Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle … sponge cleaner things?

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:54:35 +0000

Another way to use old sponges is to start with buying cellulose sponges. They look like normal polyurethane sponges, but are made from a renewable, and compostable resource. When your cellulose sponge is dank and ripped, just throw it in the compost pile, or bury it in an area of the garden that won’t be disturbed.

By: Saskia

Saskia — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:53:57 +0000

It depends what you mean by “we use them until they are really dead”! If you mean that you use them until they are completely falling apart, then I’m not sure what you could use them for apart from perhaps stuffing for a soft toy or the like.

It’s not a good idea to use them continuously for washing up until they are “dead” without sterilising them along the way; washing up sponges are prime breeding grounds for bacteria so it’s advisable to do something like microwave or boil them every so often if you’re still using them for washing up.

Personally I have a system of gradually “retiring” old sponges; they get used for washing up for while, with maybe a couple of goes in the microwave to stop anything nasty growing in them, then I stick them in the washing machine from where they go on to be used for cleaning the bathroom (be careful with the scourer if they’re not “non-stick” ones as they can scratch baths etc), then they get relegated to “dirty jobs” and finally “very dirty jobs” where I want to use something disposable for cleaning (the scourer can be very useful for some jobs which require a lot of scrubbing). I don’t feel too bad about throwing them away at this point as they’ll have been VERY well used!

By: emily

emily — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:56:16 +0000

boiling a sponge cleans it!

By: How can I reuse or recycle … soggy old sponges? » How can I recycle this?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:19:05 +0000

[...] is possibly a bit like the sponge cleaner thing post but I thought it might be worth doing [...]

By: Amanda Kerik

Amanda Kerik — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:33:28 +0000

I used these about a year ago to do some hardcore cleaning of walls – TSP solution and the scrubby side cleaned the 10+ years of gunk that the old house owner had left behind.

The plastic does wear out after a while.

The sponge would be used to help drainage in pots.

These clean up very well in normal household wash.

By: Emanla Eraton

Emanla Eraton — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:31:24 +0000

Maybe you could microwave them at 5 minutes when they’re soaked with water. The water will boil in the sponge, taking out smells and some stains also.

By: Emanla Eraton

Emanla Eraton — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:36:18 +0000

If they are still absorbent, use them to mop up small spills around the house.

By: anykey

anykey — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 20:00:39 +0000

My used jcloths go in the washing machine to freshen them up.
:O)

By: Rosie

Rosie — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 21:39:33 +0000

Along the food gakky thing… put in a microwave for about 2 minutes and that will stearalise them. i do this with dishcloths.. not if they in need of a wash but just after i have used and rinsed and wrung out.
Rosie