Germophobes...you can nuke your sponges!

[TravelingGal]

I replace mine pretty often, but in case you really want to kill all those ickies that are breeding in your kitchen sponge...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16756662/

 

[poptart]

My MIL has always used this method, which is great because it cuts down on using paper towels.

*M*

 

[widget]

LOL...at first I misread your title and thought you were addressing "gemaphobes". I thought to myself, you won''t find many of those around here!

Thanks for the tip..

widget

 

[Aloros]

My mother did this once.

OH MY! It stunk to high heaven! I don''t know if it was just the wrong combination at the wrong time, but now I''m afraid to try it.

 

[poptart]

Date: 1/22/2007 9:19:47 PM
Author: Aloros
My mother did this once.

OH MY! It stunk to high heaven! I don''t know if it was just the wrong combination at the wrong time, but now I''m afraid to try it.

You are right. It doesn''t smell good at all. I''ve always thought that maybe if you just covered the sponge in soap first it might help, but that doesn''t seem to be the case.

*M*

 

[Mara]

oh i should try this, greg is a GROSS SPONGE HOARDER and hardly ever replaces our sponge. he is the kitchen guru but i am always on his case to replace the sponge. if it see it looking green (or gray or purple, lol), i tend to do it myself and then he is like ''where is my sponge''...HA HA...maybe i will try this and he won''t be any the wiser (unless it does really stink and then i guess my secret would be out).

 

[Miranda]

I am such a germophobe that I cannot even use sponges...I use paper towels and bleach constantly. Anyone remember the part in The Sixth Sense (Bruce Willis) when the little boy says, "I see dead people."? I''m kinda like that only I see germs, not dead people. My MIL makes fun of all of the latex disposable gloves I have in the kitchen for touching raw meat. My sister does nuke her sponge, though. She also runs it through the dishwasher with the dishes to clean it.

 

[dani13]

Date: 1/22/2007 10:55:06 PM
Author: Miranda
I am such a germophobe that I cannot even use sponges...I use paper towels and bleach constantly. Anyone remember the part in The Sixth Sense (Bruce Willis) when the little boy says, ''I see dead people.''? I''m kinda like that only I see germs, not dead people. My MIL makes fun of all of the latex disposable gloves I have in the kitchen for touching raw meat. My sister does nuke her sponge, though. She also runs it through the dishwasher with the dishes to clean it.

Me too, Miranda. Paper towels all the way!!! I HATE sponges. They are sesspool''s (sp.?) for germs. YUCK!!!

 

[ladykemma]

I have a stack of clean bar mops. i use one each day for wiping things down and washing dishes. dry ones for whatever. i can''t stand nasty sponges.

 

[belle]

i agree dani, sponges are disgusting bacteria harboring cesspools. i never really liked them too much anyway but the experiments we did on them in biology absolutely sealed the deal. i won''t use them. GROSS!

 

[Maisie]

oh i should try this, greg is a GROSS SPONGE HOARDER and hardly ever replaces our sponge. he is the kitchen guru but i am always on his case to replace the sponge. if it see it looking green (or gray or purple, lol), i tend to do it myself and then he is like 'where is my sponge'...HA HA...maybe i will try this and he won't be any the wiser (unless it does really stink and then i guess my secret would be out).

Lol Mara your post made me giggle! My hubby is always asking where his fleece (which he wears when he is outside smoking) is. I am sure he thinks there is a fleece conspiracy going on!!

Maisie

 

[Dee*Jay]

A bit off topic, but dish towels gross me out too. I means seriously, they''re just hanging there on the cabinet handle for god only knows how long half damp most of the time from whatever thing they''ve just wiped up--YUCK!!! Whenever I wash my hands in the kitchen and grab a paper towel to dry them the HH always looks at me like, what? the dish towel isn''t good enough for you? I do laundry with alarming frequency and I am always marching into the kitchen and snatching those nasty towels off the drawer handle to throw in. On HOT.

 

[ladykemma]

Date: 1/23/2007 11:32:17 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
A bit off topic, but dish towels gross me out too. I means seriously, they''re just hanging there on the cabinet handle for god only knows how long half damp most of the time from whatever thing they''ve just wiped up--YUCK!!! Whenever I wash my hands in the kitchen and grab a paper towel to dry them the HH always looks at me like, what? the dish towel isn''t good enough for you? I do laundry with alarming frequency and I am always marching into the kitchen and snatching those nasty towels off the drawer handle to throw in. On HOT.

that''s why i keep an old bowl in the kitchen

use em throw them in the dirty rag bowl for laundering. i probably go through twenty bar mops a day in my house. For environmental beliefs i try to refrain from using paper towels.

 

[jcrow]

Date: 1/23/2007 11:32:17 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
A bit off topic, but dish towels gross me out too. I means seriously, they''re just hanging there on the cabinet handle for god only knows how long half damp most of the time from whatever thing they''ve just wiped up--YUCK!!! Whenever I wash my hands in the kitchen and grab a paper towel to dry them the HH always looks at me like, what? the dish towel isn''t good enough for you? I do laundry with alarming frequency and I am always marching into the kitchen and snatching those nasty towels off the drawer handle to throw in. On HOT.

see, i can''t stand dish towels either. i don''t even own any. DH disagrees. he''s a little slow to replace the sponges too. i''m always replacing them. i get such a sense of joy out of tossing the old away! hehe.

 

[TravelingGal]

OK, I don''t mean any offense here...but barring a really nasty funked out sponge, what do you think is going to happen to you by using them? Is it just a mental thing? We always used sponges when I was growing up. I still use them now as I do all my dishes by hand. No one that I know has ever gotten some bacterial illness from sponge use. I''m not being facetious here...I''m actually curious, as all your sponge aversions has made me think I am missing something.

Either way, I think I''ll replace mine with a new one today.

 

[dtnyc]

I run them through the dishwasher, top rack. Also Martha Stewart suggests putting them in the washing machine w/ bleach, when doing your dishtowels.

I don''t like using paper towels to dry my hands after washing them it, it reminds me of using a public restroom and I think it''s wasteful.

 

[FireGoddess]

You can also run ''em through the dishwasher. To be totally honest...I always buy a huge pack and throw ''em away when they get ratty.

 

[Mara]

oh we have like 500 dish towels...we both use them for everything. we are always washing them...!! the greg sponge grosses me out way more than my dish towels, haha!!

 

[Beacon]

This is educational - I never knew about the microwave.

Glad to see others are just as germ phobic as I am.

I even take the nozzle part off my faucets and clean it about once a week. You would be shocked (and horrified) what collects in that little filter in the faucet head. I freaked out when I first did it.

I keep a wrench in my kitchen for this purpose.

Crazy, huh?

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 1/23/2007 2:36:56 PM
Author: Beacon
I even take the nozzle part off my faucets and clean it about once a week. You would be shocked (and horrified) what collects in that little filter in the faucet head. I freaked out when I first did it.

I keep a wrench in my kitchen for this purpose.

Crazy, huh?

Not crazy! I never knew about this and the last place we rented, we had a plumbing issue and the guy brought a plumber out. To be nice the plumber also unscrewed the faucet heads and rinsed the filters...the water was a nasty red brown color. Talk about shock...and how embarassed our landlord was... Water we DRINK and wash our faces and brush our teeth with!!! YUCK!!! We do the Brita thing now. But FYI, that isn''t supposed to happen if you have copper pipes...which most older places don''t.

 

[Beacon]

We have copper pipes, so I don''t know where whatever nastiness is coming from. But what I find is that there is yucky stuff that lines the little filter of the faucet head. No need to describe it here

I am using bottled water to drink, but for washing hands, face, teeth - yup - it''s too gross unless filters are cleaned.

We used to use britas, but they were the free standing type - are you using the type connected directly to your faucet?

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/23/2007 3:12:29 PM
Author: Beacon
We have copper pipes, so I don''t know where whatever nastiness is coming from. But what I find is that there is yucky stuff that lines the little filter of the faucet head. No need to describe it here

I am using bottled water to drink, but for washing hands, face, teeth - yup - it''s too gross unless filters are cleaned.

We used to use britas, but they were the free standing type - are you using the type connected directly to your faucet?

Have you had your water tested for hardness?


And no, I don''t use sponges....


DeeJay, I change my handtowels every day!

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 1/23/2007 3:12:29 PM
Author: Beacon

We used to use britas, but they were the free standing type - are you using the type connected directly to your faucet?

Not yet, but I''ve been thinking about it.

 

[Finding_Neverland]

Date: 1/23/2007 4:15:40 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 1/23/2007 3:12:29 PM

Author: Beacon

We have copper pipes, so I don''t know where whatever nastiness is coming from. But what I find is that there is yucky stuff that lines the little filter of the faucet head. No need to describe it here

I am using bottled water to drink, but for washing hands, face, teeth - yup - it''s too gross unless filters are cleaned.


We used to use britas, but they were the free standing type - are you using the type connected directly to your faucet?

Have you had your water tested for hardness?



And no, I don''t use sponges....



DeeJay, I change my handtowels every day!

That''s where our reddish/brown water was coming from. Hard water with a high iron content. We put in a water softener and added a reverse osmosis unit under the kitchen sink. The RO water is for drinking and hooked up to the ice maker in the freezer.

It''s great! It''s like having "On Demand" bottled water!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/23/2007 4:48:30 PM
Author: Finding_Neverland


That''s where our reddish/brown water was coming from. Hard water with a high iron content. We put in a water softener and added a reverse osmosis unit under the kitchen sink. The RO water is for drinking and hooked up to the ice maker in the freezer.

It''s great! It''s like having ''On Demand'' bottled water!

I have a feeling that''s it. We also have copper pipes, hard water/high lime, white stuff not brown. I''ve been telling hubby for years we need to do something, but, it''s his call...

 

[bookworm21]

So has anyone nuked their sponges yet? I''m curious to know whether it really smells that bad, and I''m too, well, odorifously picky in order to try it myself.

Maybe I''ll just stick with tossing the sponge into the laundry with bleach.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 1/23/2007 7:03:00 PM
Author: Cinderella
So has anyone nuked their sponges yet? I''m curious to know whether it really smells that bad, and I''m too, well, odorifously picky in order to try it myself.

Maybe I''ll just stick with tossing the sponge into the laundry with bleach.

I have one I am about to throw away that I will nuke today and be back with a report later. The things I do for you ladies....

 

[Beacon]

I nuked it! It did not smell. I wringed out as much water as I could and stood it on it''s side so the microwave would get all of it.

It was a pretty new sponge though so maybe that is why it did not smell.

Thanks PSers for this useful information! Amazing what you can learn at a diamond website.

 

[TravelingGal]

Well mine is is not new...it would be the perfect specimen for this test. However I came back from my run and TGuy was home early. I do not need for him to think that PS is weirder than he already thinks it is. (OK, ok, it''s me that he thinks is crazy, and not PS, but anyway...) The nuke bomb will have to wait for tomorrow...will do it in the morning with the scary sponge!

Thanks for taking the first hit Beacon!

 

[bookworm21]

LOL, thanks Beacon for already taking the test; and thanks TG for braving it tomorrow so your DH doesn''t think we''re a bunch of weirdos!