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What You Never Knew About Doing the Dishes With a Sponge

What You Never Knew About Doing the Dishes With a Sponge
After living with college roommates that couldn't seem to do the dishes properly, I realized I had to get the word out there about proper dishwashing duty.
 
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Step 1Dishsoap and Sponges

Dishsoap and Sponges
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  • dishsoap2.jpg
  • pinksponge.jpg
  • yellowsponge.jpg
The first thing to realize is that dishwashing is not about sanitizing (killing the bacteria and viruses on) your dishes. If you look on your dishsoap (any brand will do), you will notice that it does not claim to "disinfect" your dishes!

What is the point of dishwashing?
To remove food, scum, scents, flavors, grease, oil, etc. from your dishes.

What is the best tool to use?
Use a sponge that has a scrubby side on it. This way you can soak up soapy water to scrub away at your dishes with. Using a plain sponge with no scrub is pointless - it won't scrub the food or grease off of your dishes!

How do I get rid of the "germs?"
Washing your dishes will help get rid of most of them, and the rest tend to die once the dishes dry off (bacteria can't live without water!). However, if you're concerned, you could always rinse your dishes with a 1/20 bleach dilution, or add a tiny bit of bleach to your dishsoap.

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18 comments
Feb 19, 2012. 8:55 PMckoehler1904 says:
Great suggestion of sanitizing the sponge in the microwave oven. One of my pet peeves is people drying dishes with a dish towel - usually the same one they dried their hands on! It's much more sanitary (and easier) to just let the dishes air dry in a dish rack (which should also be sanitized from time to time too) or on a freshly cleaned kitchen countertop.
Feb 19, 2012. 3:06 PM22tpring says:
Have to comment as a public health RN. Soap acts to "wash away" bacteria, so, although its job is not to kill bacteria, it "moves it on out."
Nov 27, 2011. 8:31 AMlcrayzee says:
it says on dawn not to mix with bleach... jus sayin.
Nov 3, 2011. 3:28 PMKatie5757 says:
ummmm. adding bleach to detergent I believe creates a chemical reaction which is not healthy, I believe by a gas that occurs. You might like to use a gas mask. I use a dishbrush, which means the dishwater can be very hot.. Using a sponge would mean that the water would be somewhat cooler. Also with very hot water everything dries very quickly, and can be stored away and not sitting on the counter with people contaminating it.
Nov 7, 2011. 8:24 PMDIY-Guy says:
The detergent with bleach danger is a myth.
Bleach and ammonia, or bleach and toilet cleaner (lye types) does make toxic gasses similar to those used in World War One. The chlorine in bleach needs a strong reagent to form chlorine gas, not detergent.

Detergent is fairly innocus stuff. A little bleach is a good idea for sterilization, but don't over do it.

Happy dishwashing to you!
Sep 27, 2011. 11:34 AMTireDog1 says:
A little bacteria never hurt anybody,Great tips.
Aug 9, 2011. 1:11 AMtran_s says:
use microwave to sanitize your sponge.
May 11, 2011. 7:13 PMKayla Ree says:
most dish soap is anti-bacterial though, which means its disinfecting.
May 11, 2011. 10:09 AMheadphoned says:
A couple of good tips here. Personally I use the scrubber side for the heavy duty and then the non-scrub side for the final wipe-down.
May 11, 2011. 1:35 AMkristylynn84 says:
hey! :D i have that cutting board, from the dollar store, my fav. place. haha ;)
May 10, 2011. 8:01 AMServelan says:
If you add vinegar to your rinse water, you can do two things: one, reduce the amount of soap residue (I usually use too much dish soap, so this is something I have to watch for) and two, it is antibacterial: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9209126 so you can kill most of the crudlies.

I've seen another article somewhere on the Internets to the effect that a 10% vinegar wipedown is good for counters, too. And I haven't noticed any 'pickly' smell.
May 9, 2011. 5:49 PMjustin.jackson says:
my wife showed me that bit about the sponge in microwave. very handy. putting it in the dishwasher works as well. but i guess if you have a dishwasher, chances are you dont have much use for a sponge
May 9, 2011. 3:05 PMYoannM says:
My roommates should read this... really nice and important tutorial.
May 9, 2011. 6:37 AMdchall8 says:

This should be required (annual) reading for everybody over age 8. 

Another suggestion would be to have more than one sponge going so each one can dry completely between uses. 
May 9, 2011. 1:57 PMflyingpuppy says:
Agreed! Make it mandatory!
May 9, 2011. 2:23 AMHeWantsRevenge says:
a clean kitchen is a happy kitchen, great job

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