12-ounce mug, use 1½ ounces of our cleaner.
• Allow it to steep for 30 minutes
• After 30 minutes, wipe the mug with a soft cloth
• Rinse with warm water (I like to use a little dish soap and wash it out after I’ve rinsed it.)

Cleaning Your Stained Mug the Old School Way 

Our original BKF Powder Cleanser is also great for cleaning mugs. Especially considering when invented, Bar Keepers Friend was primarily used by Bar Keepers to clean, among other things, their mugs. Here’s what one fan had to say.

“Simply pour a few granules of Bar Keepers Friend on a damp cloth or directly on a wet surface and scrub off the stains. A little can of Bar Keepers Friend will save you money and have your mugs looking brand new in less than 5 minutes. Unfortunately, the stains return over time, so it’s something you have to do on a regular basis if you want your mugs looking sparkling clean.” — Dawn P. 

But What if You Prefer Something a Little Fancier to Drink?

I’ll have to admit I’m known to add liquor to my hot drinks occasionally. Have you ever tried a splash of Baileys Irish Cream in hot chocolate? It’s delicious. And what about those copper Moscow Mule mugs? I know they can be challenging to clean. Here’s Jenny’s solution.

“I love making fancy drinks and photographing them for Instagram, so I’m always on the lookout for pretty barware. I’d wanted a copper Moscow Mule mug for a while, but I’m also too cheap to pay more than $10 for one. Recently, on a trip to Goodwill, I spied a badly tarnished Moscow Mule mug – and it was only 69 cents! It was my first attempt at cleaning copper mugs, but I was fairly confident that I could use Bar Keepers Friend Soft Cleanser to restore it to its former beauty. I was right.” –  A neglected Copper Mug Makes Its Instagram Debut

Happiness Is a Clean Mug

Sometimes it’s the little things that make big differences – like a clean mug. A clean mug makes whatever beverage you’re drinking taste better. Cleaning a coffee-stained mug shouldn’t be complicated, and with BKF, whichever of our products you use, it’s not. So, take a minute, clean your mug, and enjoy a steaming cup.

About the Author

Randy Clark is a speaker, coach, and author. He publishes a weekly blog at Randy Clark Leadership.com. Randy is passionate about social media, leadership development, and flower gardening. He’s a beer geek and on weekends (after COVID-19) he can be found fronting the Rock & Roll band Under the Radar. He’s the proud father of two educators; he has four amazing grandchildren and a wife who dedicates her time to helping others. Randy is the author of the Amazon bestseller The New Manager’s Workbook a crash course in effective management.