GIVEAWAY: Sippy Straw Cleaner

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

Here's the thing about motherhood. There are million things out there that claim to make things easier for you and some of them actually work. I mean, how did mothers manage before there were strollers? Did they just carry their baby everywhere? How about high chairs? Did they just have someone else sit and hold their baby during feeding time? And sippy cups. Were there just TONS of spills before someone came up with the idea of having a covered top?

Along with inventions though, there then have to be products to improve them that, after using them once, you realize you can't live without. With your stroller you can now get fancy off-roading wheels or cup holders. For the high chair, there are special attachments to hold bibs and toys that suction right to the tray (in attempts to keep Little Sister B from throwing EVERYTHING on the ground). What about for those sippy cups though? Are they destined to just get dirty and thrown out every time some milk gets dried in the straw?
Jennifer Reyes is the kind of inventive mom that I have aspirations to be. I think we've all tried sticking paper towels or toothpicks into our child's straw in an attempt to get the dried gunk out of there but, when that was unsuccessful, we moved on.

Jennifer, on the other hand, went to work designing, developing, patenting and now selling a one-of-a-kind straw brush cleaner that universally fits all major sippy cup brands. More than that, the Sippy Straw Cleaner also works on straws, whether standard drinking straws, thermos straws, accordion straws or sports bottle straws. Being a mom, Jennifer also wanted to make sure her product was safe. Therefore, the Sippy Straw Cleaner is made from a stainless steel rust-free wire rod and a BPA-free polypropylene handle with nylon bristles composing the brush.

No, really. Eeeeew. That straw is always so gross.

Big Sister E has always been a huge fan of straw sippy cups, she took to them easily as a baby and has been loving them ever since. They are definitely convenient for us in terms of preventing mess and portability, but the straw parts (all 3 of them) of her favorites are just... ick. No matter how much I try to get my pinkie in there or run the water through, they're always too small to get clean. I was definitely interested to see if the Sippy Straw Cleaner would work.

Setting my husband up with a sink full of dirty sippy cups, I handed him the Straw Cleaner.
Gone are the days of crunching my paper towels because the Sippy Straw Cleaner slid right into each and every one of our sippy cup pieces and scrubbed the goo right off. I even had my husband use the Straw Cleaner on small openings and cracks that normally are just grazed over with our usual brush.

While the cup cleaning was going on, I proceeded to use the other Sippy Straw Cleaner (2 are included in every package!) to work out some of the dirt on the keyboard of my computer. Ideas of other places one of these cleaners could be used are endless: jewelry, small grout, that annoying place on my bathroom faucet under the handle...

I returned to the kitchen to find Big Sister E's sippy cups freshly cleaned. Not wanting to stop there (and taking advantage of my husband with his hands in the soap) I pulled out other straws that we had lying around, either from other sippies or just traditional straws. Even though these were much thinner than the straws that go with Big Sister E's favorite cups, the Sippy Straw Cleaner was just the right size to smoothly scrub them clean.
Just as you would never consider taking your child for a long walk without putting them in a stroller or feeding your baby without putting them in a high chair, motherhood has now become a little easier with the Sippy Straw Cleaner. And, unlike most of the overpriced products on the market these days, motherhood has become easier for only $3.98 ($3.98! There are 2 in the package!) and can be ordered directly off of the Sippy Straw Cleaner website. Fortunately for one lucky person, they will be able to find out for themselves...

One person will win their own Sippy Straw Cleaner! A necessity for any mom or mom-to-be! Endorsed on Twitter by celebrity mom Tori Spelling!

To enter to win your Sippy Straw Cleaner: Visit Sippy Straw Cleaner and tell me something you learned there that you found interesting. How will this help you or someone you know? Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.


Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted. For example, if you subscribe, leave one comment saying "I subscribe #1" and a separate comment saying "I subscribe #2")

1 Extra Entry if you follow Sippy Straw Cleaner on Twitter.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway. See the list on the top of my right sidebar - there are some really great ones going on right now and coming up!
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

Sippy Straw Cleaner #giveaway @thxmailcarrier from @sippystrawclean! End the mess & Save the Sippies & money! http://bit.ly/ioKbj #Win!

2 Extra Entries per follow method (leave 2 separate comments for each type) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect (see sidebar), subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments PER BUTTON) if you put my cute button AND/OR one of the Sippy Straw Cleaner banners/buttons up on your blog. Please leave an address where they can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and Sippy Straw Cleaner. Please leave an address where it can be found.
5 Extra Entries (leave 5 separate comments) if you order a Sippy Straw Cleaner now! They'll be here in time for the Holidays and will make great stocking stuffers for all the moms you know!

Giveaway will end on November 17th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to US residents only.

A HUGE thank you to Jennifer Reyes for providing me with a Sippy Straw Cleaner for review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. You took a problem and, when there wasn't an answer, created a solution and now Moms and Dads everywhere have one less frustration to worry about. The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.