I'm done with sponges

Art Vandelay

Importer/exporter
Registered
Cleaning a Dirty Sponge Only Helps Its Worst Bacteria, Study Says
By JOANNA KLEIN
AUG. 4, 2017


Stop. Drop the sponge and step away from the microwave.

That squishy cleaning apparatus is a microscopic universe, teeming with countless bacteria. Some people may think that microwaving a sponge kills its tiny residents, but they are only partly right. It may nuke the weak ones, but the strongest, smelliest and potentially pathogenic bacteria will survive.

Then, they will reproduce and occupy the vacant real estate of the dead. And your sponge will just be stinkier and nastier and you may come to regret having not just tossed it, suggests a study published last month in Scientific Reports.

Bacteria are everywhere, so it’s no surprise that a kitchen sponge would be full of them. But previous research had underestimated a sponge’s quantity and range of bacteria. By looking at the DNA and RNA in samples from 14 used sponges that may be as dirty as the one sitting in your sink right now, Markus Egert, a microbiologist at the University of Furtwangen in Germany, and his team identified 362 different species of bacteria living within them. And the scientists were surprised to find how densely microbes occupied such close quarters: About 82 billion bacteria were living in just a cubic inch of space.


“That’s the same density of bacteria you can find in human stool samples,” Dr. Egert said. “There are probably no other places on earth with such high bacterial densities.”

The sponge attracts bacteria — which arrive via food, the skin or other surfaces — with the perfect living conditions. There is lots of warm, wet and nutrient-rich space for them to thrive.

And among those taking advantage of these amenities, the scientists found, was a microbe called Moraxella osloensis. It is widespread in nature and lives on the human skin. It can cause infections in people with weak immune systems, although the risk posed by the bacteria found in sponges is hard to assess.

Moraxella osloensis is primarily responsible for the stench of dirty laundry, and it may also be the reason that your sponge eventually emits a funky odor.

The odor is a compound produced by the bacterium’s metabolism. It eats fat. It excretes fat. And that fatty excrement stinks.

The thrifty among us may try to clean a sponge that starts to stink, but it’s probably time to let it go. Disinfecting it, as many have tried, does not necessarily work. You can microwave a sponge, throw it in the laundry or dishwasher, douse it in vinegar or other cleansing solutions or even cook it in a pot. But the researchers discovered more of the potentially pathogenic bacteria, like Moraxella osloensis, on the sponges collected from people who said they routinely disinfected them.

“When people at home try to clean their sponges, they make it worse,” Dr. Egert said — similar to how people can encourage antibiotic resistant bacteria if they don’t follow the doctor’s orders. He says if you can’t clean it perfectly, it may be best to replace it with a new one every week or so — especially “if it starts to move.”

But if you would rather not create that much waste, run it through a laundry machine at the hottest setting using a powder detergent and bleach and then use it somewhere other than the kitchen that is less hygiene-sensitive, like the bathroom.

“Now I’m an expert in how to clean sponges,” said Dr. Egert, who wants to compare disinfection methods in a follow-up study. “I’m waiting for the sponge industry to call me.”
 
There is nothing pure in this world. If you look deep enough you can find something "negative" about everything.

You can take that logic and scrub your dishes in shit if you want to.

What I found is something positive I can do to remove filth from my life. I'm not gonna use an impure world as an excuse to live my life bathing in mud like a pig.
 
Its called a "sponge" for a reason. Those things arent to be kept for extended durations of time anyway. Also helps if you clean it thoroughly after every use and let it sun dry.

I'd rather start using a brush than get sponge boxes from Costco every other month.
 
Its called a "sponge" for a reason. Those things arent to be kept for extended durations of time anyway. Also helps if you clean it thoroughly after every use and let it sun dry.
I thought it was proven by scientists the rays from the sunlight kill most the bacteria in a sponge. Better than a microwave.
 
I'd rather start using a brush than get sponge boxes from Costco every other month.
Cool. Gotta clean that brush out too tho. I use dish rags, and have them cleaned weekly with bleach and scolding water in washer and trash them when they start to fray. Use no scratch scrub pads for hard surfaces and pots and clean them and let them sun dry after each use.. Rarely use sponges.
I thought it was proven by scientists the rays from the sunlight kill most the bacteria in a sponge. Better than a microwave.
UV rays>>> micro waves
 
You can take that logic and scrub your dishes in shit if you want to.

What I found is something positive I can do to remove filth from my life. I'm not gonna use an impure world as an excuse to live my life bathing in mud like a pig.

I wasnt implying to keep using the dirty sponge I was just stating that if you look deep enough you'll find something wrong with everything.
 
I wasnt implying to keep using the dirty sponge I was just stating that if you look deep enough you'll find something wrong with everything.

And you can use nothing ever being perfect as an excuse not to strive for perfection. That mentality makes everything worse.
 
tenor.gif
 
I read once about microwaving them on high to kill bacteria. Can't remember how long though.

Yeah I forgot where I seen that at, it might have been on Dr. Oz.

You put soap in water on the sponge and put it in the microwave for more than 30 seconds I believe.
 
Yeah I forgot where I seen that at, it might have been on Dr. Oz.

You put soap in water on the sponge and put it in the microwave for more than 30 seconds I believe.
It is unclear when they compare the density of bacteria to that of a human stool sample. Are they suggesting that sponges are overflowing with ecoli bacteria? Are people using their dish sponges to clean their bathrooms also? because that is just NASTY.
 
It is unclear when they compare the density of bacteria to that of a human stool sample. Are they suggesting that sponges are overflowing with ecoli bacteria? Are people using their dish sponges to clean their bathrooms also? because that is just NASTY.

That I do not know but what I remember watching is it was basically used in the kitchen and putting it in the microwave kills the bacteria that's in the sponge. The stuff about ecoli I have no idea about.
 
It is unclear when they compare the density of bacteria to that of a human stool sample. Are they suggesting that sponges are overflowing with ecoli bacteria? Are people using their dish sponges to clean their bathrooms also? because that is just NASTY.
Problem is people will use their sponges until it's falling apart.
 
It is unclear when they compare the density of bacteria to that of a human stool sample. Are they suggesting that sponges are overflowing with ecoli bacteria? Are people using their dish sponges to clean their bathrooms also? because that is just NASTY.

LOL-- I don't think it has to be the same type of bacteria to be as dense. So that's not the comparison, just the amount of bacteria.
 
Pillows hold bacteria too, may have to buy a new one more often than you think
 
If your not boiling your sponges and wash cloths in water with bleach or ammonia bi-weekly you're a savage as far my family is concerned.
 
I think that's the implication.

I was being somewhat ironic with the stridently toned philosophical argument in a thread about sponges though. :cool:

You have a thread titled "I'm done with sponges" with the reason being because it traps/holds bacteria that you werent aware of. If thats your reason to be done with something then you oughta/have to do away with alot of shit. Nothing you come into contact with, and I mean nothing, is totally pure.

The air is polluted, what you gon stop breathing. The same air that nourished the food that your eating, what you gon do stop eating. Cant stop eating right, just might die. I dont know duke. Im not saying that you shouldnt strive for perfection but these articles are for the fuckin birds if you ask me.


everything kills you a little bit. Just enjoy life

He gets it.
 
So change your sponge regularly :dunno:


One day I'm going to come home and need a sanitary way to clean a dish and I'll have a steady & reliable brush to get the job done. Meanwhile, after you inevitably forget to restock, you sponge-changers are setting yourselves up to one day face choosing between your last filthy cesspool of a sponge and knocking on your neighbor's door like this:

 
Back
Top