Did you know: there is a massive amount of life existing inside your dishwashing sponge! A group of German researchers recently examined samples of used dish wash sponges and guess what they found – it contained 82 billion bacteria per cubic inch! That’s a lot of bacteria that can be transferred onto your dish while washing with the sponge. Nightmarish, isn’t it? However, there are some easy methods to clean the dish wash sponges and get rid of the little friends that dwell there. There are of course various methodologies, and we would throw light upon them one by one.
Cleaning a Dish Sponge with Cleaners
Studies have been carried out to understand the effectiveness of cleaning substances on dish sponges. Here are five of the most effective ones based on their research.
- Bleach diluted with water
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Vinegar (undiluted)
- Ammonia (1:32)
- Hydrogen peroxide (undiluted)
Based on the above list, bleach seems to be a simple solution to this problem. However, cleaning your sponges with a toxic substance such as bleach can have a severe health impact. Using bleach to clean the sponges more than once a week elevates your risks of asthma. Apart from this, there is a high probability that toxic substances will stick on to the sponge with which you wash the daily utensils. And this, in turn, will migrate on to the dishes. Exposure to such toxins (though minimal in nature) can have an adverse health impact. So, you should avoid toxic substances while cleaning the dishwashing sponge.
Also mentioned in the list is Vinegar. Now, this is a cleaner you can readily find in your kitchen. It is also non-toxic and edible. Vinegar offers a high quality of cleaning and can be easily used for this cleaning exercise.
Cleaning a Dish Sponge with Heat
Heat is always a great way of killing germs and it might be sufficient in removing the bacteria dwelling in your dish sponge. Here are four proven methods you can use:
- Heating the sponge in the microwave for 1 minute at the highest power
- Washing the sponge in warm water by using the powerful Sparkle dish wash
- Cleaning the sponge in the washing machine with some detergent and bleach
- Boiling the sponge for 5 minutes in water
This process kills the germs without any chemicals, exactly the reason why it is a safer option for cleaning dish wash sponges.
Tips to Slow Down Bacteria Growth in Dish Sponge
Average dish sponges in the kitchen provide bacteria with a conducive environment to grow. The sponge provides them water, nutrients, comfortable temperature, and oxygen. So, if you want to slow down the growth of bacteria, do care to follow the below tips:
- Wash the sponge carefully, after finishing dishwashing, to remove all the bits and pieces of food left behind.
- Wring the sponge to remove as much water as possible.
- Put the sponge in a sealed plastic bag to stop airflow.
- Switch your dish sponge once every week to eliminate the bacteria factor altogether.
For healthy dishwashing use Sparkle dish wash along with a clean and bacteria-free dish sponge.