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Thanks, Wmsn. I do wash them out with baking soda & hot water with soap multiple times (after each use actually) & I always let them air dry thoroughly before filling with water again. I'll p/u some vinegar to clean (didn't know it killed mold). Quite honestly, I have them filled with water & in the car now for tomorrow's trip, but I'm queasy about using them... I'll just clean them & leave them alone for awhile & drink Smartwater for awhile. It's pricey, but I like the "texture" of that water, better than others.
All I can think is perhaps there's some mold left in the thermoses (1 is giant sized... 33oz, I believe & maybe I'm not seeing that there's some left on the wall of the thermos & once I add water, perhaps it begins to grow again??) so I won't use them again 'til I wash them in vinegar.
Chessie... I can't rep you again, but thanks for the links. Interesting.
Vision... Yeah, I guess it doesn't take much for bacteria to take hold.
Mxxm... I don't see how a glass bottle would differ? It seems it's the air getting onto the wet teabag (from all I've gathered here) that's causing the mold. Flavored water works fine at home when placed into the fridge in a container, no matter the material (because I've done so for years), so I guess I just can't continue to do what I've been doing & taking it roadside. I'll just drink plain water when on the road.
You keep coming back to this. Have you considered that maybe it was the first month that was the aberration? Dried Tea is a natural product, prone to variations in quality or freshness of ingredients that would not be obvious within a single box, but could vary quite a bit between lots made months apart.
Yes... I'm trying to avoid it happening again & I do love a good mystery. I'm a curious person. Aren't you?
I think your thermos is defective. I find that the new thermos type containers aren't nearly as sturdy as the old school.
Go invest in that ugly silver w/ the green top thermos......all metal. Also, instead of making your tea ahead.....make it per cup with the hot water you have in your thermos.
I am using this link just to point out the type thermos. You can find these at hardware, sporting goods, or most big box stores like Walmart. https://www.rei.com/product/826375/s...5095292&gclid=
Thanks, Jan. Three thermoses & 1 is the same Stanley. In fact, I own 3 Stanley's all together... love them. It's not defective thermoses.
I don't think you read the 1st post... I'm doing this while on the road... I'm not heating individual cups of tea & not drinking hot tea... I'm using cold water & the teabag to make flavored water overnight in an airtight thermos.
No longer 'til I figure out a better method... guess I'll just have to soak 1 bag in my stainless SBucks cup filled with cold water when I want to drink it. I don't see a healthy way to do otherwise, atm.
BTW, the cold water in the thermoses remains fresh & mold free, when I'm traveling. Even then, I still wash them daily with hot soap & water (including the plasticy, stretchy ring thing), let them air dry & refill with filtered water. It's adding the teabag that alters it.
Get yourself an iced tea maker. Mine cost 30 bucks and is very basic. Saves me a TON of money though. You can really control the strength of it. Then refrigerate your thermos with the tea overnight and it should be fine unrefrigerated the next day.
I'll leave a hot cup of tea out overnight by my bed like the previous poster, but I won't do that with iced tea. Stuff starts growing pretty quick with tea, and I think more quickly with herbal teas. Once I make my iced tea, I will sometimes bring the entire pitcher into my office and drink it throughout the day, but at the end, any leftovers are poured out rather than saved.
Just that you know - water can get moldy too. How to keep the yuck away from your reusable water bottle | HellaWella
So, I'd probably recommend nuking it with baking soda & vinegar, then a good hearty rinse. Maybe give it a good scrub with a bristle brush if you can reach inside it, too. Vinegar has been proven to kill germs better than bleach.
If your thermos has a silicon gasket, make sure to clean it very well too...
Thanks, Elina... didn't know water would get moldy without a contaminant. Good info, thanks again.
Get yourself an iced tea maker. Mine cost 30 bucks and is very basic. Saves me a TON of money though. You can really control the strength of it. Then refrigerate your thermos with the tea overnight and it should be fine unrefrigerated the next day.
I'll leave a hot cup of tea out overnight by my bed like the previous poster, but I won't do that with iced tea. Stuff starts growing pretty quick with tea, and I think more quickly with herbal teas. Once I make my iced tea, I will sometimes bring the entire pitcher into my office and drink it throughout the day, but at the end, any leftovers are poured out rather than saved.
Ugh... You didn't read... not making iced tea, don't have a fridge & I'm on the road... I'll let you read the previous posts, if interested. Glad you're enjoying your $30 iced tea maker.
Thanks again, All. I'm done here. I'll work it out & let you know what worked. Cheers.
Just that you know - water can get moldy too. If your thermos has a silicon gasket, make sure to clean it very well too...
Elina... I think you may have solved it for me. The largest thermos I have is 64oz, not 32 as I previously said. It's pretty cavernous. I had water in the other 2 thermoses, as well the 64oz & placed them all in the car overnight, as I was supposed to be on the road this morning. Since I postponed 'til tomorrow & am in the desert where it's a bit hot, I brought them all in to dump the water, wash them out & refill (no teabags, just filtered water).
The 2 smaller ones were fine & smelled fresh, but I cleaned them anyway, before refilling. But, the 64oz thermos of water smelled slightly off... not moldy, as in a moldy sponge... just not fresh. Took it apart, washed everything with hot soap & water & noticed a 2" black smudge way down the wall of the thermos. It's so deep, had I not been positioned just so, underneath bright vanity lights, I would never have seen it. Then, with a flashlight, I inspected the interior & there were some very small black smudges up underneath the lip of the thermos. When I wiped my finger across them (couldn't reach them all)... it was hard to remove, but it did come off.
So, obviously, it's mold in that 1 thermos. (I'm unsure how that black smudge turns the water streaky white, but it's the same smell I noticed, so it must be the same issue.) Being so deep, I have to stick my arm 1/2-way to my elbow into the thermos, so obviously, it hasn't been cleaned properly every time.
I'll have to get a good baby bottle scrubber, (thanks for the Oxo link... I have a few of their kitchen gadgets & love them) as I can't see inside the thermos properly without a flashlight. I just realized, I think the issue with the other thermoses, which are smaller & easy to clean, is cross contamination of the water, as I often fill the big one & pour it into the smaller thermoses. I'm a dunce... never occurred to me to check out that cavernous vessel with a torch.
One last thing I just remembered, my sister used to clean out her thermoses almost daily with denture cleaner tabs (I think it's called Efferdent, or something like it) & she never had a problem with mold. She & her husband used the same 4 thermoses (giant ones) for coffee, tea & food 5-days/wk for 10+ years. Whenever I'd visit her, she'd clean out my coffee stained thermos & it looked brand new. I'd forgotten. So, I'll p/u some tablets & maybe that will help.
Thanks again, Elnina for all the links & thanks everyone for all your help. You're aces!
I WILL have a happy new year! You too! (Don't drink stringy tea on NYE!)
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I'll just drink plain water when on the road.
Let me check.....Sorry, no. 
(Don't drink stringy tea on NYE!) 
