One Girl, Two Cups: How to separate two cups stuck together?

October 23, 2016 6:24 PM

While moving, I put a glass tumbler inside a tea mug like so. Now they are stuck and I cannot separate them. I tried running hot water over them; I tried applying vegetable oil with a Q-tip but can't get it down far enough; I even tried breaking the tumbler in hopes that I could salvage the mug. (It's pretty sturdy). Any ideas?
posted by Jeanne to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Best answer: Have you tried altering the temperature?
posted by Candleman at 6:28 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Not hot water, but maybe put them in the freezer for a bit?
posted by dness2 at 6:28 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Fold a towel and place in on your counter. Rap the top edge of the tumbler on the counter at an angle. Use a fair amount of pressure. They should separate.

(Unless you've already broken the tumbler too much to do that.)
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:29 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Put the object in the micro for two minutes, the ceramic will get hot use a oven glove add water very slowly into the tumbler then ice jiggle free.
posted by hortense at 6:35 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would put cold tap water and one ice cube in the tumbler and swish the mug in a pan of hot tap water.
posted by ridgerunner at 6:37 PM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, I got them loose! After ice, hot water, and about ten minutes of increasing despair I finally managed to work them free.
posted by Jeanne at 6:50 PM on October 23, 2016 [14 favorites]

I'm glad you got it! A friend did this to my glass/mug when he was house-sitting for me while I was on a work trip. I discovered because he posted a similar picture on Facebook asking for help. He also managed to get them loose eventually, but not before I found the picture of my trapped kitchenware. :)
posted by easternblot at 2:50 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

For future reference, you probably could have also just put it in the freezer for a couple of hours.
posted by VTX at 8:43 AM on October 24, 2016