Do You Use Sponges?
Alright, for years now I have been fighting a battle with my sponges. I have never been a rag or towel person, they just kind of bother me and I really like my sponges.
Giving them up is hard, you know how it is…it’s like a 2 year old giving up their thumb or their favorite blankie. That is what a sponge is to me! 🙂
I know there are many other options out there, but I have been trying to tackle the battle of the sponge odor forever now, and YES I have finally won the battle over the sponge odor!
I know many of you might just ask, why not just buy a new sponge? I do replace my sponges often, but I knew there had to be a way to prolong the life of a sponge. I was whipping through sponges every 3 days and that is a lot of sponges!
I also like to recycle and reuse and if I can naturally disinfect a sponge so that I can use it longer…then I will do just that.
Why A Sponge Smells
There are many reasons why a sponge smells but the primary reason is from cleaning dirty dishes or counter tops, food particles get trapped in the sponges pores.
As the food particles start to decompose, the sponge begins to sour and smell bad.
Sponges can harbor many strands of bad bacteria including E. Coli, salmonella and campylobacter. A sponge can cause serious illness and it is very important to clean or replace your sponges often.
In the summer I have found myself replacing my sponge every 3 days. That’s a lot of sponges!
My Failed Attempts of Getting Rid of A Smelly Sponge
I have tried everything under the sun to get rid of a stinky sponge. All of these attempts failed. Here are just a few:
- Washed the sponge with soap and water
- Refrigerated the sponge in between uses
- Soaked the sponge in white vinegar
- Soaked the sponge in a vinegar/water mix followed by a baking soda/water mix
- Washed the sponge in the dishwasher
- Microwaved the sponge
- Washed the sponge in the washer machine
Wow, all of these failed? Some of them worked for a day or two, but the smells often came back and sometimes within several hours.
An All Natural Way To Get Rid of A Smelly Sponge
So lets dive into how I finally conquered a smelly sponge. I think you are going to be amazed at the solution!
What’s even more amazing is that you don’t need any other products to get rid of the smells! Now do I have your attention?
So here is the solution to an all natural way to get rid of a smelly sponge. The solution is to place the sponge outside in the sun for a day or two.
I know crazy right? But seriously guys, it really does work! Let me explain how and why this works.
The Power of The Suns UV Rays
The suns rays have some pretty powerful disinfectant properties. You see the sun is a good source of ultraviolet radiation that helps attack and kill the bacteria growing in the sponge.
Have you ever put a rug out in the sun, or hung your clothes out to dry in the sun. They come in smelling super fresh right? The sun helps disinfect and kill any odors or bacteria that might be in the clothes or rugs. This is one reason why they smell so fresh.
Did you also know that the sun can help get stains out of clothes by allowing them to sit out in the sun for a few days. Yep…but that is a whole different post coming your way!
Hospitals and doctors also use ultraviolet lights to help kill bacteria and disinfect different areas of the hospital. Pretty Powerful, right?
Results May Vary Depending On The Weather
So depending on where you are and what time of year you are trying this experiment, results could vary. I did my experiment on a hot summer day and it was about 90ºF. It took about a day to completely dry my sponge out in that heat.
If it is a bit cooler, try leaving your sponge out for several days. If it is really cold out, I would leave the sponge out for about a week. Experiment a bit to see what works for you.
I simply keep 2 sponges in rotation. One stays outside and one stays in use. When my sponge in use starts to get and odor, I replace it with the outside sponge. Place the smelly sponge outside and allow the sun to do its magic!
Share Your Thoughts
So have you dealt with smelly sponges? How do you get rid of the smell?
SiobhanGagliardo says
July 22, 2013 at 10:43 amSounds like a great idea, will have to give it a try. Thanks. Blessings…
Ruben Dolor says
April 28, 2016 at 9:04 amYou are right. I live in Palm Springs and we have Sun 360 days out of the year. I have tried everything to keep my sponges clean. I will have to buy another so I can rotate them. Once the Sun dries out the sponge, there is no smell. Works great on pillows as well. Thank you!
Halle Cottis says
May 2, 2016 at 8:29 amHappy to help! (PS – It works with sheets & towels too!)
Donna says
July 25, 2013 at 10:48 amThank you, THANK YOU for this. Smelly kitchen rags and sponges have haunted me for years. I tried putting one in the sun yesterday and it worked!
hallecottis says
July 25, 2013 at 10:54 am@Donna Yeah, I am so glad it worked for you! Works every time 🙂
NancyToveyLisonbee says
July 25, 2013 at 1:38 pmThis makes perfect sense. I do this with my son’s cloth diapers. Works well. Can’t wait to try this on my sponges. Thanks!!
IreneS says
July 28, 2013 at 11:31 amWhat do you do in the winter months?
Health Organic Wellbeing says
July 30, 2013 at 1:29 pmHealth & Organic Wellbeing (H.O.W ) thanks you for sharing this!
BarbaraThorbjornsson says
July 31, 2013 at 4:13 pmit also works to put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Smell is gone
sharon says
July 31, 2013 at 5:57 pmI just read about spaying peroxide on it to clean them.
Chef Art Moskowitz says
August 28, 2013 at 4:44 pmIt does work.
wjr says
January 15, 2014 at 12:17 amI discovered YEARS ago that some dish detergents will sour sponges and others will not. Don’t have a proven reason just a hunch. I believe it is a reaction with s/s sinks and particular detergents. Brands made by moon and stars folks (I’m showing myage) seem to be most prone. When used with a ceramic sink doesn’t seem to be a problem. The sponge makersust love this modern problem. Dont remember this to be as much of a problem “back in the day”
brenda says
July 15, 2014 at 4:11 pmI put my 2 dogs beds out in the sun when its hot out, they can pretty stinky. Im for the whole sun disinfecting thing:)
RC says
January 26, 2015 at 12:54 pmThe 100% foolproof natural way to fix smelly sponges is to use Borax (Sodium Tetraborate). Use a small plastic container that is close to the same size as the sponge. Put 1/2″ of Borax into the container. Pour in enough water to cover the Borax + 1/4″. Put your fully soaked sponge in the container with Borax/water and leave it there. Keep that by the sink. Every time you use the sponge, soak it and place it in the container (add water to the container as needed to keep 1/4″ of water over the Borax). The Borax will last for 2 months.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral and is found in dry lake beds. Ponds that have a high concentration of this mineral do not have much bacterial life. Bacteria is what makes the sponge smell, therefore keeping you sponge in a high concentration of borax/water will keep your sponges from smelling
Tim says
April 18, 2018 at 8:02 pmThe use of Borax is an interesting approach that I will try. However, I have a concern about the use of a plastic container for this process. If the plastic surface has any leaching from the Borax, which I would expect, it will likely release chemicals from plastic into the solution, and these chemicals are definitely harmful to humans. So I think a glass or ceramic container would be a better option.
marylou says
April 19, 2015 at 2:41 amI agree that the microwave disinfects the sponge. I found 60 to 90 seconds would work, but be sure to check the time. My microwave caught fire once and I had to buy a new one and I think it was because I hit the zero too many times and accidentally set it for 9 minutes instead of 90 seconds! Totally my fault! But for the past year I’ve been using another technique. If the sponge starts to smell a little funky I just squirt some hand sanitizer or sanitizing soap on it and the odor goes away instantly because the anti- bacterial sanitizer kills the germs. I also make my own sanitizing foaming soap from a recipe off the internet. It doesn’t have to be exact amounts, just put a couple squirts of Dawn or another soap in the empty foaming container, then I add some regular rubbing alcohol for the sanitizing aspect, then finish filling with regular water. Of course it only cost a few cents instead of 2 to 3 dollars for the referral.
marylou says
April 19, 2015 at 2:43 am*refill*
Anthony slama says
July 14, 2015 at 9:02 pmHi! I found a natural solution to that smelly germ ridden sponge! It’s a kitchen sponge that actually repels water and absorbs grime and specifically oil. It was created out of the gulf oil spill to literally reject water and pick up oil. I’ve had one on my sink for 6 months, that looks beaten up, but never smelled!! Check it out here… Puranaturalusa.com or on Amazon.
Ben Shapiro says
January 12, 2016 at 9:21 amI am ordering one–that address is now puranaturalsproducts.com
Rosa Arnold says
April 22, 2016 at 12:39 pmI have had the same problem. Place sponge In a small dish with a few drops of liquid dish soap add water and a teaspoon of bleach. Keep sponge in the mix when not in use and no more stench!
Bob C says
September 12, 2016 at 12:16 amStop using Dawn dish soap and start using the old-fashioned soaps like Ajax and Palmolive.
Kimberly says
April 19, 2017 at 5:49 pmNothing works quite as well as Dawn.
Kimberly says
April 19, 2017 at 7:18 pmI make a cleaner with half 92% alcohol, half warm water, and 1 tbsp Dawn. I use it to clean my granite countertops. But, it is an awesome disinfectant. I spray my dish brush heavily with it, then take my dry sponge and spray it heavily. I squeeze it a bit to distribute itm then spray some more.
LNdA says
January 6, 2018 at 2:29 pmI cook a lot and wash a lot of dishes. The best way to avoid the smelly sponge is to keep it from getting smelly. There are 2 things I do to accomplish this. Most people probably already know this but it’s important to rinse, squeeze the water out of the sponge, and store it in a place where it won’t be getting wet every time the faucet is turned on. I store mine standing up under the sink on a rack between uses. Secondly, I thoroughly rinse dishes first and use a brush to get any remaining food off of the dish/pan before I wash it with a soapy sponge. I use a sponge that has no scouring side. I have had silverware become too scratched by these. My sponge hardly gets any food on it so I can use one sponge for a long time. Brushes are much easier to wash than sponges so I don’t mind getting the brush icky. I just throw my brush in the dishwasher on the top rack with the bristles facing down after I have used it. One variation is when I have to wash a dish that had eggs on it. I treat it like the plague. Washing a dish that had eggs on it with a sponge will make every dish afterward have a bad smell. So I wash dishes that had eggs with my trusty brush and a used paper napkin from the meal. Yes, the napkin+soap+hot water begins to disintegrate, but I’m just passing in over the dish after it’s already been almost cleaned by the brush. The advantage is that I can toss the napkin away.
Tim says
April 18, 2018 at 8:03 pmMost of these methods are known to me, but I have a couple of comments for feedback. First, if I threw away a sponge every time it started to smell, I would in fact go through a lot of sponges–not a cheap alternative at all. I’ve had sponges start to smell musty within a week or so of using them just to wipe a counter top with minimal buildup on it. As for the use of bleach and soap for soaking–DANGER. Bleach and soaps can combine to create a seriously hazardous chemical fume. This is well-known, though I don’t know all the details about the chemical interaction. It is a serious warning you’ll find if you research this online.
Tim says
April 18, 2018 at 8:06 pmI like the idea of a natural solution by placing a sponge in the sun, but I worry that if left outside the sponge will potentially pick up other airborne dusts, pollutants or harmful stuff that itself will create a health hazard once the sponge is brought indoors again.
Brendan says
September 20, 2018 at 7:57 pmThis is awesome! Thank you!
Judy C Crisp says
September 29, 2018 at 7:11 pmI shared it and put my comment there. Thank you!
John Thomps says
March 7, 2019 at 7:10 pmIf you don’t live in Palm Springs or Arizona this will only work for a part of your year (or not at all !)
Boiling your sponge in water is the best and only sure-fire method and only takes a minute.