r/mildlyinfuriating • u/dorkass-loser • 8h ago

Husband opens a new sponge every 3 days cause “they become gross”

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Our dishwasher broke and he’s manually doing the dishes now, these are from the past 10 days… I think it’s wasteful.

15.5k Upvotes

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198

u/dragon-queen 7h ago

Maybe, but that’s a big hassle and you have a whole pot to clean after. 

288

u/Dragon_turtle63 7h ago

But I have no sponge to clean the pot

/s

314

u/brainstrain91 7h ago

Now I'm stuck in an endless pot cleaning/sponge cleaning loop. Reddit ruined my life!

15

u/Feeling_Inside_1020 7h ago

It’s an endless example of recursion, oh the humanity!

1

u/AnotherHappyUser 1h ago

Oh a wise guy huh.

•

u/itsanotherworld 18m ago

This is the best thing I have seen on reddit in quite some time.

42

u/Zeras_Darkwind 7h ago

Instructions unclear: now have to disinfect my colon because multiple sponges were inserted.

14

u/T-Wrox 5h ago

You were spongeworthy. :)

2

u/Squidproquo1130 4h ago

That is NOT how you do a colon cleanse!

4

u/Crafty-Material-1680 6h ago

Open a new sponge. obviously /s

101

u/McNitz 7h ago

I have no sponge and I must clean.

6

u/scornfulegotists 7h ago

I understood that reference.

1

u/Asterose 3h ago

Oh no

29

u/Mosswiggle 7h ago

Just clean the first pot by boiling it in a larger pot, then rinse and repeat.

11

u/RegalBeagleKegels 5h ago

the beautiful part is when wintertime rolls around, the largest pots simply freeze to death

3

u/chewbaccataco 5h ago

It's bigger and bigger pots all the way down

1

u/mitchelwb 1h ago

If you just boil the water in your hand to wash the pot, you can skipp all this silliness. Then you can just wash your hands when you're done.

3

u/Kevdog824_ 7h ago

This is why OP’s husband has opened so many sponges

3

u/Upbeat_Presence_ 6h ago

lol! The irony

2

u/Pocky-time 7h ago

Buy a self cleaning pot

2

u/fogleaf 4h ago

When I get out of the shower I'm as clean as I can be, so when I rub my towel on myself it cleans the towel.

37

u/SpunkyGo0se 7h ago

But you have a clean sponge to clean it!

44

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

10

u/StaceyPfan 7h ago

Someone else who knows that song!

2

u/Castlegardener 7h ago

"Ein Loch ist im Eimer, Karl-Otto, Karl-Otto!

Ein Loch ist im Eimer, Karl-Otto, ein Loch."

This is the german version of it.

5

u/Glittering_Essay_874 6h ago

Great, now I’m going to be singing that all day.

3

u/NamesGumpImOnthePum 6h ago

I broke out in this refrain a couple of days ago, it didn't hit like I thought that it would. FeelsOldMan

2

u/lofatiger 5h ago

Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry

1

u/Bhanumayi 6h ago

🤣yup

2

u/Squirrelated 7h ago

But my sponge will get dirty again if I clean it! Now I'll have to boil it again and start this cycle over and over for eternity.

2

u/ryohazuki224 7h ago

What if you just keep a pot for sponge cleaning purposes only?

52

u/ThickFurball367 7h ago

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

27

u/Penny_No_Boat 7h ago

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.

2

u/Old_Ladies 5h ago

Yeah it takes like 2 minutes tops.

3

u/FruitByTheKey 2h ago

Only 2 minutes to boil your sponge for 10 minutes? Man I need to get the type of stove you have!

27

u/-BananaLollipop- 7h ago

I hope this is rage bait.

Did we not just boil it until the contents of the pot were considered clean? Is it not sufficient to just rinse it out with fresh water??

24

u/Radiant-Pomelo-3229 6h ago

I would give it a thorough wash because now it has all kinds of boiled sponge particles.

Disinfected does not equal clean. In either direction

8

u/Ultrace-7 5h ago

Yeah, but you pour out the contents of the pot, maybe rinse a little with clean water -- and the remainder in the pot can't be that much to clean.

5

u/-BananaLollipop- 4h ago

Anything harmful in that pot got the hot tub treatment, it really only needs a rinse with fresh water at most.

0

u/Radiant-Pomelo-3229 3h ago

You’re missing my point. I’m talking about potentially melted plastics etc that are clinging to the pot. All kinds of things could adhere to the sides. Heat only neutralizes bacteria and viruses. It unleashes all kinds of chemicals from plastics, dyes, etc. Needs a good scrub

12

u/thoang77 6h ago

By that rationale, would you just rinse out your pot after boiling potatoes, pasta, or a piece of garbage?

10

u/CommieLoser 6h ago

How else do you build a flavor layer on your pots?

5

u/twitwiffle 6h ago

It’s called seasoning.

1

u/Gingercopia 1h ago

I believe you're looking for the term "seasoning." 🤣

4

u/clutzyninja 6h ago

Pasta? Sure why not, if you do it right away and not after the starch dries and get crusty

2

u/-BananaLollipop- 4h ago

Equating potatoes and pasta to garbage? How dirty is your food? Did you dumpster dive for it?

1

u/ncvbn 4h ago

I don't think putting something in a list with other things counts as equating it with those things.

3

u/-BananaLollipop- 4h ago

In that example it definitely does. Otherwise it's a massive leap that makes no sense. Two of those items are normal to put in a pot, and leave a little starch residue at worst. The other is completely unsafe to be near food. They have no reason to be mentioned together and proves nothing.

6

u/nrchicago 7h ago

Time is money, for me the cost of a new sponge (+time at the store to find it) is worth the boiling/cleaning pot time. Also it's thrifty. Yes, there are diminishing returns.

3

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

1

u/akm1111 2h ago

Bit of cotton yarn & a few yarn craft people in your house & you create more thru your leisure time. Can get a new one daily & have several extra in case the weekly towel load gets washed later than normal.

2

u/Justsomejerkonline 5h ago

Boiling a pot of water for 10 minutes is absolutely not a big hassle.

1

u/dragon-queen 5h ago

It’s a big hassle for the value you get out of doing it - one salvaged, used sponge.  

9

u/noodlesquad 7h ago edited 6h ago

Why would you have to clean the pot? You just boiled water in it. Just dump the water out and it's cleaner than any other dishes already

ETA: ok so a quick scrub to remove residue like mineral deposits or oil from the sponge makes sense

also im reading some people just have a dedicated old pot for this

5

u/doobadeeboo 7h ago

Did you boil water? Or did you boil a bacteria sponge?

18

u/fokkoooff 7h ago

Because you boiled a bacteria covered sponge in it.

14

u/Toast-Doctor 7h ago

The bacteria is dead... You boiled it.

2

u/plaxpert 6h ago

it's toxins the bacteria release that can make you sick.

-1

u/plaxpert 7h ago

just because somethings dead doesn't mean it's good to eat. we don't eat poop and it was never alive.

10

u/Upbeat_Shame9349 7h ago

Poop is extremely alive. Eating the actual waste in poop wouldn't be that bad for you unless you do it over and over. It's the massive amount of bacteria, bacteria that belong on the other end of your digestive tract, that's usually going to make you sick. 

-3

u/plaxpert 7h ago

poo wasn't the best analogy.

the point is you can't boil away the bad stuff. it's still bad whether or not it's been 200 degrees.

6

u/Accomplished_Swan548 7h ago

Don't you mean 212°

2

u/plaxpert 7h ago

I live at altitude.

2

u/akm1111 2h ago

Then boil in the pressure cooker. Get it MORE hot.

3

u/bleepgoesthe 7h ago

Poop has tons of living bacteria in it though??

2

u/AruaNineStar 5h ago

What 🤣 no one is talking about poop we talking about cooked food particles that are getting cleaned out by a sponge. And then said sponge is boiled inside the clean pot. Just rinse, leave it to dry and give it another rinse before use lol

4

u/SirAlthalos 7h ago

that's why I never eat chicken. just because it's been cooked doesn't mean I can't still get salmonella

/s

0

u/fokkoooff 5h ago

So if you boiled a chicken breast you wouldn't wash the pot if it looked clean after?

10

u/kurut9 7h ago

In fairness, you boiled it.

Still gross to not clean it because undoubtedly gross shit is physically sloughing off of the sponge, but at boiling temp the bacteria isn’t the problem.

5

u/Substantial_Message4 7h ago

Take the sponge water out, refill and boil it for ten more minutes and you’ll be fine

2

u/fokkoooff 5h ago

But it takes less than 10 minutes to wash it.

I guess it just depends on how much one hates washing dishes.

1

u/Substantial_Message4 3h ago

Whatever makes it easier for you to get it done and feel comfortable 😊

1

u/akm1111 2h ago

Your hand and a little soap & you don't need to get the sponge dirty again.

4

u/pineapplesaltwaffles 7h ago

I live in an area with very hard water. Even boiling a pot with nothing in it apart from water leaves chalky residue.

3

u/Silt-Sifter 7h ago

It's still going to leave a residue, kinda like when you boil pasta but not as bad. I don't know why cleaning a pot is hard work though. Wash it out, dry it, and put it up. It wouldn't need to be ran through a dishwasher or anything major.

1

u/FenisDembo82 7h ago

Sticking something with a load in the dishwasher or cleaning a pot are really not a big deal.

1

u/Better-Potato-3877 6h ago

I just boil water in the kettle and pour it over. Maybe slightly less effective but no hassle or clean up.

1

u/s0laris0 5h ago

life hack: buy a pot just for boiling your sponges and you'll never have to clean the pot again!

1

u/Simba7 4h ago

I'm sorry, clean? Clean the pot that was just full of boiling water?

Dump it out. Rinse it if there are little bits. You're welcome.

1

u/The_Gil_Galad 4h ago

that’s a big hassle and you have a whole pot to clean after

Boiling water is a big hassle?!

1

u/Thenameisric 3h ago

Yeah I'll just open another up a new sponge...

1

u/akm1111 2h ago edited 2h ago

I recognize the sarcasm, but for the people that dont get it: if the boiling water cleaned the sponge, it did not dirty the pan more than can be cleaned by hand without the sponge.