How to Clean Household Sponges
Did you know your household sponges should be cleaned at least every other day?
They are nice for scrubbing and wiping up, but make sure to wash frequently to help prevent spreading grubbies around your home.
According to Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in the Home:
”A sponge that’s been in use for no more than two or three days in a kitchen will harbor millions of bacteria,” said Elizabeth Scott, co-director of the Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in the Home at Simmons College in Boston. That’s a problem, she said, ”if you pick up the pathogen or a pathogenic E. coli, salmonella or campylobacter on the sponge.”
She added: ”That means that any time you use the sponge to wipe up a surface you are potentially spreading those pathogens.”
Methods for cleaning household sponges depend on what they’re used for and what chemicals they’re already holding.
Sponges used for kitchen counters and dishes:
- Toss the sponges in the dishwasher when you do a load of dishes. The dishwasher detergent and the heat should sterilize the sponge.
- You could also wash the sponges in hot soapy water with a good splash of vinegar, rinse well, then when still wet microwave for a couple of minutes. Bleach and water could be used as well rather than soap and vinegar.
Sponges used for wiping up toilets, bathrooms, showers and floors:
- You can soak in a bleach solution*, then toss in your washing machine. If you’re going to wash them with other items, don’t mix with clothing, dish clothes or towels–wash with other household cleaning rags.
Sponges containing ammonia:
- Don’t wash with bleach. Clean and rinse in hot soapy water*, then wash in the washing machine.
More cleaning methods:
- Soak sponges in bleach and hot water (as long as the sponges haven’t been in contact with ammonia). Use one ounce of bleach per gallon of water.
- Soak sponges in vinegar and hot water.
- Bring water and vinegar to a boil, then add sponges. Boil for a few minutes, cover pot and remove from heat. Let sit for an hour.
*Soaking and rinsing before tossing in the washing machine helps remove most of the hair and grubbies before being washed with other items in the washing machine.
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Posted in Cleaning Tips, Kitchen Cleaning | 
( 2 )
25 Jan 2007 at 6:34 am
I knew you had instructions here about this. Interesting after all the blog excitement recently over disinfecting sponges gone wrong and your instructions were right on weeks ago, good job Tipnut!
11 Mar 2008 at 8:36 am
[...] way to know at a glance that these guys didn’t get mixed with the good stash by mistake (see How to Clean Household Sponges to make sure your sponges really do get a proper cleaning [...]