Quick kitchen tip #1

As you who have followed my blog for a while knows, I don’t have a dishwasher.

I opted to remove my dishwasher and replace with a kitchen cart that gives me a lower surface to knead bread doughs on. Do I regret doing this? No, so far I am really happy about it.

Due to this however I am a big user of sponges to clean everything. Nearly every tip I have read to prolong the life of my sponges have suggested I clean them in my “dishwasher” once a week to prevent bacteria buildup in them.

We all know about the bacterial buildup. It is especially noticeable the morning after your husband or kid used it to clean yesterdays dinner dishes before going to bed. The sour smell stings the nose as you squeeze out the standing water of which it has been laying in.

Here comes my 2 for 1 tip. Drum roll please…..

Once a week or however more often you would like. Place your dripping wet sponge in you microwave. Turn it on full for three minutes. Carefully take out and rinse well. Add dish soap to the sponge and work it to a lather. Place it once more dripping wet and full of soap in the microwave. Turn on full for three minutes. Carefully take out and rinse well.

This as a matter of fact proven to kill 99% of all bacteria and that after only 2 minutes in the microwave. I might be doing some overkill with my routine, but it works for me.

Here is an article I found on this. Microwaving kitchen sponges for just two minutes can kill 99% of living pathogens, a US study in the Journal of Environmental Health claims. Link to article.

Take a moist microfiber cloth and wipe down the inside of you microwave. Not only has the damp from the sponge loosened all the almost burned in splatters in there, but the soap has made it smell good.

So 2 for 1, your sponge is all clean and bacteria free, and your microwave is all clean and shiny.

Do you have helpful little tips like this that helps you in your day to day life?