Quick Tip: Clean & Sanitized Kitchen Sponges
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source: *PaysImaginaire*
Like a lot of people, I use sponges in my kitchen on a regular basis – to wash dishes, wipe the counters and clean up small spills. But while sponges are handy and convenient, it’s often said that the average kitchen sponge is the biggest source of germs in the entire house (from WebMD).
Here are three methods for keeping your sponge clean:
- 1. Wet your sponge and pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Be careful because it will be very hot when it’s finished, so let it sit for a while.
- 2. If you run your dishwasher on a hot cycle, stick your sponge in when you run it.
- 3. Wash your sponges in the laundry with your other rags, using bleach and hot water. You can run them through the dryer, but they’ll last longer if you pull them out and let them air dry.
No matter which method you use, it’s important to change and wash your sponges every one to two days. They may wear out a little faster from running through a hot wash, but if you buy good quality sponges, they should still last for 6-12 months, and you won’t have to worry about spreading germs around in the meantime!
I didn’t realize they could be kept that long if washed regularly. Now I won’t feel so bad when I pay as much as I do for my sponges.
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Noooo… no sponges for cleaning. ICK! And no paper towels, EVER!
I bought 4 dozen bar towels at Sam’s Club a few years ago, and they are mostly still with me. I bought them for work (I dye yarn and need lots of dye mops!), but discovered they are excellent around the kitchen. They rinse quite well between uses during the day, and wring out nearly dry to hang and air dry for use later. I use 2-3 every day, and then toss them into the wash with whatever else is getting washed, if I’m not doing a full load of dye mops. They never linger over night.
My whole collection is thoroughly stained with dyes, but are always clean and sanitary, neatly folded and stacked close at hand. They don’t kill trees like disposable paper products and don’t collect germies like synthetic sponges.
Restaurants and bars don’t use sponges — they use bar towels, for a reason.
Ray Whiting
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I use these washcloths that you can buy at regular stores, they have a scratchy netting side and a plain washcloth side, I go through probably 10 a day. I have a clean thing about the kitchen. My sink is always clean enough that if something drops in it, we can still eat it, i.e. I always clean with cleanser after any raw meat in any way shape or form touches it and I clean it regardless of that at least once a day. I also wipe down all my counters with vinegar multiple times a day as needed. My mil teases me about all the rags I use, but I just throw them in the washer, so it is no big deal. I also NEVER use paper towels, really only for laying bacon on after I cook it. I just don’t like sponges, guess it is just what you are used to.
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I am not a fan of sponges either. I use dishcloths and towels in the kitchen. Near the end of the day I pop my dishcloth in the microwave, too. I let it air dry and in the a.m. it (and the dishtowel) gets tossed in with whatever laundry I am doing.
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I would add that merely wetting and nuking a sponge might kill most of the germs, you still end up wiping dishes and counters with a sponge full of dead germs.
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I use copper scouring pads, not sure what they´re called, but I feel they are somehow cleaner than sponges. There is not much place for bacteria to grow, and I guess that they don´t like copper much. Oh, and they´re very cheap too.
I don´t mean steel wool but made out of copper, rather something that looks like a scouring pad, made of a loose mesh of copper.
Eternal*Voyageur @ Venusian*Glow´s last blog ..How To Get Rid Of Pimples
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