IS IT REALLY SO WRONG?!
Those of you with pets, feel free to weigh in.I have cats. They happen to eat cat food. Being a good mother I clean their bowls every day and, being a good recycler, I also wash out their cans. These tasks require a sponge, and up until recently I didn't think twice about grabbing the same one I use for everyday use. I'd simply clean the cat bowls, rinse the sponge in soap and hot water, and move on to the next dish. I'm not a big germ freak; maybe that's why it never entered my mind that it was nasty. But a few days ago a friend of mine saw me doing this and... I don't want to say that she freaked, but she kind of freaked. There was much barely-contained nausea and "That is the grossest thing I've ever seen"-ing, all of which left me perplexed. I just sort of figured that cat food was food. Not the greatest food perhaps, not food I necessarily want to eat, but it wasn't like I was scrubbing the floors and then turning the sponge on our plates. My friend then showed me a disinfecting technique involving the microwave that I now feel obligated to implement but am I the only one who does this? Do you all have separate sponges or what? Are you all thoroughly grossed out and vowing never to eat at my house again?
posted by Ali @ 9:34 AM
4 Comments:
I don't think it's so wrong, no. My belief is that it's all the elements of cleaning -- the hot/warm water, the soapy bubbles, as well as the sponge. The way I do dishes, after scrubing with my sponge, I run hot water on the thing I'm cleaning, as the "dirty" sponge isn't the last thing on my clean plates.
I think you're fine.
But if I were to be concerned, what's this disinfectant process with the microwave?
It's very simple (compliments of Martha Stewart, of course.)
Just take the dirty sponge and pop it into the microwave for one minute. Supposedly that kills all the bacteria. Careful when you take it out - it'll be crazy hot!
I prefer just to trade out sponges every week. (Which is about as long as mine last.) Not as environmentally friendly perhaps, but still.
Be very very careful with the sponge sterilization technique -- news about this particular trick was a hot new item about two months ago, and within days of the info spreading across the internet, kitchen fire instances spiked dramatically.
Firefighter agencies in majors cities have warned of the dangers of zapping sponges and especially cloths in the microwave despite the studies showing it would kill harmful bacteria.
"There are too many variable factors such as the capacity/power of the microwave oven or the moisture content of the dishcloth or sponge."
Note that the researchers even said people should only try to microwave wet/damp sponges. Dry sponges are damn likely to burst into flame, and a minute or two in the microwave is also enough to get water to boiling, so "damn hot" is an understatement.
Note also that the wet sponge really needs to be in a bowl or a dish or something when inside the microwave, or you've got water running around inside an unsealed electrical device, which is a other problem.
Now, with all that said, I wouldn't blink an eye at washing a pet food bowl along with my own bowls -- then again, I use dry food, so it's not like there's much of an ick factor (or need to clean the bowl) there.
I have washed my pet food bowls not only with the same sponge (actually I use dishrags I have a nice pile of them and can get a new one every day which helps with what germ issues I have), but in the same sink of water right along with other dishes that need to be washed. Although most of the time I just throw them in the dishwasher. Would that be considered disgusting too since I have dishes that we eat off ofn in there along side the pet bowls?
I don't think you are disgusting at all!
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