You might be most likely many other people that use a Kitchen Sponge for one day to clean their dishes. But, the question is whether the sponge cleans itself or not. The answer to the question is maybe not.
As an unclean Kitchen Sponge bear bacteria, it may infect your kitchen. No worries, we’re here with three different methods to show you the ways to clean a dirty kitchen sponge. While you’re doing these dishes, you usually press out your kitchen sponge after every use.
However, you might have lived with relations or roommates that do something else. After ringing their containers, they drop their sponge in the sinking ground where it remains when the container doesn’t dry out entirely.
Sponges come with lots of smaller crevices, so they’re likely to be both wet and warm in a good environment to flourish bacteria. That’s why we were as mysterious as curious. Do these damp sponges shield extra bacteria on the sponge that we squeezed out after use? Let’s find the answers to this question.
Is There More Bacteria On The Wet Sponge In The Kitchen?
We used 6 equal sponges for two weeks to clean our dishes up. We did it with careful measurement of the amount of food. It’s because of the water temperature and the quantity of soap that we used. After every use, we held three sponges’ water and made them sealed in a framed dish.
We did it to make them air-dried. We kept the reverse three wet plus put them in opened plastic bowls. As a result, imitating sponges had dropped and got through a damp area such as the sink’s bottom.
When the two weeks passed, the difference has staggering with an independent lab calculated the whole bacterial count of all sponges in “colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/ML).” The left sponges were about 500,000 CFU/ML on average.
But, the squeezed sponges got only 20 CFU/ML. As the lab could not distinguish species of bacteria, we were unknown whether or not any bacteria were possibly harmful. However, the situation of growing both bad and good bacterial indeed are the same. So, the result of the test was clear: wet sponges grow lots of bacteria.
What Are The Methods To Sanitize A Kitchen Sponge?
Hereafter, we all know that keeping sponges after squeezed in the spot where they should be might be drying between uses. But, still, a clean kitchen sponge can take filthily.
Moreover, when this feels dried upon its surface, this may remain moist. So, we went to NSF International to know the way of cleaning them. NSF International is an organization for public health & safety, and it develops standards & certifications.
An expert at this NSF International named Lisa Yak’s, who was certified in microbiology & residential product, suggested 3 methods:
First Method:
After dampening the sponge, keep it in a microwave for at least 2 minutes.
Second Method:
Setting your dishwasher at least 155-degree, run your kitchen sponges that feature a dry clean with heat cycle of the dishwasher. This sometimes calls seni-ringe, sanitation cycle, or seni-wash. It’s preferably each time when you work with your dishwasher.
Third Method:
Sink the sponge in a bleach solution (use ¾ cups of bleach in one gallon of water) for a minimum of five minutes. After this, rinse that sponge thoroughly.
While going through any of the said methods, allow your sponges to dry entirely if you want to use them again. It’s better to go through a container or a rack that allows air to flow every surface of your sponge. Also, it’s good to exchange the sponge after every 2 weeks. Clean them regularly after use to use once again and then dry them well.
Can A Sanitized Sponge Kill All Of The Bacteria?
The expert that we have spoken about has recommended cleaning your sponge very often as it is vital. But, this is not the way of removing bacteria equally or makes the sponge long-lasting.
Some of the studies reported that the said methods are instrumental, while others said they could not remove 60% of bacteria. When it comes to home, a lot of bacterial was on the sponge to work with or the proportion they killed because of many skills.
No method of sanitization will enlarge your sponge’s lifespan. A good thing is acceding to the expert; it’s better to exchange the sponge every two weeks. Clean them after every use to use them again and store them where they can remain dry.
Which One Is The Greatest Home Kitchen Sponge?
O-Cedar Scrounge Multi-Use Scrubber Sponge
Buying the greatest one is the simple and guaranteed way to get a good result from the kitchen sponge. We were surprised by it when we used 10 different techniques. Some of them gild and slipped around the pan instead of rubbing off cooked food.
Also, some of them were extremely tiny or flabby that we could not use with comfort. One of them got matted with grimy due to the particles of leftover food. It’s not pleasant to use positively to clean the kitchen area.
The “O-Cedar Scrounge Multi-Use Scrubber Sponge” is our favorite one. It comes with improvement over its counterpart of the general blue sponge.
It has scarcely gritty scrubber with concussions rather than a reasonably soft coarse texture that allows your clean tasks to get done with simple effort. Also, this is not expensive; you’ll get a six-piece pack for just $10. As a result, you can change the sponge without any hardship.
