I don’t have a dishwasher so I use a dishwashing wand with a built in soap dispenser, something like this. The soap comes out of the handle into the sponge.
I’ve read kitchen sponges are perfect bacterial breeding grounds since they are full of organic material and moisture, so I have been trying to microwave my sponges (after I take the handle off) every few days.
Does the fact that I recently bought antibacterial liquid dish soap (with triclosan) make my kitchen sponge any more sterile in any meaningful way? The sponge head is constantly soaked with soap, so you’d assume the antibiotic would slow or stop the bacterial growth.
Have any studies been done on antibacterial soap and how bacteria laden sponges are?
Might help. The two-part rule with kitchen sponges is ALWAYS finish with a soak and squeeze-out in soapy water - never set it aside with food or wiped-up liquid in it - and squeeze it dry before placing it where it will dry out - never sitting sopping wet.
I can make a kitchen sponge last a month without getting foul. The average life of one in our household, though, is about five days. CANNOT get people to understand the rules. (Or stop reaching for a spandy-clean dishtowel to wipe up goopy spills…)
We’ve hand washed our dishes all our lives and have never used antibacterial anything. You rinse the dishes with clean water after you’ve scrubbed them, right? What does it matter what might be on the sponge–or the plates–before you start washing?
Yes, triclosan is a bit questionable, both in its usefulness in household applications, and in its environmental impacts.
Personally, that style scrubber always releases way too much soap. I prefer a little pump pack, refilled handsoap dispenser, so I can dot a tiny amount of dishsoap as needed.
-HI–i was told by an infection control nurse to put the “dish sponges” in the good old hi-temp dishwasher every few days. u got to do the dishes anyway-if u got one. or the microwave as above.
I hand-wash all my dishes and utensils, using only plain ordinary (AFAIK) dishwashing detergent or (even more often) plain old hand soap, scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad (not a combined sponge/pad, just the plain green scrubby pad).
I don’t worry too much about live germs to begin with. By scrubbing and getting a utensil sudsy and then rinsing it, I consider that most or all of the little buggies will be physically removed from the utensil, caught up in the suds, and flushed down the drain. I don’t think that actually killing the germs is the point.
I’ve survived with this regime long enough to feel reasonably confident that this works. Or maybe I’ve just been eating so many germs all my life that I’ve built an immunity to them all. If that should be the case, I guess that works too.
ETA: Well, yeah, I also rinse out the scotchbrite pad regularly (well, most of the time, when I think of it). But they rinse out so easily that I don’t imagine it can harbor a whole lot of germs. Certainly nothing like a sponge. I typically use one pad for well over a month – typically several months – before it gets so ratty that it’s full of holes.
I do this, and my sponges can easily last 3 months, maybe 6, they become too soft before they smell. I don’t boil or microwave them. Then again, I only live with 1 other person.
The instructions for my dishwasher are very firm about not doing this. I do all the above rinsing, squeezing and leaving to dry and also give all the sponges, brushes, cloths etc a good soak in bleach every week or so.
There are a zillion ‘green’ websites that show how to make an alcohol and vinegar spray cleaner. Regularly spray and rinse the sponge with this. Or, buy lots of sponges and use them just for one or two days and then rotate them through the wash.