Contigo Spill-Proof Kids Tumbler, 14 oz, Wink with Raining Cats/Dogs

Q: Can a smoothie be used with this straw? Would it be too thick to go through the valve?

If you can read my review (w/ pics), I go into great detail about why this cup is horrible for smoothies. I bought this cup specifically w/ the intent to use it for smoothies because of the large gauge straw. Beware the interior straw valve, it's easily damaged (and always seems to smell). The biggest problem with this cup is that the smoothie slowly creeps up the straw and out of the top of the straw and then fills the recess on the top of the cup and can cover the vent hole, which then pulls smoothie into the lid's matrix, where it gets trapped forever and molds. It happened to 3 cups!!! I finally gave up and trashed them all. We use the Thermos Brand "Fun"tainer for our smoothies now and have no complaints.

Q: Any ideas how to get the water trapped in the lid out?

You can remove the small white gasket beneath the lid, allow the water to drain, and then - this parts important - wet the gasket and then use the sipping end of the straw to force it back in. Found this on Contigo’s website.

Q: How easy does this clean? Any trouble with mold developing?

We had the same problem after only using it for water. We thought we'd have to throw it away as our bottle brushes couldn't reach the trouble area. My wife has a water-pik flosser and I suggested we try that. She was able to pump a little soap in there and then spray both sides with it and finally got the mold out. Now if we can find a good way to dry it the problem may be solved. So as long as you have a $100 waterpik you'll be able to clean your $10 cup lol.