Kitchen Sponge Cleaning and Disinfection: Steps You Need to Know
Clean your kitchen sponge with these simple steps to eliminate harmful bacteria and odors effectively.
Dirty kitchen sponges are ideal breeding grounds for yeast, mold, and bacteria. So it’s important to know how to clean your kitchen sponge properly, so it’s clean and safe to use. Using your dishwasher or microwave are the most effective convenient methods, and boiling works, too.
Cleaning a Sponge in the Microwave
To clean your sponge in the microwave, first squeeze soapy water through it a few times to get rid of food particles. Then, get it wet with warm water and microwave it on high for 1 minute.
Microwaving a sponge is the most effective method to eliminate bacteria. It works by heating up the water inside, which breaks down bacterial cell membranes and structures with hot steam. I do this as part of my daily cleaning routine.
Putting a Sponge In The Dishwasher
Cleaning your kitchen sponge in the dishwasher is also an effective way to eliminate bacteria as well as mold spores. First, rinse out any food particles then squeeze out all the water possible. Then, pop it into the top rack of the dishwasher before running the load. Use a heated drying cycle for added disinfection.
Boiling Sponges to Clean and Disinfect Them
Boiling sponges after washing them in hot, soapy water can also clean and disinfect them. Use a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part white vinegar and keep them at a full boil for 2 minutes.
This method works because the vinegar’s acetic acid plus the high temperatures eliminate bacteria. The vinegar also helps strip away grease and soap residue, too.
Simply Spraying a Sponge Doesn’t Work
In a surprise twist, the USDA warns that popular internet suggestions like spraying a sponge with vinegar, lemon juice or hydrogen peroxide, or even soaking it in a 10% bleach water solution, are not enough to kill the bacteria inside.
Tips To Keep Your Sponge Clean
Replace it every two to three weeks. Even with regular attention, sponges wear out and stop cleaning well.
Rinse and dry it after use. Run soapy water through them, squeeze it out, then let your sponge dry in a rack or holder with good air circulation to prevent bacterial growth.
Disinfect your sponge daily. Both the dishwasher and microwave methods make this a simple task that can help keep your sponge clean and odor-free.
I started to microwave my sponge and dishcloth every night after I finished cleaning up the kitchen about 13 years ago. I NEVER have a smelly dishcloth or sponge. It is the best kitchen “trick” I ever learned!
It’s wonderful when such a simple trick works, isn’t it?
I don’t have a microwave but I do have a toaster oven, is there any way I could clean my sponge in the toaster oven or will I have to use the dishwasher?
You’d want to use the dishwasher for that one, Leetah. Alternatively, you could boil it as described.