There are various benefits tousing straws, as they can be more hygienic and safer. Drinking beverages through a straw is also easier, encouraging you to drink more.

Adding a straw to your best water bottle means you get all the benefits of drinking through a straw combined with using your favorite sports bottle. Your water intake can be fun, convenient, easy, and safe.

What are water bottles with straws?

Water bottles with straws are reusable drinking bottles that have straws built into the bottle. Sometimes these straws are fixed, and you can only use the bottle while the straw is in place. When you drink from a water bottle with a straw, you keep the container upright and sip from a straw.

In other bottles, the straw can be removed, and the bottle can be used as a regular water bottle. In this case, you drink as you would from a cup or a glass by tilting the bottom of the container up.

Different types of water bottles with straws

A variety of water bottles with straws on the market make it easy to find one that suits your unique needs. Reusable straws come in different lengths and thicknesses. They are also made from different materials, similar to reusable water bottles. The length, thickness, and materials you prefer for your reusable straw will depend on how or where you will be using it.

Reusable straws meant for traveling or carrying with you will need to be more durable and easier to pack away. On the other hand, straws used regularly throughout the day need to feel good sipping on and deliver the right amount of fluid comfortably and conveniently.

Advantages of water bottles with straws

Using a water bottle with a built-in straw negates the need to use single-use straws. That makes these bottles even more environmentally friendly.

Using a reusable straw with your water bottle could be healthier for you. Treadmill Reviews tested the lids of 12 reusable water bottles to establish just how many germs are on the average athlete's reusable water bottle. The values are in CFU (colony-forming units) per square centimeter. The company found that the average athlete's water bottle contains 313,499 CFU of germs.

To put this in perspective, the average dog toy has around 2,937 CFU. That means that your reusable water bottle could have more bacteria than your dog's favorite plaything.

Slide top bottles were found to have the most bacteria, followed by squeeze top and then screw-top reusable water bottles. Straw lid bottles had the lowest CFU value of only 25.4. (Your pet's water bowl has around 47,383 CFU, and your kitchen sink 3,191 CFU).

What is more, there are fewer harmful bacteria on straw-top reusable water bottles. In fact, most of the bacteria found on straw-top bottles are harmless. Most bacteria or germs found on squeeze top and screw top reusable water bottles are gram-negative rods. These kinds of germs can cause illnesses like blood infections and pneumonia. In some instances, they can resist antibiotic treatments. Slide top bottles also host many harmful bacteria.

This means straw lid reusable water bottles are some of the safest types to use. However, bear in mind that although these types of water bottles are potentially more hygienic, they still need to be cleaned regularly.

Straws make it easier to drink water. Reusable water bottles with straws are usually easy to open, especially if you only have one hand. You also don't need to tilt your reusable water bottle back to drink when using a straw. This makes water bottles with straws ideal for when you are multitasking. They are also convenient to use by persons who have motor disorders, strength disorders, or difficulty swallowing. 

What are the disadvantages of water bottles with a straw?

Straws add additional components that need to be cleaned. While the lid of a water bottle with a drinking straw has fewer bacteria than other reusable bottles, that does not mean that it's completely germ-free. The area where you drink from might have fewer germs, but there could be a buildup of germs or bacteria in the rest of the straw. This is especially the case if you do not thoroughly clean the reusable straw between uses.

Depending on the material it's made from, some straws might give fluids a strange aftertaste. This is particularly the case for stainless steel straws. Plastic straws could also affect the taste of your beverages if it has absorbed flavors from other beverages that you had in the bottle before. In this case, you may need to sterilize your reusable plastic straw or replace it.

The more components you have to your reusable drinking water, the more parts must be disposed of or recycled. Depending on the durability and material of your reusable straw, you may need to replace it before you need to replace your reusable water bottle. Considering that not all reusable straws can be recycled, You will have to ensure that you dispose of them correctly.

What is the best straw to use with a reusable water bottle?

The benefits of using a reusable water bottle could be slightly diminished if you use single-use plastic straws with it. Instead, you could consider using single-use biodegradable straws with your reusable water bottle. Better still, consider using a reusable straw with your reusable water bottle. This option is safer for the environment and better for your pocket.

There are a variety of different reusable straws that you can use with your reusable water bottle. They come in various lengths and colors. Some are rigid, others are premade with a slight bend, while others still are flexible or bendable.

Bear in mind that some reusable water bottle manufacturers produce reusable straws that are specifically designed to work with their water bottles. If this is the case, you may need to use a reusable straw that the same brand produces as your reusable water bottle. It might be possible to find a different type of straw that could work with your reusable water bottle.

Still, in most cases, straws that are the same brand as your water bottle are likely to be better compatible for use with water bottles from that particular brand. More than that, using off-brand straws could cause either the straw or the water bottle to function improperly or damage either product.

The most significant difference between various reusable straws is the material that it is made from. Some materials are more robust and last longer, while others feel more comfortable to sip on. Others still are better for the environment. You will likely be able to find straws of different lengths and diameters in whichever material you prefer. Some are even adjustable to accommodate differently sized water containers. 

Plastic

You don't need to avoid all plastic straws. Hard plastic straws are reusable and can often sport fun or exciting patterns. One of the main benefits of reusable plastic straws is that they are relatively inexpensive. However, they are not as durable as straws made from other materials. That means that you would have to replace them sooner, leaving plastic waste once again. More than that, using reusable plastic straws also increases the risk of chemicals from the plastic leaching into your water.

Bamboo

Reusable straws made from bamboo it's a biodegradable option. Although these straws can be reused multiple times, they are less durable than reusable straws made from other materials. Still, bamboo reusable straws are exceptionally environmentally friendly, are made from reusable materials, and have a very small impact on the environment. The downside of a bamboo straw is that it could taste a little bit like bamboo shoots.

Silicone

Silicone straws are very comfortable to drink from. They are often dishwasher safe, so you would not necessarily have to clean them with a cleaning brush. Some silicone straws come with a squeegee cleaner for easy cleaning. Many silicone straws can be used with both cold and hot drinks. This is especially handy when you have an insulated water bottle.

Silicone straws have a rubbery texture. This is great because it makes them more flexible. A more flexible straw means it can fold up for easy carrying when it is not being used in your reusable water bottle. It also means that you can easily change the straw's angle while you sip. These straws come in various colors and are great for kids' water bottles.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel straws are usually dishwasher safe, making them easy to keep clean. Many also come with a cleaning brush. While stainless steel reusable straws are a popular choice, some people don't like the feel of metal against their teeth. To get around this, you could use a silicone tip. These silicone tips are removable, making the straw and tip easy to clean.

Stainless steel straws are firm and rigid and will not lose their shape even after many uses. One drawback of a stainless steel straw is that you could have a metal aftertaste with some liquid, especially refreshingly cold water.

Glass

Glass water bottle straws go great with hot or cold beverages. They could also be slightly thicker, which is perfect for smoothies or bubble tea. The great thing about glass straws is that they are completely clear and look very elegant.