How often do you change out your kitchen sponge?

kkchisholm

Mythbusters just told me my kitchen sponge was the dirtiest item in my house. Gross I wash dishes with it? So.. I was thinking.. how often am I supposed to change that thing?

amylydia23

I switch it out pretty much once a week because of Mythbusters!  It totally skeeved me out...

katiewhompus

I think we do ours about once a month, but we mostly use it for wiping down counters and let the dishwasher do most of the work. I think I read somewhere that if you let it dry out between washings it helps, or you can toss it in the dishwasher and it will sanitize it.

sucrets4

I use a dish rag instead and change it when it gets smelly.  Prob every 2-3 days.

kkchisholm

Oh right, people have dishwashers.

We do ours every week or two.

Night_Sprite

We wash dishes a few times a week, but microwave the sponge if it gets smelly. 

katiewhompus

I love my dishwasher I also have one of those spiky brushes to clean pots and pans. It feels more sanitary to me since it has big bristles and I can soak it in cleaner.

vegasgroom

I change it probably every two weeks, but I don't like having to put dish soap on things, so after using it I tend to saturate the sponge with anti-bacterial dish soap so the next time it gets used it already has soap in it.  I figure that probably kills whatever would have been in it. :-)

Night_Sprite

Shut up, you with your dish washer and your fancy 'lectricity.  We don't all have such nice thangs.

katiewhompus

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_change-out-kitchen-sponge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:4023aa78-db97-42cb-b48c-1b128b39fe03Post:33566358-f71e-4e92-ac0f-a84f2c2b5b67">Re: How often do you change out your kitchen sponge?</a>:
[QUOTE]Shut up, you with your dish washer and your fancy 'lectricity.  We don't all have such nice thangs.
Posted by Night_Sprite[/QUOTE]

I love having 'lectricity :)

Night_Sprite

Well, I'm from Iowa.  We just have tents in corn fields.

jemmini6

We have two sponges.  We open a brand new one and that is our "dish washing sponge" for our items that have to be handwashed.  When that one starts getting gross, we open a new sponge which is our new "dish washing sponge" while the old one becomes our "dish rinsing/counter" sponge that we use to get all the food chunks off dishes before they go in the dishwasher and to scrub off spills on the counters and stuff.  I always wipe down the counters with a clean wipe (I'm not sure the brand, but the ones that kill 99.9% of bacteria) after we scrub stuff off with the sponge.

Night_Sprite

Just don't use triclosan.  It makes super bacteria. 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We just have one of those scrubby brushes. I think. I don't know, I'm not the one who does dishes.

aprovencher21

We change the sponge every week but we have a dishwasher so really the sponge is just used to wipe down dishes.  I use wipes and clorox everywhere spray to clean the kitchen.  I've done microbiology labs on sponges and that totally scarred me for life!

katiewhompus

Didn't the mythbusters also say that while there was the most bacteria on sponges it was all harmless? Whereas the two bacterial types on the toilet would make you really sick?

nda_roxybabe

I don't use spounges for that reason. Sometimes I'll buy them when I have some tought dishes.
I use washcloths to wipe down the counters and those get changed every day or 2.

[Deleted User]

I use a sponge with a handle where you pour in the dishsoap. The sponge itself breaks down or gets really puffy when old so I know it's time for a new one. Otherwise I use a dishrag with a special counter/food sanitizer cleaner for the countertops and stove.

SarahPLiz

I have 2 scrubby brushes and they get in the dishwasher about every other week. For everything else I use a cloth towel that goes through the wash about every 3 days, or whenever I do laundry. 

[Deleted User]

The title of this thread grosses me out every time I see it. Sponges are disgusting all the way around. Yuck.

sucrets4

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_change-out-kitchen-sponge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:4023aa78-db97-42cb-b48c-1b128b39fe03Post:d6ef5600-079a-4260-88ef-ab4cce021864">Re: How often do you change out your kitchen sponge?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just don't use triclosan.  It makes super bacteria. 
Posted by Night_Sprite[/QUOTE]

Any antibacterial stuff makes super bacteria.

HKD817

i use one of those scrub brushes with a handle more than i use a spong. and i clean it once a week by letting it soak in bleach. Will we ever be able to get rid of germs? Doubtful.

kd.joseph

I change mine out every 2 weeks or so, and I microwave it for 1 minute every few days. We dont have no fancy dish washing machine either NS, unless you count my hands as fancy.

*BeachBride0410*

For the most part out dishes go into the dishwasher, but pots & pans I hand wash.  I am not sure if this works, but my mom would put the sponge in the dishwasher to clean it, I guess she thought the hot water for the dishes would kill the bacteria in the sponge....so I actually do that, because she did haha.

Steph0871

We change ours out every few weeks... but it goes through the dishwasher every few days in between, and it completely dries out over night.

Once it gets too used up for the dishes, I clip a corner off of it and throw it under the sink and it becomes a floor/oven/stove cleaner.  Then another corner gets clipped off and it becomes a bathroom cleaner.

pirategal03

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_change-out-kitchen-sponge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:4023aa78-db97-42cb-b48c-1b128b39fe03Post:3e758223-5ecb-421e-b106-876228c819ad">Re: How often do you change out your kitchen sponge?</a>:
[QUOTE]Once it gets too used up for the dishes, I clip a corner off of it and throw it under the sink and it becomes a floor/oven/stove cleaner.  Then another corner gets clipped off and it becomes a bathroom cleaner.
Posted by Steph0871[/QUOTE]

That's a good idea.  FI washes the dishes in our house, and he's forever saying "no the PINK one is for dishes, the GREEN one is for other things" and I can never keep it straight. 

We microwave the dish sponge after every use and then let it dry completely.  I don't know how often FI gets a new one out, probably a lot, he's serious about germs. 

AllAboutTheBenjamin

I actually run mine through the dishwasher every time I wash a load of dishes... lol.  I don't know if it actually cleans it, or if it's making all of my dishes nasty.  But it somehow gives me peace of mind.  I throw it out when I've had it for quite a while though...

I'm pretty skeeved out now though.  I'll prolly throw it away tonight, lol.

Steph0871

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_change-out-kitchen-sponge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:4023aa78-db97-42cb-b48c-1b128b39fe03Post:a3d5736b-5514-4091-bf77-754a27a99369">Re: How often do you change out your kitchen sponge?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: How often do you change out your kitchen sponge? : That's a good idea.  FI washes the dishes in our house, and he's forever saying "no the PINK one is for dishes, the GREEN one is for other things" and I can never keep it straight.  We microwave the dish sponge after every use and then let it dry completely.  I don't know how often FI gets a new one out, probably a lot, he's serious about germs. 
Posted by pirategal03[/QUOTE]


I can't take credit- it was a newspaper article that my mom sent one time. haha

AATB- I think the diswasher helps; it's the only way I can get water thathotenough to actual disinfect.  We usually throw our toothbrushes in once in awhile, too.

*BeachBride0410*

AATB I do the same thing!  My mom always did it, so I do it now too......she actually has done it with tooth brushes before!  Like as kids if one of us were sick, after we got better she would run out tooth brush in the dishwasher.

AllAboutTheBenjamin

Yeah, I've done it with toothbrushes too!