We’ve covered the topic of sanitizing kitchen sponges using microwaves before. But apparently the popularity of a recent report covered by major news sources about the University of Florida study that recommends the use of the home microwave to sterilize kitchen sponges has apparently resulted in some disasters. Several people have reported fires, strong odours and smoke emanating from their microwaves after trying the technique. The update: researchers have released a statement advising that the sponges must be WET before going in microwave. Remember: wet, squeeze, nuke.
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Comments (7)
If the world is so full of germs how come there are so many of us on the planet. Why worry about a few more. As my Irish grannie used to say 'You have to eat a ton of dirt before you die'.
can't you just soak the sponge in bleach overnight?
Didn't any of these people read "The Green Mile", specifically "The Bad Death of Eduoard Delacroix?" You gotta wet the sponge or the current will spark the hell out of the sponge.
well, some of us, myself included have immune disorders & have to be extra careful about germs. & anyone who'd ever had salmonellae knows it's worth it to do a bit of cleaning. aye?
anywho, real simple (great mag, btw) says to nuke wet for 12 secs. i wet mine, squeeze it a tad, & put it in a tiny glass.
THEN YOUR MICROWAVE IS GONNA REEK!!! to fix that, rinse out the glass, & put a little lemon juice in there. nuke that for another 30 or so seconds. it works!
I've always microwaved a squeezed out wet sponge for a minute. 12 seconds doesn't seem long enough - I was always told that the heat was was killed the germs. 60 seconds gets it nice and hot but doesn't even start to get to the burning stage.
The news reports said zapping them for two minutes kills 99% of germs, and that a 10 minute round at high power kills 100%.
I've done this many, many times --
I squeeze the sponge out a little, but not all the way. High for 2 minutes. If you leave enough water in the sponge, it steams up and softens any caked-on splatter spots in the microwave.
Just be careful to wear rubber gloves....when the 2 minutes is up, carefully lift the sponge by the corner and move into the sink. Use the bottom of a glass to push the hot water out of the sponge, then run cold water over it.
Then use your new, smell-free sanitized sponge to wipe up those softened spills in the micro.
Smelly sponges are my #1 kitchen pet-peeve! Gross!