# Kitchen Sponges - what do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442 "2014-07-18T11:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/41 "2014-07-19T05:47:19Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I hope that “rotate” isn’t quite the word that you meant :). Well okay, rotate till terminal position, that better? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/42 "2014-07-19T06:32:11Z")
My sister, Scrub Jay, and I have recently moved in together. Just today, I realized that she is the type to leave the sponge in the bottom of the sink, sopping wet. I thought the few other times this had happened that she had just forgotten to do it the proper way, i.e. squeezing the sponge out and setting it on the edge of the sink. It’s OK, since I do most of the washing up. Since we don’t do much actual cooking (microwaves were made for folks like us) it doesn’t amount to much. Could use the dishwasher but it would take a week or more to fill it and it just seems easier to keep up with it day to day. I like to cut the sponge in four or five pieces, not only because I’m ch–, uh, frugal, but just because a whole sponge just doesn’t feel comfortable in my hand. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/43 "2014-07-19T08:55:25Z")
I replace mine when the old one takes on a life form of its own and runs away probably aided by the slimy tiny feet on billions of still multiplying bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/44 "2014-07-19T11:11:07Z")
Sponges are gross. I use dishcloths, and I put them in the laundry to wash after each use. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/45 "2014-07-19T11:23:15Z")
Interesting discussion. It sounds like folks, like me, who wring out the sponge and leave it out of the sink, care about it. But no one has cited anything that suggests it is “better” in some objective way. How come it matters to you? I guess I feel a wrung-out sponge is less likely to have yucky stuff in it, smell bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lydia\_Phalfav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@Lydia\_Phalfav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lydia_Phalfav)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/46 "2014-07-19T12:01:16Z")
Another vote for: lasts for months & nuke it after use. When they’re starting to get ratty, they get demoted to bathroom, then toilet duty until they’re useless. No microwave nuking then (obviously…), but I’ll set them out in the sun to dry/disinfect. They last about a month on bathroom duty before they’re toast. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442/47 "2014-07-19T12:52:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I think I bought like a dozen of them at Walmart for $5. [I’ve actually got about forty rags all together] > > I use them for both cleaning off dishes before I stick them in the dishwasher and I also use them to wipe down counter tops. Although, whenever I’m about to wipe off the counter tops, I’ll grab a fresh one. > > I have no idea how the math works out if you consider the amount of electricity spent washing said rags. I normally just wash them with my regular loads anyway. OK. Thanks. I’m thinking of trying some micro fibre ones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-sponges-what-do-you-do/693442.md?page=2)