ICK!!

[alison]

My husband (Putzherr) loves these:

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotc ... rinse.html

They have no form and get icky and smelly really fast. On the rare occasion that I do dishes, I am totally grossed out. Dh says that these are the best sponges and because I'm not supposed to touch the dirty dishes in the first place, I've just got to deal.

Do you guys use these?

I want to get him some new sponges - any tips? Or does it even matter?

Re: ICK!!

Trader Joes carries a great washtowel - kind of shammy material. You can use them for anything, and as long as you rinse them / wring them out they don't get smelly. They run through the wash with no problem. I love them.

[Momo]

Re: ICK!!

Hey Alison, just put them in a bowl of water,every once in awhile and microwave them. This kills the germs & bacteria that stink them up!

[alison]

Re: ICK!!

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to pick up one of those shammy things at TJs. They use something like it in Germany, actually.

When you microwave a sponge, it doesn't melt the plastic? The purple ones that dh uses have a plastic scrubber material on one side.

[HouseofWool]

Re: ICK!!

you could also run it through the dishwasher, but it shouldn't melt the plastic because the water won't heat much above boiling.

[Vishenka69]

Re: ICK!!

I use the yellow/green ones (yellow sponge on one side, green scrubby thing on the other) and throw them out when the green side gets all used up. If he's the one doing the dishes, I'd just let him use whatever he likes.

[Momo]

Re: ICK!!

I use the same type as Vishenka, and I haven't had the plastic melt.
I don't nuke for more than a couple minutes.
Here's an article on the subject

Microwave Your Kitchen Sponge To Keep It Clean
ScienceDaily (Apr. 25, 2007) —

Every kitchen has at some time or another been home to a sponge, that oh-so-versatile cleaning tool. It wipes up messes on countertops and absorbs liquid droplets quickly. Best of all, it's reusable.

However, that handy kitchen sponge can harbor more than moisture—things like foodborne pathogens, yeasts and molds. So Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Beltsville, Md., have tested several methods for reducing risks from harmful microbes hiding in reused sponges.

At the ARS Food Technology and Safety Laboratory in Beltsville, microbiologists Manan Sharma and Cheryl Mudd and two student interns did the testing. First, they soaked sponges at room temperature for 48 hours in a solution made from ground beef and lab growth medium to attain a high level of microbes (20 million per sponge) to simulate a very dirty sponge.

Then, they treated each sponge in one of five ways: soaked for three minutes in a 10 percent chlorine bleach solution, soaked in lemon juice or deionized water for one minute, heated in a microwave for one minute, placed in a dishwasher operating with a drying cycle—or left untreated.

The scientists chose these methods because they're commonly used in most household kitchens. They found that between 37 and 87 percent of bacteria were killed on sponges soaked in the 10 percent bleach solution, lemon juice or deionized water—and those left untreated. That still left enough bacteria to potentially cause disease.

Microwaving sponges killed 99.99999 percent of bacteria present on them, while dishwashing killed 99.9998 percent of bacteria.

As for yeasts and molds, the sponges treated in the microwave oven or dishwasher were found to harbor less than 1 percent (0.00001 percent). Between 6.7 and 63 percent of yeasts and molds survived on sponges soaked in bleach, lemon juice, deionized water or left untreated.

Thus microwave heating and dishwashing with a drying cycle proved to be the most effective methods for inactivating bacteria, yeasts and molds on sponges. These simple and convenient treatments can help ensure that contaminated sponges don't spread foodborne pathogens around household kitchens of today's busy families.

Adapted from materials provided by USDA - Agricultural Research Service.

[DCJenn]

Re: ICK!!

I nuke them for two minutes (make sure that they're WET first) and haven't had any problems with them exploding or melting.

Jenn

[Momo]

Re: ICK!!

I nuke them for two minutes (make sure that they're WET first) and haven't had any problems with them exploding or melting.

Jenn

also make sure there isn't any obvios grease/ fat on them...microwaves target fats/grease and super heat them.

[Vanquisher]

Re: ICK!!

Ditto on microwaving them and on the dishwasher. I don't use sponges very often though, because of the severe ick factor.

I use these:



Kirkland Wipes are fantastic. I get a large number of them for not very much money, and I can throw them and the germs away. I don't know how I cleaned before them, honestly. I love them.

[alison]

Re: ICK!!

Ditto on microwaving them and on the dishwasher. I don't use sponges very often though, because of the severe ick factor.

I use these:



Kirkland Wipes are fantastic. I get a large number of them for not very much money, and I can throw them and the germs away. I don't know how I cleaned before them, honestly. I love them.

Dh uses those too. He uses Meyer's wipes for special guests. He is going to kill me for telling you this!!!