One of the things that screws us up in life is the fact that we often end up doing something the way we’ve always done it, without stopping to think about about whether or not it’s really the best way. In my case, it’s an ongoing insistence that the proper method for cleaning your kitchen countertops is with a sponge.
I know where my dedication to the sponge comes from. My mother used to wipe everything with the kitchen sponge, including our faces. Unfortunately, it has recently been pointed out that kitchen sponges provide a rich breeding ground for stuff like bacteria, which would explain why I still remember exactly how that sponge smelled back in the days of black and white television and rotary phones.
My wife (okay, it’s ME) insists on using paper towels and/or those pop up wipes, but this ends up feeling wasteful and just, well, wrong. What about you: do you prefer the sponge of the paper towels for kitchen clean-up?
Ed Bartlett says
Got go with your wife on this one. Do use sponge for dishes (yes I do rinse b4 dishwasher) but PT’s everywhere else. It may seem wasteful, but a lot of garbage is being used for fueling power plants on a Tuesday night now, so I kinda justify it that way. But then again, I can justify going out to see bands…
Jeff says
From working at Jacoby’s restaurant during college, the cooks would use vermouth (dry) and a cloth towel. The alcohol in the vermouth killed any germs, and there were no adverse chemical(s) like in todays badass cleaning agents, so I still do that here today… (You just wash the kitchen towel in the (newly repaired) front end washing machine!) Alcohol is the oldest germ killer in the world…
Mary says
I use Handi-Wipes, they are reusable and rinseable. I also use Clorox Anywhere on my wipeable surfaces – that helps in fighting any bacterial buildup on the wipe.
Bruce says
I like the idea of vermouth. There’s nothing like that clean, fresh, “martini” smell…
BCO says
Well, ya’ know, I use to take the kitchen sponges and just throw them into the family laundry for cleaning. But then I read that sponges ALWAYS have to be washed in HOT water to kill any and all Bacteria they HARBOR. Then I realized that my kitchen sponges were being washed sometimes with other family members’items in WARM water -Yuck! Eeek! THAT did it! No more sponges, and no more attempting to kill the germs in the washing machine, hot OR warm water! Paper towels, handi-wipes and lysol spray does the job!
Suzi Craig says
Sponges! And then throw them in the dish washer (if you have one). The temp of a dishwasher is high enough to kill anyone (er, anything). I can’t stand wasting paper towels but do when a sponge won’t cut it.
Bruce says
I like the idea of the sponge in the dishwasher, Suzi – saves valuable vermouth.
Janet says
I hate sponges in any form …
Marianne O'Hare says
Having grown up in a germ warfare zone which is my perrenially under-cleaned kitchen, and having been traumatized by picking up a smelly, slightly oozy sponge more than once in her lifetime, my daughter is permanently scarred. Although I think the bacteria exposure has amped up her resistance to particularly virulent strains.
SO – now she’s in the design department at Syracuse Univ. they are expected to cook up cool life-changing inventions. Hers, sponge-related, is going to give the swifter a run for it’s money. Can’t say more until the prototype is in production. But suffice it to say – sponge nay-sayers will quit killing all those trees by over-use of paper-towels once the kid’s product hits the market. All those icky sponge traumas have been the mother of invention!
Meantime, a little splash of Clorox on the sponge at night, prop it upright – and you have a good deal less grossness in the AM.
Bill says
Sponges and Handiwipes are not used in our house. It seems like the rest of the family doesn’t fully appreciate the bacteria factor and they tend to leave them balled up in the sink or soaked with whatever they just wiped up. Yuck! For small spills I’ll use a paper towel and for a full wipe down I’ll use a cloth towel and red wine vinegar (old restaurant trick). The vinegar cleans and degreases great and the smell which is not entirely unpleasant just kinda of goes away after an hour or so. Every so often I’ll wipe everything down with a mold bleach solution.
Bobby says
I use both. I hate to waste paper, but there are times it seems hard not to use them. But I DO put the sponge in the dishwasher, everytime I run it. And I DON’T wipe the kids face with it! (Unless it’s right after I wash the dog’s dish! They love that!)
Gary says
I hate to waste good vermouth on unappreciative germs, so I just nuke the sponge in the microwave before using it on the counter top!
Wendy Swift McGee says
Ok my Dad has me using two different color sponges- one he uses on the dishes only, the other gets used for counters, spills, coffee pot, etc. I used to think he was crazy but now I understand his point.
Janet says
rags and white vinegar, people, rags and white vinegar … and you wash the rags with the family laundry … and if you don’t have white vinegar … white vermouth works REAL good …
Rosie@Melaminesponge says
I use sponge cloth for kitchen cleaning, a non woven towel and a sponge all in one! It is extremely absorbent and can be used for longer time.
Mark Pendergrast says
Are you folks being paid by the paper towel industry? Just kidding, but I vote firmly in favor of sponges, to be placed in the dishwasher weekly, and then replaced every now and then. I grew up with those disgusting mesh dish rags that my mother draped over the spigot to dry. In comparison, sponges are clean and efficient, and the ones with a scruffy side are very useful for loosening stubborn bits of dried food. I always rinse my sponge and squeeze it out before using it to wipe a kitchen counter, and then rinse and squeeze it out again at the end. No problem. No paper towels to throw out. Yes, it is true that sponges may harbor some bacteria, despite these precautions, but I have been using my sponge method for many years and have yet to come down with the plague. And in fact, I may have developed some benign resistance because of being exposed to low levels of bacteria. And some bacteria are useful in the gut. Note that I wrote a book about disease detectives, including a great deal about food contamination. The book is INSIDE THE OUTBREAKS: THE ELITE MEDICAL DETECTIVES OF THE EPIDEMIC INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. See http://www.markpendergrast.com.
Kathi says
I used to use sponges and dishrags until I found the “sham wow” And actually I use the cheaper versions that you can get at most flea markets. They come in a huge square and I cut them in 4 pieces. They can be washed and used over and over. They soak up most of the wetness and your surfaces dry almost immediately. When I am done using them for dishrags, they then become dustrags. “Lintfree” Try them you’ll love them!!