I put kitchen sponges in my dishwasher and run the cycle with a cup of bleach. After the dishwasher disinfects of the kitchen sponges, I spray them with a disinfectant spray and place in the microwave for about 50 seconds on high power. After completion of using the sponges to wash the counters, stove and other areas of the kitchen, I once again wash the sponges thoroughly in hot water, spray with a disinfectant spray and place in the microwave for 1 minutes at medium/high power.
I also use the same method for micro-fiber cloths. The sponges and the micro-fiber cloths are laundered in hot water in the washing machine once a week; otherwise, they are washed in the dishwasher with bleach; the bleach also disinfects the dishwasher.
By JOSE
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Why not just use a clean cloth every day and put it in the laundry? seven cloths don't take up that much room in the washer and it seems much easier than going through all that.
This is overkill. You can put wet, but not dripping, sponges in the microwave for 1 minute after rinsing the excess dirt out and they will be sterilized. no disinfectant required. You can run them through a cycle with the dishes, no bleach required and the same result. All that bleach is bad for the environment, our water supply, and you.
Change your kitchen linen daily and wash a load every two weeks with hot water, soap and borax, and a capful of mouthwash if you like for germs. Rinse with vinegar which is slightly acidic and kills germs without being toxic.
I too think you are doing overkill. I have put dishcloths & sponges in dishwasher for years along with the dishes. The water gets "extra" hot in there and saves running the washing machine a bit. I would be wary of putting bleach in the dishwasher. The heating elements in them are metal and I think the bleach might cause them to rust. I'd check my owners manual or call company to make sure.
Yep. Too much. I agree with Lilac, plain white dish cloths are s-o-o easy to bleach, launder, and microwave. Those packs of plain white dish cloths are found cheap everywhere. Ditch the sponge! Fold up the whitey into a tightey if space is a problem. (Dampen, then microwave, you'll think it was your old friend sponge bob).
I agree that absorbent kitchen towels work well for many cleaning chores, it is nice to have a scrubby sided sponge for cleaning the stuck on food. I run my sponge through the dishwasher every few days and this seems to help it keep clean. I don't do anything special, just the regular load.
Bleach is in most dishwasher detergent so I'm not sure that adding additional bleach would be beneficial OR harmful.
Thanks for sharing your tips.
I also put sponges in dishwasher. I tried putting sponge in microwave for 45 sec and it started to catch on fire. have no idea why since it had no food, grime, etc on it. So be careful putting in microwave.
I also agree with Lilac. I change the cloth I wash dishes with and the cloth I dry dishes with every day. I also keep a cloth that I wash the sink and counter with.
This is way too OCD for me. If you're that concerned about sterilizing a sponge, wet it and place in micro for 2 minutes. Better yet, start using paper towels.
I agree, all of this is over-kill. Simply putting it in the microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes is all you need to do.
Simplify... Stuff sticks/grows in sponges. I almost throw up when I see a dirty sponge! Use cloths. Throw in microwave for 1 minute. Then air dry. If it looks grungy (usually from coffee or tea) use a little bleach/water, rinse and air dry.
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