Dish rags and sponges. Smelly sponge or dish rag? Nuke it!
Submitted by inane5
Have you ever accidentally left your sponge or dish rag in the sink under your dirty dishes? By the time you get around to doing dishes, it probably smells awful and is filled with germs. There is an easy way to disinfect your sponge, and all it involves is your microwave!
Rinse the sponge, then squeeze it as dry as you can. Do this twice.
Put the squeeze-dried sponge (still a bit moist) in the microwave and nuke it on high for a minimum of 5 seconds, and a maximum of 10 seconds.
Take the sponge out with extreme care (because it will be hot!) and run cold water through it.
Repeat step 1 and your done. You should have a sweet smelling sponge which is completely disinfected.
Additional tips:
- Always let your sponge dry out between washings (to kill all germs).
- If you use a dishwasher, put your sponges, rags, scouring pads, etc in the dishwasher with the dishes!
Actually, studies have shown that to sterilize a sponge one should microwave it for approx. two minutes.
Makes It WORSE!!!
Comments By:
Joey Pantload on 2008-10-03
Now my sponge smells like COOKED bacteria. EWWWW!
Use a rag!!
Comments By:
livinggreen on 2009-01-10
Walmart, K-mart almost everystore carries a nice dishcloth that has a scrubby on one side and wash cloth on the other. Invest in half a dozen of these in stead of a sponge. Get a new one everyday, you'll save money and you won't have to worry about germs in a stinking smelly spnonge.
Great Tip
Comments By:
Talia on 2010-08-23
This really works... but i do use the 2min in the microwave...
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it works
Comments By:
Anon on 2005-07-01
no title
Comments By:
nmt on 2008-09-28
