Comments on: How to Clean a Dish Sponge

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:30:29 +0000

I cannot believe the level of wastefulness I am reading in these posts. “I wash my dish sponges by themselves in the washer every week” etc. This is insane. What a huge waste of natural resources. Just drop the damn thing wet into the bucket of powder laundry detergent, whatever sticks is enough, squeeze it a few times, rinse, and it’s clean. Stop burning fossil fuels over a dish sponge.

By: Joanne

Joanne — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:49:25 +0000

Funny… we replace our sponges every 6 months, never sanitize them, and I only rinse my hands (not wash off all the germs) and yet I never get sick. It’s not the germs that get you sick, your body has an immune system to kill off any foreign invaders and it needs practice. Focus on upping your immune system and you can live your life w/o Lysol or hand sanitizers and get sick less. E

By: rach

rach — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:03:30 +0000

This message is addressed mosty to wow. I agree that we need to be much more conservative with our resources. Properly cared for, sponges can and do last a long time (soap ‘em, rinse ‘em and boil every 3 days for 30 seconds), I prefer the good old dishcloth and just wash them with my towels. A capful (About 1/2 tsp.)of Eucalyptus Oil in the wash works just as well as bleach, isn’t as hard on the environment and doesn’t damage colors.

Some germs are good for us, we have thousands of little creatures living on our skin that actually protect us, the 99% germ killing hand sanitizers are a big problem as they do not discriminate between the good and the bad bacteria. HOWEVER the bacteria that tend to grow in sponges ie. E. Coli, Salmonella, and Staphycocculus among others can be very dangerous. In a healthy person you may just get a good bout of diahrea but to an elderly or very young person or someone with a compromised immune sysytem these bacteria can be very dangerous, even deadly. I agree that many are on the germaphobe kick generated by the media and advertising but I also agree with using sanitary measures in my kitchen and bathroom. I try to do so in a way that has the least impact on the environment—lots of baking soda, lemon juice, salt, vinager, supplies that are cheap to purchase and give great results without the toxic fumes of most commercial cleaners. AND using dishcloths and dish towels, taking good care of my sponges so that they last no matter how little I paid for them, etc.

Take care of our Earth it’s the only one we have!

By: wow

wow — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:25:35 +0000

for the person who said “I get my supply at the dollar store so throwing them away doesn’t feel “wasteful.””
what wasteful are you talking about, not the impact thousands of sponges have a day in landfills from people that throw them away cause there cheap or dirty. WHY NOT USE WARM WATER (95% of Germs are killed but it) save your money on dish soap, stop polluting are decreasing water supply. and also use dish towels, you dont have to throw them out every F-ing week. people please think about what your doing. you can save your wallet and the planet at the same time. what could be better. thank you for your time if this changes at least one person, and has them use water and dish towels it will be good. cause i know how stubborn and stupid people are so im not expecting a majority turnaround. oh and did you know that germs are good for you they help your body get stronger. research it it will blow your mind. everyone is becoming weaker from this germiphobe culture. thank you once again for your time

By: sandy

sandy — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:35:43 +0000

pour some hydrogen peroxide and watch it bubble bacteria away.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:16:09 +0000

I put a few drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract on the sponge and let is soak in soapy water- the stuff is so powerful, it will kill all the bad bacteria without all the trouble of microwaving or dishwashing.

By: PAT

PAT — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:31:59 +0000

I don’t buy sponges, I use dish cloths and wash them with my towles and dish rags.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:06:59 +0000

I just fill the small half of the sink with water, dish soap and clorox, put all the dishrags, scrubbers and brushes in it, plus the drain screens, and leave them overnight. In the morning I pull the drain plug and that cleans out the disposall, too.

By: Theo

Theo — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:57:52 +0000

At 15p for a pack of 5, it’s no big deal to just replace these household petri dishes.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:28:17 +0000

I wash my sponges weekly in laundry detergent and bleach. I usually wash 3-4 of them in my clothes washer by themselves. Seems to work great on odor and germs.