How long do you use a kitchen sponge for?

[Anonymous]

Never use them. Sponges are disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Every Monday

[Anonymous]

Sorry, every Monday I throw out old & open new sponge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never use them. Sponges are disgusting.

Agree! Hope you don’t eat out or stay in hotels. Ugh, right?

[Anonymous]

Just use a scrub daddy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Standard sponge, 15-30 mins. Then trash.
I do use the flat sponge cloths that can be washed, I use them for one use then wash.

What? So you go through like 10 sponges a day?!

[Anonymous]

I don’t. Washable dishcloth and new one every time I do the dishes. I don’t like them sitting there wet.

The rest of the family (DH and teens) will keep using the same one until I put it in the wash.

[Anonymous]

We use compostable ones and they last about a month each. We compost as much as we can and grow a lot of our own food.

[Anonymous]

Too long.

I do toss them in the dishwasher at a certain point, but I know I should be tossing them more often than I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Standard sponge, 15-30 mins. Then trash.
I do use the flat sponge cloths that can be washed, I use them for one use then wash.

What? So you go through like 10 sponges a day?!

I rarely use them because there is no reliable way to clean or disinfect them after use. I might use 10 sponges or metal scrubbers a year. Mostly use a brush I can disinfect with bleach or a dish towel. Yes, I go through 5-10 towels a day, but my hands and surfaces are clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Standard sponge, 15-30 mins. Then trash.
I do use the flat sponge cloths that can be washed, I use them for one use then wash.

Kinda wasteful to throw out after 15 minutes. So you wash a water glass then toss?

If it’s a disposable cup I can’t wash, I throw it away. A water glass can be washed and disinfected. A sponge cannot be washed effectively or disinfected, it just spreads germs around.

[Anonymous]

Makin’ some popcorn for this discussion!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious...

It’s heavy use in our house so 2-4 weeks.

If just two people can prob do 2 mins in the microwave if getting smelly but not torn, and get 6-8 weeks out of it.

[Anonymous]

Some of the answers here are

I use them for a few weeks, which is longer than I should - but I do try to remember to microwave the sponge every day though I often forget.

I can't stand to use a sponge that is encrusted with food bits and other filth - cleaning tools are meant to be kept clean between uses.

Microbiologists caution against using kitchen sponges at all, but I consider it a challenge to keep my immune system exercised.

[Anonymous]

I aim for replacing weekly but it’s probably more like 2 weeks.