how long should I microwave my kitchen sponge to kill germs, and can you do the same with the dish cloth?

Answer 1

First, put your sponge in the dishwasher or washing machine to get off food and grime. Let it dry. Then micorwave it for 2-3 minutes to kill germs, and 8-10 minutes to kill all spores. Thrifty like me, girl!

Also, you can do the same with a wash cloth, but it doesnt have the potential to store as many germs as a sponge, so you can nuke it for about 3 minutes to kill everything!

Answer 2

I just saw this on the news last night. Microwaving a damp sponge on high for two minutes kills 99.9% of bacteria. I would assume doing it with a dish rag would be the same, but you could also just toss those in the wash with some bleach.

Answer 3

60 to 90 seconds seems to work well.But microwaving sponges can often result in a bad smelling microwave.After all,you're cooking a dirty sponge.Keep a small spray bottle of bleach water(1 tbs/cup) at hand and spray the sponge on a regular basis.This kills all germs.As far as a dish towel...you want to WASH them,so buy extras so you have plenty for the week.

Answer 4

Wash each of them out REAL WELL with dish soap, them rinse them and wring them out.

Then simply WET the sponge and dish rag, then microwave on High at 1 minute.

This will KILL the germs.

After doing so place the sponge & rag somewhere clean to dry.

Answer 5

1&1/2 minutes for sponge in microwave will kill all the germs, make sure sponge is moist -- NEVER DRY !!! Could catch fire if dry & could melt or catch fire if in mike for over2minutes !!! Wash dish rag in washer with bleach. Wash 1st cycle with bleach only & 2nd cycle with detergent only -- if mixed they cancel each other out! ps -- place sponge on clean paper towel to prevent contamination.

Answer 6

Sponges are such germ collectors I do not use them. I use wash cloths. They can be soaked in hot water with bleach right in the sink, rinsed well and reused or just throw them in the the hot water & bleach load of the washing machine.

Answer 7

Ummm, no. germs cant stand up to wavelengths of light larger than their own spectrum ( which Microwaves easily fall into) Germs usually got here upon interior the kitchen are no longer thermophilic (warm loving) so heating them up kills them, and surely exposing their molecular shape to microwave rays could injury their glycocallyx or glycoprotein layer.. and inner nuclear aspects as properly.

Answer 8

Please accept this indirect answer to your question.
I am in the cleaning business and I would like to share one of our secrets!...We don't use sponges. We use this cloth we found the web site listed below...some guy name Dan sells them.
Try this cleaning cloth. You have to buy in packages of 5 but they are only like $3 bucks a piece and they pay shipping! I have ordered them and use them on everything, especially cleaning windows and clean mirrors...Virtually every surface. We stopped the sponges, windex and paper towels about a year ago. They are made out of tiny fibers. They are guaranteed not to scratch and all you do is rinse the cloth under water, wring it out and wipe ANY surface with no streaks or scratch. Use em over and over, just wash them. I have not thrown one away yet!
I even waxed my car with it! I am sold on this ...I encourage you to try it out....hope this helps..Steve

Answer 9

5 mins kills 90 %) .10 mins kills all germs dish cloths should be the same.

Answer 10

I just heard this one the news...2 minutes. You can do this to a sponge or washcloth.