Always clean kitchen sponges

This week's Works For Me Wednesday is supposed to have a "kitchen organization" theme. Since I don't consider my kitchen spectacularly more organized than the average person's, I thought I would share a kitchen tip that I first wrote about almost exactly a year ago (see, I have only one kitchen tip, so I need to recycle it...but I do have other fun tips!)

I updated last year's post, to take into consideration the helpful comments I received, and because I am fastidious about editing, so OF COURSE I am going to critique my writing from a year ago very closely and change a few words here and there. "Fastidious about editing" does not mean I never make errors, but I do try to avoid them. But I digress...

Let's move on to the disclaimer on this kitchen tip: if you don't have a dishwasher (the electric kind, not your husband), this tip is not for you.

Have you ever wondered, "When was the last time I cleaned that kitchen sponge?" or "How dirty is that sponge, really?" I use my kitchen sponge to wash dishes and wipe down the counters, and a couple years ago I hit upon my method to keep it from becoming a smelly mess when I forget to clean it.

My solution is to use two new sponges: one sponge goes in the dishwasher right away (in one of the silverware compartments), and the other goes on the countertop behind the sink. Then every time I empty the dishwasher, I switch the sponge in the dishwasher with the one on the sink, so the sponge gets washed at least once a day. Without a sponge to pull out of the dishwasher, I forget to wash the sponge in the sink; but when I have to pull the sponge out of the dishwasher, it reminds me to put the "old" one in the dishwasher to be cleaned.

When they get old, I start again with two new sponges.

When I posted the last time, one person commented that the dishwasher water wasn't hot enough to disinfect the sponge: it takes a microwave oven to do that. My response is that the soap from the dishwasher also cleans the sponge, just as the sponge would be cleaned if I put it in the washing machine (and my dishwasher water is much hotter than my washing machine water). I readily admit that I have no scientific data to tell you that washing it in the dishwasher disinfects it...and I'm not claiming that it does. But it does make it clean (whatever that means!) and keeps it from smelling bad. I don't want to dissuade you from cooking your wet sponge in your microwave if that works for you.

Fresh smelling kitchen sponges work for me. If your kitchen is in need of organizing, visit Shannon's blog for more ideas from the truly organized.