How to Clean a Kitchen Sponge Tipped with Bacteria and Mold

Admit it…you use your dish sponge much more than you clean your dishes! But all that time spent scrubbing at the dishes is time not spent cleaning the sink or wiping down countertops. Yikes! So take a few minutes to properly sanitize your sponge and keep it cleaner longer.

Here’s how to clean a kitchen sponge-tipped with bacteria and mold: 

Step 1: Unplug the sink.

If there are any plugged drains, unclog them before running water into the sink so you don’t accidentally send anything down the drain that might plug it up again. Put on rubber gloves if desired since this can be an icky job.

Step 2: Fill the sink with warm, soapy water and add a splash of vinegar to aid in cleaning and degreasing your sponge (which will make it smell better).

Scrub the sponge vigorously against itself under the surface of the water for several minutes. Gunk from years past may come up in this step. If you feel like you’re not getting much out, take your fingers and rub them all over both sides of the sponge to loosen more gunk that’s stuck deep inside. Continue scrubbing until almost all stubborn debris is loose and clean-looking. The dirtier the sponge gets the more effective this process will be at removing gunk’s caked deep within even fresh sponges.

Step 3: Rinse the sponge under running water thoroughly to remove all flakes and particles from scrubbing.

If you have a handheld sprayer, use it to rinse the sponge so that any remaining particles simply fall down the drain rather than settle back onto your countertop or sink basin.

Step 4: Dry out the sponge by squeezing it well.

If there’s excess water in your sink, go ahead and dump it out at this point too. Since you want stuff like dirt and gunk washed off of your sponge to dry up. And not get reintroduced to the next load of dishes you’re cleaning. Squeeze firmly with both hands. This is where a lot of germs can be removed (and then released into the air!) if you don’t squeeze them all out.

Step 5: Place the sponge on a clean dish rack, with the dry side facing up.

Alternately, if this is not possible in your kitchen setup. Lay it flat on a paper towel or clean rag to let the air dry. Without touching anything else that might be contaminating. Rinse and replace when dry—it can sometimes take 24 hours. If your sponge becomes so dirty that you cannot stand to reuse it, throw it away and get a new one rather than trying to sanitize something that’s practically disintegrating in its own dirtiness. It’s better for your health (and for the environment) not to put yourself at risk of illness by using unsanitary kitchen sponges. For more info on kitchen sponges, including how to clean other cleaning tools, read this article.

Step 6: Keep your sponge cleaner longer by allowing it to dry out between uses—especially if you use your dish sponge daily or several times a day to clean dirty dishes.

It’s harder for germs and mold to grow in an environment that doesn’t have much moisture. By leaving your sponge dry, you’ll be able to keep it fresh-smelling longer. And don’t share kitchen sponges either! If someone else is using it next time, he or she might not rinse it as well as you do after using it to scrub raw chicken breasts or wash greasy oven pans, which can cause the transfer of germs from the sponge to your hands and vice versa.

In addition to kitchen sponges, this process works for cleaning other types of common household cleaning tools such as scrub brushes (like those used in bathtubs) and dish gloves (which can also help prevent skin irritations like eczema flare-ups.) So there you go—proper ways to clean a kitchen sponge that can be critical not only for good health but for maintaining a germ-free home. To learn more about keeping your house germ-free, visit our article on how to sanitize your home. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to leave them below! Thanks!

Step 7: it on a clean dish rack, with the dry side facing up.

If this is not possible in your kitchen setup, lay it flat on a paper towel or clean rag to let the air dry. Without touching anything else that might be contaminating. Rinse and replace when dry—it can sometimes take 24 hours. If your sponge becomes so dirty that you cannot stand to reuse it, throw it away and get a new one rather than trying to sanitize something that’s practically disintegrating in its own dirtiness. It’s better for your health (and for the environment) not to put yourself at risk of illness by using unsanitary kitchen sponges.

Conclusion:

In addition to kitchen sponges, this process works for cleaning other types of common household cleaning tools such as scrub brushes (like those used in bathtubs) and dish gloves (which can also help prevent skin irritations like eczema flare-ups.) So there you go—proper ways to clean a kitchen sponge that can be critical not only for good health but for maintaining a germ-free home. To learn more about keeping your house germ-free, visit our article on how to sanitize your home.