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.

Step 1: Dishsoap and Sponges

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.

Comments

[Katie5757]

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.

[aboddy]

Hi Katie, thank you for your reply, I have never heard of bleach and dish soap creating a toxic gas, if you have a reference for that please let me know! Most bacteria do die at 100C, which is the boiling point of water, but some bacteria have been shown to live up to 132C! The temperature at which hot water comes out of your tap is not hot enough to kill bacteria.

[GoddessFourWinds]

I know this was written a long time ago, but I, too, mixed bleach with dish soap (probably 1/2 cup of dish soap with 1/2 cup of bleach and the rest water) in a dish soap bottle. I shook it up and sprayed it all over my shower. The fumes were so very toxic, I couldn't breathe... yet I had to get rid of the resulting bubbles in my bathroom. I did manage to rinse them down the drain, where they kept coming up (and I lived on the second floor), but not before burning my throat and giving myself bronchitis. I also suffered tinnitus for 8 months. I was so very ill. I don't know the brand of dish soap I used, but I know I'll never do that again.

[DIY-Guy]

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!

[pjds78]

I know this is old but I just came across this.
I 'm sorry but it isn't a myth about the danger of bleach with SOME dish-soap. I myself had the misfortune of using bleach with Dawn Dish-soap. It took my breath away. I nearly passed out before I pulled the plug to empty the sink and then I ran out of the house. You can use bleach with Laundry Detergent, but not with all Dish-soaps. There is even a case in California back in the 70s of a woman who died from the toxic fumes. We have to be very careful and read the caution on each brand to know when it is safe to use.
We can avoid the whole thing and have a tub of rinse water handy and put a teaspoon of bleach in that just to be safe.

[ckoehler1904]

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.

[22tpring]

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."

[lcrayzee]

it says on dawn not to mix with bleach... jus sayin.

[TireDog1]

A little bacteria never hurt anybody,Great tips.

[tran_s]

use microwave to sanitize your sponge.

[Kayla Ree]

most dish soap is anti-bacterial though, which means its disinfecting.

[aboddy]

Hi Kayla, thank you for your reply, dish soap is naturally anti-bacterial because of the nature of its chemistry, but it does not kill a significant proportion of bacteria, and it doesn't kill all species of bacteria. It is also ineffective against viruses. Although strong disinfectants are not required for the sanitization of most dishes, they are required for killing bacteria in sponges, and are a good idea for heavy-bacterial-growth areas like cutting boards and sink drains.

For more information about disinfectants see these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfectant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibacterial_soap
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5404a2.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/guidelines/Disinfection_Nov_2008.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/dis_tss_docs/dis-01.htm

[headphoned]

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.

[kristylynn84]

hey! :D i have that cutting board, from the dollar store, my fav. place. haha ;)

[Servelan]

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.

[justin.jackson]

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

[YoannM]

My roommates should read this... really nice and important tutorial.

[dchall8]

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. 

[flyingpuppy]

Agreed! Make it mandatory!

[HeWantsRevenge]

a clean kitchen is a happy kitchen, great job