Dishclothes and brushes all the way! Sponges gross me out. I keep a good stash of dishclothes and for designated uses ( dishes, bathroom, kitchen). They are washed with my laundry. Brushes are when something needs to be scrubbed.

I actually use all three! Brushes are great for scrubbing off pots and pans, sponges are good for gentler washing of dishes, and my boyfriend prefers the dishcloth to the sponge. I'm definitely a big fan of the zapping-in-microwave method, too.

I converted to those Trader Joe's pop-up vegetable-based sponges, and they're not quite as "scrubby" as the good ol' green-backed ones, but I feel better using something that isn't made from petroleum.

Nothing is bacteria-free...live with it.

This is probably a dumb question, but can you clean your brushes in the dishwasher or will it damage them?

dishcloths are the most environmentally friendly, because you can use them over and over, where sponges need to be replaced. As far a germs go, you can replace a washcloth more regularly then sponges, several times a week, without worrying about being wasteful.

if you are looking for something a bit more scrubby try hand knit/crocheted clothes.

I throw my sponges in the wash along with my dish rags and towels. They come out just fine.

"If you are neurotic (like many of us) you can zap the bacteria away by microwaving your sponges on high for two minutes."

If you are relying on the dishwasher to clean your sponges be aware that it only cleans the surface and bacteria grow all the way through to the middle. A quick zap in the microwave boils the water inside the sponge and kills the bacteria that grow there.

I crochet my own cotton dish scrubbies. It takes less than 20 minutes piece and they're some of the best little doohickies I've ever used. I just throw them in with the towels, which I always wash on hot, and dry them on high. Easy cheesy.

I only use little white dish rags and bleach them with my whites, changing them out about once a week. We have a dishwasher so the rag doesn't wash dishes every day.

I'm in the "sponges are disgusting" crowd. And microwaving them doesn't do a thing for me, just makes me think of cooked dead bacteria.

brillo pads, anyone? they cut up my fingers and disintegrate into tiny metal shards when they're done, but i kind of love them.

I use all three, the tool that's most appropriate to the job. Microwave/replace the sponge regularly, wash cloths/towels weekly, the brushes with each dishwasher load.

Oh yeah, you can compost cellulose sponges when they're past their prime.

Just what I wanted to know Runemistress! I prefer sponges but don't have a microwave or dishwasher to clean them in and have always wondered if a washing machine would cut it.

I use towels like these (but cut or folded into smaller sizes): http://www.amazon.com/Salux-Nylon-Japanese-Beauty-Cloth/dp/B000EZOC1O

They are slightly but not harshly abrasive, dry very quickly, and can be tossed in the washing machine.

I like j-cloths. They dry faster than regular dishcloths (which I believe allows less time for bacteria growth), can fit in smaller openings than sponges (such as those in small jars and glasses) and survive quite a few runs through the washer and dryer.

Gosh, people who use hot water & bleach to wash clothes?
We use cold water - less electrickery used - & just hang stuff in the sun to dry. I would hate to have that much bleach slopping around the place. And it stops you reusing the grey water.

I don't understand the sponge thing. They are gross and end up in landfills.

I don't understand the ick-factor with sponges. Dishrags have always grossed me out more. They stain quickly, slop around the sink the whole time I'm washing dishes and they smell terrible.

I've got to agree that sponges can be a bit off-putting, so I did a quick check on Pubmed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) to see if it's an issue that's been investigated. I was able to find articles (PMID: 12878380 for example) that address the transmission of pathogens across sponges, surfaces, etc. but I was interested to note that I couldn't find even a single case report of an illness or outbreak being attributed to a contaminated sponge or rag used in conjuction with soap+hot water washing, and the above-mentioned paper noted that transfer of organisms from dishes contaminated in the washing process to food was rare. While sponges and dishcloths harbor lots of organisms (PMID: 9830117), another paper (PMID: 12234341) noted that transfer efficiency of various pathogens from porous surfaces like sponges to hands was vanishingly small (compared to solid surfaces, which are very good at transmitting stuff). The first paper was mentioning that Salmonella sticks around alive on surfaces despite drying for a while, but Campylobacter diminishes significantly in the space of a just few hours; this is good as Salmonella generally requires a much larger dose to cause illness than Campy. So what I get from just admittedly not-so-thorough reading is that nasty sponges are mostly an asthetic issue as long as people observe normal hygiene practices (hand washing and use of hot soapy water) and don't use dish-washing rags/sponges for cleaning stuff they're going to eat raw.

Oh, people!

The ick factor is due to treating the wash 'tool' in an icky fashion.

Bacteria need:
a) moisture
b) food
c) temperature appropriate to the species

Deny them (a) & (b), and they die. Done.

Once finished with your 'tool,'
1) RINSE & FLUSH well, getting all/most the food sources out (not difficult); then
2) SQUEEZE OUT EXCESS H2O (or shake it out of a brush); and
3) DRY: keep in a place where it can dry out relatively quickly.

Simple. No need for anything else.

If it happens to get icky, add soap, hot water, squeeze/rub & rinse, & repeat, until you rid of most of the slime. Then dry. They'll die.

(from a Microbiology major)

And BlandOstrich is correct.

I don't know what all the sponge hate is about, other than the environmentally unfriendliness. Dishrags gross me out, a roommate in college always used one and it stunk terribly.

I don't understand the hot water hate. When you wash 1 load a week in hot water for sanitation sake, it's not really all that wasteful. I understand not using bleach, though. That stuff is disturbing.

Ok this is a weird one. I live in the South and no matter how well I rinse out a sponge in the summer time I find gnats breeding on it. Is there away to prevent this other than me putting it in a ziploc baggie? (which is equally gross but I honestly don't know what else to do) I suppose it doesn't help that I tend to wash dishes at night time but our house is super humid in the summer despite our best efforts.

So any one have any tips for me?

@ kami Kazi: They're most likely attracted to food debris left on the sponge. Even if you can't see it, it's there. Make sure you wash it out with cold water when you're done and nuke it on occasion. I live in North Central Texas and this is one of the main reasons I no longer use sponges. And why I refrigerate all my fruits, especially bananas. They love those things.

We have a lunchroom at work with sponges that no one person is "in charge" of and obviously nobody feels responsible for. They always reek because nobody rinses or wrings them out after using them. I can't stand the transfer of the stench to my hands, it makes me gag -- I have to scrub my skin if I touch them. So I bought a handled scrub brush to use, which helps some.

A few years ago I suckerd myself into buying one of those "only on TV" items (never shop when home sick!) which essentially is a container which is supposed to ionize water into something resembling hydrogen peroxide, which is then used tor cleaning fruits, veggies, and things like sponges. (The oxygenation goes away after some time -- half hour or so, I think, making this safe for foods.) It was a stupid purchase, but I might donate it to the staff room for the sponges.

We use dish cloths & brushes in our kitchen. A clean dish cloth is pulled from the drawer daily. All kitchen linens that are used for food prep, serving, cooking, etc (i.e.,dish cloths, drying towels, aprons, cloth pot holders, etc.) are washed & dried in a separate load (hot water). A drawstring bag hangs on the back of my laundry room door to collect dirty kitchen linens.

The only place that sponges are used in the kitchen is the floor & that's seldom. Sponges are thick with lots of nooks & crannies; my first thought is "what a cozy home for food particles, germs, etc. to hide out". I think about how long it takes to rinse excess soap out of a sponge when too much is used. So, how much effort is required to get ALL liquid & solid food remnants flushed out of a thick sponge? I don't relish the idea of buying sponges constantly only to throw them out eventually. Dish cloths are so much more eco-friendly, economical & effective.

@orangamo - I agree. Microwaving food & liquid remnants stuck deep within a sponge doesn't work for me either.
@LovieDovie - I crochet scrubbies, too! Great way to use up leftover yarn. Gave a few of them to loved ones for Christmas with crocheted dish cloths. They loved them.

I don't find sponges all that gross, unless you aren't cleaning them properly. What I do is THOUROUGHLY rinse them out twice with hot water, then, making sure the sponge has water in it, microwave it for 1 minute. You leave it in the microwave with the door open for a bit to let it cool off before using this. I clean my sponges daily.

My preference is to use a very thin spongy cloth thingy - they don't trap bits.... and dry out fast and completely. They are about 8x6 so I cut them in half (cheap!) and easier to manage. For tough stuff I use the hard plastic scrubby things that breathe... both go in the dishwasher nicely. Loved this post... very practical :)

I use the dishwasher method for cleaning the sponge. I run the "sanitation cycle" with every wash, so I am curious if this makes any difference when it comes to killing the bacteria deeper inside vs. a regular cycle.

Dishtowels weren't mentioned, but I think they get used too often in between cleanings as well. I change ours out at least every other day, sometimes daily.

I, too, use all three. And I strive for a balanced approach: caution without phobia. I don't own a microwave so I boil sponges about once a week. They come out fresh and clean. I use a high-quality plastic brush that goes in the dishwasher every week. I use a 100% natural brush for the cast iron things; I clean cast skillets when they're hot enough to melt plastic bristles. I always have plenty of cloths and towels at hand that get washed with the whites. -- Jody

I use a brush. It's plastic/silicone. I keep it in the dishwasher, and take it out for duty and put it back in - where it gets a cleaning when the rest of my dishes get a cleaning.

For me this method is simple, hygienic, and unclutters my kitchen too.

I use blue industrial rolls of paper like towels. Find usually in automotive section of Costco. In almost 20 years of using these rather than paper towels I've probably saved thousands of $$ and saved a forest or two. Simply use like paper towels and then toss in washing machine rather than trash. They wash and dry over and over. Paper companies will hate this idea so pass it on quietly.

I never thought about microwaving sponges, but I do the dishrag thing! Such a good idea!

http://munchtalk.blogspot.com

I use these brushes, that have a replaceable brush, so once it's totally finished, you don't have to throw the entire thing out.

http://www.suomikauppa.fi/product_info.php?language=en&products_id=3578