# Hot mug **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987 "2008-01-02T14:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/1 "2008-01-02T14:33:17Z")
I have a Mickey Mouse mug from the dollar store that I keep at work for drinking tea. (Tea snobs, stop reading now:) I nuke hot water in it for four minutes and then add the teabag. From time to time I take the mug home for a good scrubbing. I have always used Comet or a similar harsh cleanser for this; soak it for a bit and then scrub it out. Last time I took it home, I was out of Comet, so I used two denture-cleaning tablets with hot water. (No, I don’t have dentures; but denture-cleaning tablets are great for getting mineral deposits off glass and ceramic vases and pots, and I have a jungle of houseplants at home, with pots that need cleaning from time to time.) Ever since, I nuke the water-filled mug for four minutes – and when I go to take it out of the microwave, it’s too hot to pick up bare-handed. It never used to be that hot. Why is my mug suddenly, literally, too hot to handle? Is it connected with the different way I cleaned it? Will cleaning it again in some other way return it to its previous handleability? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/2 "2008-01-02T14:39:24Z")
Perhaps the denture tablets removed the enamel so that the water is soaking into the ceramic and heating the walls of the mug itself? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/3 "2008-01-02T15:15:39Z")
^That would be my guess/assumption as well. Now I have more ammunition when my coworkers comment on my filthy mug. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/4 "2008-01-02T15:18:23Z")
Ah, phooey. I _like_ my dollar store Mickey Mouse mug. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/5 "2008-01-02T15:42:18Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Ah, phooey. I _like_ my dollar store Mickey Mouse mug. [/QUOTE] Go back and see if they have another…it’s only a buck. In the future, just scrub it with a Scotch-Brite whenever the deposits reach a measurable thickness… ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/6 "2008-01-02T15:57:31Z")
I just use bleach to remove tea staining inside cups or mugs. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/7 "2008-01-02T16:02:37Z")
Comet works fine – it was the denture cleaner wot done me in. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/8 "2008-01-02T16:17:56Z")
I have noticed this too. I occasionally reheat a cup of cold coffee and the cup is so hot that even through a wet wash cloth (that I use to retrieve the cup from the microwave), it will burn my fingers after 10 or 15 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/9 "2008-01-02T21:04:38Z")
Never ever use a wet rag to pick up something hot. Water conducts heat much better than cloth. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/10 "2008-01-02T21:44:10Z")
A while back, we had a nearly identical thread. In that one, the OP had used bleach, and that had triggered the self-heating of the mug. In this one, bleach-laden Comet cleaner didn’t trigger the effect, but denture cleaner did. Right now, you might be thinking I have an answer, but I don’t. If I read to the end of the previous thread, I don’t remember it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/11 "2008-01-03T20:27:32Z")
I’ve never seen a picture of twickster, but I understand she’s got a hot mug. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/12 "2008-01-04T02:35:09Z")
Heh. Not any more, actually – I’ve retired Mickey and brought in a new mug. Who’da thunk cleaning would prove to be potentially dangerous down the road? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-mug/431987/13 "2008-01-04T12:02:54Z")
The only part that makes no sense to me is the part about cleaning the mug. I have coffee mugs I haven’t washed in the 10 years I’ve owned them. An office mug MUST have the patina of use to be good. Quit washing it and it’ll quit punishing your hand in return.