Can you really kill alot of germs by putting a dish cloth in the microwave?

Answer 1

I hear this all the time, and no, it doesn't GUARANTEE that all the germs will be killed.

Microwaves operate a lot like a heat lamp: the microwave energy works by "wiggling" polar molecules back and forth very fast - enough to heat them.

Ever notice how water can be boiled in a glass cup? The water heats up and the glass container does not (you can pick up the glass with your hands after heating - don't try putting your hands in the water however!)

The reason is that water is a polar molecule and the glass is not. (A polar molecule is a molecule that has net "polarized" electric charge on the molecule). Some molecules are polar and some are not. Sugar is polar; plastic microwave dishes are not.

Whether you can kill bacteria by putting the cloth in the microwave depends strictly on how well the bacteria will couple with the microwaves and be heated. There are bacteria that will survive to very high temperatures, so if you're going to try to kill the bacteria, you need to heat the cloth enough to "cook" the bacteria, and this is assuming the bacteria will couple with the microwaves.

If the cloth is dry, you may or may not heat the bacteria up (depends how well the bacteria couple with the microwaves). If the cloth is wet and you heat to above 180°F (near boiling) for more than 4 minutes, then yes, you'll "cook" the bacteria. There is nothing magic about microwaves that will kill bacteria; microwaves just heat things up - the heat is what kills - you might as well put the cloth in an oven.

By the way, washing the cloth in the washing machine isn't a guarantee that the bacteria will be killed either (the temperature isn't high enough). What is accomplished is that most of the bacteria is physically removed by the detergent, but the cloth is not considered sterile. (See sweetsinglemom's comment above)

Microwaving is energy intensive - an expensive way to sterilize!

You should consider another chemical method that will sterilize at low cost at room temperature: Chlorine Bleach is great (dilute the bleach 10:1 first or it will eat up the cotton cloth), or hydrogen peroxide (won't eat up the cloth) and soak for 15 minutes. Both will not only sterilize, but give you a nice white dish cloth too (which microwaving will not do). Works on sponges too!

Answer 2

Ummm, no. germs cant withstand wavelengths of light higher than their own spectrum ( which Microwaves DEFINITELY fall into)
Germs commonly found in the kitchen are not thermophilic (hot loving) so heating them up kills them, and certainly exposing their molecular structure to microwave rays would destroy their glycocallyx or glycoprotein layer.. and internal nuclear components as well.

Answer 3

I merely referred to this on the records very last evening. Microwaving a humid sponge on intense for 2 minutes kills ninety 9.9% of bacteria. i ought to assume doing it with a dish rag ought to be an identical, yet you could also merely toss those in the wash with some bleach.

Answer 4

Yes the intense heat will kill many of the germs found around the kitchen.

Answer 5

Yes, and you can also kill many by putting it in the washing machine with hot water and bleach. Chlorine, the main ingredient in bleach, kills germs.

Answer 6

yeah the germs wont be able to withstand the high temperature
inside the microwave

Answer 7

It will kill the bacteria but it may not kill virus, they don't have nearly as much water in them so they might not get hot enough. It would be better to just wash it.

Answer 8

Yes!! I put mine in from 30 seconds to 1 minute and it keeps it smelling fresh. I hate sour sponges!! Yuck!

Answer 9

Why not just wash it? Microwaving might cause it to ignite.

Answer 10

well you are either vaporizing them or you are making them radioactive which would kill them so yeah