From cleaning that grease on your utensils, scrubbing tiles to cleaning the oven door and spills on the microwave, we use a kitchen sponge to clean a lot of mess in the kitchen.
It’s cheap, convenient and easy to use. But because we use it so much every day, we need to keep changing it frequently.
When we don’t change a kitchen sponge on time, it collects a scary amount of bacteria and germs, which then contaminates the surfaces that they are supposed to clean and sanitize. You will be surprised to know that kitchen sponge is one of the dirtiest things in your house.
Here is how often you need to replace your kitchen sponge and the right way to clean it.
You should replace your kitchen sponge at least once a week. Though this frequency can be increased if you use sponge only to clean utensils and not cleaning your microwave and other stuff.
The best way to know when your sponge is ready to be replaced is by making it into a sensory experience. The look and the smell of the sponge will tell you when it’s time for it to be replaced.
If the sponge smells and looks gross and dirty and you are unable to get rid of the odour by washing, it’s time to say goodbye to the sponge.
If your kitchen sponge works harder than this, you can replace it even before a week. If you put cleaning products on the sponge, it’s best to replace it every week.
The right way to clean a sponge
The kitchen sponge gets contaminated with all types of bacteria and germs, but the good news is you can clean it. A sponge is foamy and cellular, which makes it difficult to clean it fully.
Experts suggest various ways to clean a sponge from microwaving it to submerging it into vinegar, though none of these have proven their full efficacy. Cleaning a kitchen sponge with bleach is your best bet.
How to do it
Mix 3/4 cup of bleach with three litres of water. Now submerge your sponge into this mixture for five minutes and then clean it under running water. Doing this will kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria.