I really can’t stand it when my kitchen sponges start to smell and I used to just throw them away at that point and open a new one. However, someone tipped me off to a trick to keep sponges germ-free and I discovered another one on my own by accident.
- Put your sponge in the top rack of the dishwasher and believe it or not, let it run with the dishes. I tried this yesterday and it works! If you are nervous about the heat for some reason, take it out during the dry cycle
- Put your sponge in the microwave for 30 seconds. I can’t imagine this works as well as the first option, but some folks swear by it!
Either way, these ideas will work for sponges, not metal scouring pads. Additionally, make sure you squeeze your sponges out well after each use and store them on a sponge rack. Don’t leave them in the sink in a pool of water-bacteria loves that kind of environment and we clean people do not!
March 19th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I read about the sponge in the microwave as well, but for a longer time period. It stressed the point that the sponge has to be moist when you pop it in the microwave or else you’ll have burnt sponge and a stinky microwave. I just put my damp sponge in a microwave-safe dish and stick in it for 4 minute. Then I let it sit there for awhile til the dish cools offs. It works great
March 19th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Why is anyone using a discusting sponge filled with who know what? I have about 20 or more dishcloths that I use once or twice a day and I throw them into the wash with lots of bleach. Some days when I am cooking I use about 10 or more. It’s am Italian thing.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Why is anyone using a discusting sponge filled with who know what? I have about 20 or more dishcloths that I use once or twice a day and I throw them into the wash with lots of bleach. Some days when I am cooking I use about 10 or more. It’s an Italian thing.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:39 am
I also toss our sponges in the dishwasher, but I still change them out regularly.
For some reason, our cat likes to steal the kitchen sponge from time to time. Even if it’s just been cleaned… those get tossed!
Kelly
http://www.kellyschwark.blogspot.com/
March 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Microwaving the sponge does it really work. Does it make the sponge worse
March 20th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I happen to agree with Marie, tho I am not Italian. I go through a good 100 dish rags a week, and I just wash them thouroughly. I do have some other ideas for ya tho, here is one of them. . . either use a dry sponge or a barely damp set of dishwashing gloves to remove pet hair from your furniture.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Sponges are gross! i use dishcloths made from wood fiber (yes) and even after a full day of use they never have the slightest odor. I throw them in the laundry and and occasionally soak them in Oxyfresh solution to restore whiteness. These are made by Natura–worth trying.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
When my sponge is officially not any good for doing dishes, I cut off a corner of it so I don’t forget which sponge is bad and use it for cleaning up floor spills and other not so nice messes around the house. I also keep one for cleaning the dog and cat dishes. There is still life left in it, it is just not “dish worthy” anymore.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I use the sponge in the dishwasher trick all the time. I hate the thought of spreading the chicken goo and whatnot all over my kitchen and family.
IT WORKS!
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
i hate to clean but i work hard at it all the time. i need helpful hints all the time.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Why would you even put a sponge in a microvave?It will just burn(experince)
March 24th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I take my sponges and ring the water out real well and then let them soak for about 10 minutes in a mixture of about 10% bleach with soap and water. I then rinse them well and ring them out to dry. I do this with about 2-3 sponges at a time so I usually have a fresh and sanitary sponge.
Also, someone suggested that old sponges can be put in the bottom of planters to keep the water from seeping out and holding moisture for the plant. I have not tried this myself, so maybe but maybe somone else is familiar with this.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
wow was up that was some cool story
March 27th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
The fastest and easiest way is to pour the leftover boiling water on the sponge and the dishrag (do this in the sink) when you have coffee or tea after breakfast or dinner.
We always boil a little extra water to do this everynight and we don’t have to wait for the dishwasher to finish before we can use the sponge again. We never have smelly sponges or dishcloths anymore.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I use lots of dishcloths every week and wash them with Shaklee’s Fresh Laundry Concentrate and a little NatureBright. They come out so clean and white! Be sure to check out Shaklee’s Get Clean Kit that was on Rachael’s show today! I love knowing that the planet is a little cleaner, along with my dishcloths!
www.shaklee.net/kathi
March 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I had heard about the sponge in the microwave, tried it and it works like a charm, the sponge is once again odourless so I do that often, however, I still dispose of used sponges and replace with new ones on a regular basis. The trick on not burning the sponge though, is to make sure it is damp, wet it and squeeze the water out before putting it in the microwave and I heard it needs one minute to dissinfect, apparantly the heat kills off germs and bacteria which is why the odour is removed.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Be sure your sponge is not loaded with soap;;;OTHERWISE!!! you will end up with an overflowing dishwasher, with soap bubbles oozing out, onto the floor! Thrust me!!! It happened!! Better you throw the sponge into the washing machine; I use a mesh bag. pegge
March 29th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Dishclothes/ sponges. I always use “rags” and I go through about 20 a day. I wash them in the Shaklee Fresh Laundry concentrate with some basic G in also and they come out perfectly clean and disinfected. I also have to keep the chemicals to the lowest possible and enjoy saving my health and the earth so I only use the proven shaklee clening products. Dont forget that there is a 100% money back Guarantee.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
The sponge in the dishwasher suggestions works. My mother has been doing this for years so I have too.
Spongers are not any more disgusting than dishcloths as long as you clean them. Both items get the same “gunk” and bacteria on them. As long a you throw the sponge in the dishwasher every night the bacteria are killed and removed!
March 29th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I use Shaklee’s Get Clean products featured on Rachel Ray’s show yesterday and absolutely love them. I used to clean houses for a few friends and Shaklee’s products not only out-performed the other brands, they were safer for me to use and saved me a lot of money. When my customer’s saw how much better they worked they wanted to switch brands to use Shaklee’s Get Clean also.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I place my sponges in the wash with my towells,dish clothes. This has always worked in my house hold wash and dry just as any laundry.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I put my sponges in the washer just as I do my dish clothes and towells,wash and dry as all laundry needs,smells just as fresh as all laundry.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Now this will really throw you all… I absolutely love new sponges!!! I color coordinate them, for instance, last week I chose a lime green sponge for my dishwand(I do not have or prefer a dishwasher)and my sink sponge was also lime green, it matched my kitchen towels for Easter which were donned with hot pink, bright yellow and of course lime green! I also recently stopped using my microwave oven, I have read that cancer may be linked to its usage. I am going to buy the Shaklee cleaning products, what a great way to help our earth!!!
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I have been putting my sponges, scotch brand scour pads, and the nylon brushes in my dishwasher for years. I did it one day because I was loading the dishwasher and saw how dirty the things (listed above) were so I said what the heck and stuck them in too!!! They came out clean and smelling like the scent of the automatic dish soap…lemon or orange. Much better than when they went in. Saves me money!!!
April 4th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
what about just placing the sponge in a pot of boiling water for awhile? never heard about the microwave thing.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
the microwave thing works my mom has doen it or years and i use it to it really easy and quick also
April 15th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I thought the mic thing was for removing stuck on crud from the mic. I bleach my sink every night and let the sponge soak for a minute with the bleach. I like the idea of cutting the corner to identify the different sponges. For my dishes I use the soap filled scrubber.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
Cooks Illustrated did a test on the best way to sanitize sponges.>>
In our tests, the dishwasher reduced the bacteria count by 85 to 90 percent, the microwave by nearly 100 percent.) The good news is that a three-minute soak in rapidly boiling water did just as good a job as three minutes in the microwave–and there’s no chance of igniting the sponge. This is the method we recommend.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am
I put my super wet sponge in the microwave nightly for 2 minutes. It kills the bacteria, and makes the microwave easy to wipe down (with a dish towel).
Great idea about cutting the corner of the sponge for using as a floor wiper! I have 3 teenagers that like to forage in the kitchen.