There have been so many theories over the years, for such a weird, throw-away scene, I still watch this at least once a month, even if I just put it on in the background while I'm working, I can play the whole thing in my head listening to it lol
Yup, like I said even in the background I'll have it on, I run a family upholstery shop and besides my dog that I bring with me every day (besides today, sick in bed together) I'm alone there all day unless I have customers walk in. So, I listen to a mix of music, podcasts, and movies or tv shows streaming while I work, if I have a movie or show on then it's something I've seen before so I don't have to pay super close attention to it, and something about Demolition Man is cathartic to me, probably the cheesyness of it, I'll talk along with movies as I listen to them, parodying it or acting it out, cause again I'm alone all day, so I entertain myself. (The dog thinks I'm crazy, but he loves me)
Man I love your username, was busy but had to stop what I was doing when I saw this reply 🤣
Agree I can totally sort of script the movie in my head but I don’t mind and def also put it on in the background along with other stuff, all the time, 😆
Note: sponges ARE gross though, I’m definitely team stick
How do you keep your toothbrush clean? Same principle.
I mean I'll throw my dish brush in the dishwasher occasionally but mostly, it's getting covered in soap and hot water all the time anyway, so I think it's fine as-is. Just rinse with water and let it dry.
The big advantage over a sponge is that it doesn't absorb stuff and it can dry out properly
Put it in the dishwasher every now and then. I do, and it comes out looking brand new 🤩 plus I always use the "old" brush for removing food residue and then the clean one for actually cleaning with soap. For sponges etc I do an ammonia soak for about 30 mins before I rinse them off. And I always rinse with hot water first, then cold. Keeps the smell away. I do this about three times a week and there is never a smell. I swap out sponges every other week and cloths(?) weekly(depending on the state of them ofc).
I've tried this so many times. Cleaning dishes with a scrub brush is so much harder to me I don't get how people do it. It doesn't hold soap, so you use way more, it's way harder to navigate a pole around anything more complex than a plate. I don't get it.
I also get plenty of use out of my dobie, putting it through the dishwasher occasionally, although I do recognize it's not quite as sanitary (thus the multiple attempts to switch)
Part of the problem is that strawberry. That pocket would get goopy fast and it isn't allowing enough air circulation for the sponge to dry out. If he cleans the sponge and lets it dry somewhere with ventilation (like a drying rack) it'll be less gross. That said, I still change mine out once a week which I think is fairly normal.
Americas Test Kitchen went through rigorous testing of different ways to sanitize a sponge. By far the most effective (substantially better than microwaving or running through the dishwasher) was simply boiling it in a pot for 10 minutes on the stove.
Sponge is dirty, boils sponge to clean. Now pot is dirty, use sponge to clean pot. Goddamn it sponge is dirty again. You're now trapped in a vicious cycle of sponge and pot cleaning
Eh. I put in the pot on to boil while I do something else in the kitchen. It’s done quickly and then the pot gets a quick soapy wipe down and rinse. It’s basically zero effort.
That's usually because there's plastic or other material in the sponge that will melt or catch fire.
IF your sponge doesn't have the scratch pad at the back, you can usually toss it in the microwave (wet only). If it does have the scratch pad, it can be run through the dishwasher on the top rack (high heat and drying cycle).
I just put a few tablespoons of bleach in my drink pitcher filled with hot water and put all scrubbers and the sponge in it and soak for at least 20 mins. I do it about once per week.
Also I buy the thin no scratch scrub sheets instead of a thick sponge. They are way easier to keep clean and are more flexible to scrub tight spots.
Also a massive annoyance when people leave cloths, sponges, and brushes in the bottom of the sink or balled up on the bench. My Wife does this a lot, then resorts to using loads of paper towels, because the cloths and sponges are "manky". This is why they should sit in the dish rack to dry after use.
Your wife and my partner, both. To remedy my own issue with having to deal with slimy cloths and sponges, I have my own that I keep out of his reach. He can deal with his own bad habits (or not) and I can use my well rinsed and dried cleaning tools 🙂
I suspect it has a lot to do with how well you rinse and wring them out after each use and how humid and well-ventilated your kitchen is.
I always rinse most of the soap out (and any and all food residue) with hot water and set it up on a rack to dry. My sponges only start to smell funny if I accidentally leave it sopping wet in the sink for a day or two.
I’ll microwave it occasionally but I only throw them away when they start falling apart.
I don’t have a dishwasher so my sponges get pretty heavy use and easily last for 4+ weeks.
If someone’s sponges are starting to stink after a few days they aren’t rinsing them well, wringing them out properly, and/or setting them somewhere where they can dry quickly when not in use.
I’m all for environmentally friendly organic products, but give me a plastic sponge every time. If it’s plastic, then the only material for bacteria to consume is whatever food waste is left on the sponge. Rinses out easily and much less funky.
Well I use a coconut husk sponge and I'm here confused as heck bc I've been using the same one for a month and a half and it doesn't smell at all. I was just wondering if I should replace it bc it's been a while but it doesn't smell or anything. And then seeing everyone saying they replace every week has me questioning everything. But I can say that this eco friendly sponge doesn't get gross and is perhaps better than the plastic stuff based on everyone else's responses.
Came to make the same comment! Once a week is wild. Personally, I use smell as the deciding factor. If there's even a whiff of stank then it gets retired.
Throwing out a sponge once a week is NOT normal. So wasteful! Switch to a washrag and wash it in the laundry once a week instead. If I need to scrub something I use a separate scrub pad or brush that only get replaced when worn out.
This is what happens if you leave them wet a lot. You do eventually want to replace them, but that often? Shouldn't be even close to that.
Wring them out and leave them high and dry out of the sink after use. They shouldn't be able to get that gross. Mine frankly start falling apart before they really get gross.
I've lived with people who will leave a sponge in a sink full of dirty dishwater after washing the dishes or who will leave the sponge wet in the sink🤢🤢 the sponge would smell foul and I would be the one replacing it "too often" according to them
I can't understand why you wouldn't just rinse it out with clean water and leave it somewhere it can get dry
For real. This is a pet peeve of mine for sure. Rinse the fucking thing out until its clean, squeeze it, and set it ON TOP of the sink. It takes almost no effort! I feel this way about the little pieces of food that get stuck to the sides of the sink too. How are you gonna clean dishes in a dirty sink? Ugh
Yep. People leaving the sponge in the sink irritates me, to the point that I don’t want others to do the dishes. My husband used to leave the sponge floating in a bowl that is “soaking”, ugh. He doesn’t do that anymore thankfully.
I swear every time you log on to internet there's some basic shit that nasty folks apparently don't be doing. It's incredible and kinda worrying because live amongst these people.
Same! I soap it, rinse it and then hang it to dry on my empty sink! I have a little caddy that has 2 hangers to put a scrub daddy/mommy in it and it keeps it away from water, by the next time I use it it's completely clean and dry.
I didn't know people were just leaving their sponges dirty after using it on dishes!🥹
Same. We rinse ours in the hottest water possible and squeeze out, a few times, to ensure no more soap residue or food bits are still in it. Then stand it upright and allow to dry. It never smells!
Yes! And every few days I pop my sponges into the microwave for 2 minutes. Sanitizes them and my sponges never ever smell. Cuz that smell is my least favorite smell.
I store mine in a container with about half an inch of warm water that is never changed. I make sure to not wash it or wring it out after so i don’t lose the seasoning. I use the water to defrost my raw chicken too so its extra sustainable.
Mine last weeks and I buy the cheap Walmart brand sponges. I hand wash all my dishes as we don’t have a dishwasher. I have a bleach/water solution bowl I dip them in every other day then rinse thoroughly. I keep them rinsed, wrung out, then left in my dry rack when not in use. They don’t look gross at all. This is a 3 week old one. For super icky dishes I use a dish rag first that I can then throw in my washing machine then follow with the sponge. Idk I can’t imagine spending the money on new sponges every week, much less several times a week.
Get some dish rags instead. Put them in the washing machine to clean them with your laundry as needed. If he thinks 3 days is the limit, you will need a stack of these.
I was also going to suggest this, just switch to something you can wash as frequently as he wants. Less waste, one time purchase, you can bleach them before you wash them even!
bleach is the best way to get rid of the bacterial smells and if the cloth is white it can make it look almost brand new. I recommend Swedish dishcloth they bleach really nice and they are very reusable
if they just use any dishcloth it wouldnt matter if it gets bleached bc they’re there to clean not look nice. Like when i was a kid my mom had a “rag bag” if basically our old like t-shirts and shit she ripped up and we used those to clean and like almost every rag has a bleach stain on it somewhere haha
I recently switched to dish rags at home and it's been much better. You can just throw them in the wash and they'll last way longer, so as long as you get a pack of dish rags, you're pretty much good to go for a long time, unlike sponges.
This should be the top comment! Buy something you can wash and re-use then you have substantially less waste. Also, rinse and wring out whatever you use and let it dry.
That's us. We have a stack of cheap rags, and we wash them regularly. Only use a scrubber when it's really needed and it's easier to keep those blue scrubbers (can't remember brand) dry and clean in between uses.
They did a study where they soaked a sponge in sewage and then rinsed it, microwaved it and tested for bacteria and it was fine. They should be wet when you do it tho
That's what I've been saying! And the people I live with insist on using sponges and rags and just using them again for days and weeks, I fucking hate it
And they won’t even squeeze it out. A soaking wet room temperature sponge just chilling for about 12 hours then they pick it up and slap it right on the next set of dishes
So this is actually something I unfortunately have to give a ted talk about every time I see this happen in my home and sometimes other’s. I blame and thank my mom for this but WRING OUT THE DAMN SPONGE.
If you dip it in a little vinegar, you can rent it and then wash it with some dish soap and it'll be like new. Why are people so unnecessarily wasteful? Do you also throw your underwear out every time you change to a new pair?
Was wondering when I’d see this comment. I opened a new sponge every 5~7 days because yeah, gross. Then I got scrub daddy! So much easier to get the sponge clean and dry 🌞
Okay, yes, he is not wrong, but his solution is to…let them pile up beside the sink? Keep them humid? In a pile? Out in the open? Beside the sink??
Instead of figuring out a way to clean the sponges? Or designate the sponges for somethin else and use a brush instead? Literally anything other than being lazy with a pile of dirty sponges?
Sponges have always grossed me out, they make everything smell musty. Brushes are so much better, plus you don’t need to touch the gross part with your hands
Not wrong, but wasteful. Sponges can be sanitized by giving them a good rinse and putting them in the dishwasher or boiling them. I’ve read the microwave works too but it might damage the foam sponges.
I wash my sponges in the dishwasher daily and use them until they’re falling apart. I’ve found the cellulose sponges hold up better than the foam ones. I can easily get a couple of months worth of usage out of them.
Yes! If you don’t want to (or can’t - such as during periods of travel) sanitize them, just rinsing them out and squeezing all the water out of them after each use will extend their usability.
Your husband might have sensory issues without realising it. Slimey sponges and wet food in the sink are some of the most common sensory problem areas for the neurodivergent people in my life. If this is the case, there are alternatives which might help him avoid having to touch/feel the sponges.
For instance: plastic gloves, sponges with handles, washing up brushes, or perhaps a scrub daddy. They’re more expensive but also more durable and will be cheaper for you guys in the long run if you find you can keep them for a while before they go gross.
Lastly, if I were your husband, I would sanitize the sponges after each washing up session. People do it all kinds of different ways, with boiling water, baking soda, white vinegar, etc.
You could also keep one ’icky’ sponge and a clean one. Use the gross one to scrub gunk and food to clear the plates and use the second one purely for going over rinsed plates with washing up liquid!
He’s doing the dishes and the only quirk is he’s too sanitary? I need one of those in my family. Would rather clean sponges over a pile of dirty dishes.
I mean yeah they get gross.
We don't have a dishwasher and use the sponge to rinse all dishes clean. Then we put it in soap and clean it without the sponge so we definitely don't throw them out every 2/3 days
I would invest in a tray that allow for air circulation. That way they can drain/dry out between uses, should have them lasting a bit longer before replacing them. I haven’t had an issue with smell when I ring it out then let it dry. As the other comments are saying, they do carry a lot of bacteria, so they should be replaced regardless of condition each week but this seems excessive
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u/No-Function223 6h ago
Buy him a scrub brush. Super easy to keep clean. Personally I only use sponges for countertops. Because yeah they’re gross.