RE: O/T: Almost Forgotten

Or if you want - instead of boiling water which might put in hard water... simply put them in the microwave. That was on one of our labels.

Mart> I like to use sponges but getting them clean and sanitary after usage

-------------------------------------------------------- Problem with my microwave is that it takes longer to boil water than a gas burner on the stove.

Lew

You don't boil any water. You just put the wet sponge in the MW and heat the sponge.

Problem of putting a dry sponge into the microwave is that it probably will not completely kill the germs. The microwave heats the material present in the sponge. If there is nothing to adsorb the microwave energy you will not get the germ killing heat.

It would probably be best to wet the sponge then put it in the microwave. The steam from the little water present in the sponge will kill the germs

Soak the sponge and stick it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. If there is any soap in it, it will bubble, but they die down pretty quickly.

Let it cool, as it will be very hot. All nasties will be dead and you won't have wasted any water.

Have a thermometer inside of the sponge - does it get hot inside ?

I suppose you have a weak microwave. You don't have to have the pan of water in there - just the sponge standing on edge - we make a triangle and they spin on the internal table. It boils the water in the damp sponge and kills germs as well. Hot water with boiling in the pan might not kill. Since 212 isn't hot enough for some. And that is in the rapidly boiling water. Sponge isn't 212 unless it stays at that temp for some time.

Not with that small amount of water.

Leon wrote in news:y_ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

What effect, if any, do the microwaves play in killing the bacteria? Heating the water's fine, but what about irradiating them? (Last time I used "irradiating" on this group was something like a decade ago and I spelled it with an "e". This time, I checked Google to make sure I had the right word.)

Puckdropper

webmd suggests microwaving your sponges for a minimum of 2 minutes every other day.

What effect does putting your cell phone have on you brain when you hold it up to your ear? ;~) I think it is the elimination of liquids that does the deed. I am no expert but most living things require some water to survive. I think if you boil those trace amounts of moisture out the bacteria are goners. IMHO

But is that a humane way to kill them? Do they feel pain? I'd not want animal rights people to picket my house while the microwave execution is taking place.

Just set the sponge in the sun. The UV will kill anything that can survive the lack of H2O.