Bring new life into your kitchen sponge

If you use a sponge to clean your dishes, even if it is just a quick wipe over before they hit the dishwasher, this trick will come in handy.

Cleaning dishes is a task that has to be done. No matter how long you leave it those dishes will still be there and will pile up even higher, trust me I’ve tried to ignore them!

I have always found the concept of a sponge kind of gross. We use the same sponge over and over again to clean our dishes, but when does the sponge get cleaned? Instead of soaking them in harmful chemicals like bleach, or throwing them out too often just pop them in the microwave.

Sounds odd, but a quick zap in the microwave will help heat up the sponge, killing any potential bacteria. Researchers from the University of Florida found that microwaving wet sponges for two minutes on high power helped kill or inactivate 99 per cent of pathogens that were in the sponge. Before microwaving the sponges were soaked in faecal bacteria, viruses and protozoan parasites as well as bacterial spores, a quick zap saw them almost completely killed or inactivated.

They recommend that sponges be microwaved every other day, but ensure that the sponge is alway wet (never dry), it is just a regular sponge (no metal or plastic parts) and that caution is taken when removing the sponge as it will be very hot.

Will you try this? Do you have any other tips for kitchen cleaning?