Kitchen sponges can contain 10,000 bacteria per inch — potentially including gnarly pathogens like E. coli and salmonella. But nuking your kitchen sponges in the microwave for just two minutes can kill 99% of them, according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Health. Link to BBC News article. (thanks, Jason)
Reader comment: drkptt says,
The St. Petersburg (Florida) Times ran the story about sterilizing sponges in yesterday's paper without the warning to only nuke damp sponges. A correction in today's paper (can't find online link) said that a number of readers contacted the paper because their dry sponges had in fact ignited in the microwave. Link
Waldo says,
Nota bene: I microwaved my sponge, and it made my entire house smell like microwaved sponge. It's not for the faint of nasal cavity.
Greg Fiumara says,
If you throw your sponge into a saucepan full of water with a lid and let the water boil on a stove for a little bit, it does the same thing and is much safer (little risk of over-drying the sponge and igniting in a microwave). Several sponge wrappers say this. After this, the sponge will smell clean but will be VERY hot.
Megan Dooley says,
I have found that merely sticking my sponges in the dishwasher is the easiest way to disinfect them. This eliminates the smell, and also prefents the problem of burned fingers. It works really well.
Justin Watt says,
Every once and a while, usually every month, I throw my old sponge away and use a new one.
Aaron Peterson says,
Just wanted to mention that the Megan Dooley's comment is wrong. The whole point of the link was that "disinfection" does NOT occur without certain temperatures being achieved. The dishwasher may clean them, but it certainly doesn't disinfect them. BoingBoing rocks.
Megan says,
I stand corrected! I did find this link to an article from Healthlink, from the Medical College of Wisconsin that has some more info on the subject, with some fascinating information on Colony Forming Units, and how different methods of cleaning reduce them (soaking in soapy , hot water, boiling, nuking, dishwashing, etc). From now on I'm going to dishwash and then nuke, as the article says.
