Battle of The Sponges. Jay!

One says one thing, and then another says not!

USDA.gov  says this:

"Disinfecting wet kitchen sponges by microwaving or dishwashing provides a fast and effective method to improve household kitchen hygiene. Chemical treatments to kill microorganisms in or on kitchen sponges proved less effective than placing sponges in a microwave oven or dishwasher.

In our study, as in the work of others (Park et al., 2006), wet
sponges were placed in the microwave oven prior to heating.
Water in the sponge may generate steam inside the sponge, killing microorganisms in the interior of the sponge.

Results
Untreated (control) sponges receiving no disinfecting treatment
had total counts of 7.5 CFU (colony forming units) of aerobic bacteria/sponge and 7.3 CFU of yeasts and mold/sponge.

Microwave treatment of heavily contaminated kitchen sponges was the most effective method to kill bacteria, with less than 0.4 log CFU/sponge surviving 1 min of exposure, significantly (P < 0.05) less than any other treatment evaluated.

Dishwashing treatment was significantly more effective than 10% bleach, lemon juice or water applied to sponges, with 1.8 log CFU/sponge surviving after treatment.

Among chemical treatments, sponges soaked in 10% bleach had populations only 0.3 and 0.5 log CFU/sponge lower than those soaked in water or lemon juice, respectively.

 

Wetting sponges before placing then in the microwave oven is also a necessary safety precaution.

 

Excerpts from: http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/23351/1/IND44126362.pdf

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Then Ms. Franke said this on CBS News:

"While the simplicity of the microwave method makes it very attractive, Franke says there are many problems with this method and that results can vary depending on whether you're using a small or a big microwave or whether the sponge is wet or dry.
Franke said every microwave is different, so it's hard to tell which sponge will get hot in which microwave. For instance, it may take two minutes to kill germs in a big microwave but it could take four to six minutes in a smaller microwave.

She also said there is the chance that the sponge will overheat and catch on fire or be rendered useless. The only way to analyze it is would be to look in a sophisticated microbiological lab." 

More at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/29/earlyshow/living/ConsumerWatch/main2407163.shtml?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo

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She suggests disinfecting them in bleach, but not all bleaches are "disinfecting", you have to read the label.

Also, disinfecting them in bleach makes them disintegrate.  They don't last long after they have been in bleach.

So I just clean mine with some Lysol, if I am not running the dishwasher at that time.

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Today:

Not much going on here.  Just the ongoing saga of Jay!

Jay wanted to work today, but as soon as I picked him up he wanted me to take him into town to get money at the bank.  I knew he was already overdrawn, so I knew he was up to no good, as who needs money if they are staying in the subdivision.  His mother, Claudia wouldn't take him, and there was no way I was going to take him.

We got a couple of jobs started like raising the front of the new fridge with the adjustment screws, as the fridge door didn't close unless I pushed it.  And as he is tall, he hung the clean cellular blind.  The Super-Clean did a better job on it than the recommended Oxyclean.

Then some weird looking guys came to my house, and picked him up to take him into town.  Jay got his own way, as usual.

So I finished re-leveling the fridge.

While Jay was gone, Claudia called wanting some boxes to pack up the stuff that Jay had strewn all over her house.  She wants him to stay at his own house next door.   His 'friends' and 'klingons' bother her at night, and she is tired of it.  

She has thrown him out before, but he always wheedles his way back in, as he can't stand to be alone.  Also she buys good food and feeds him, so that gives him more money for beer, etc.

I knew she shouldn't be carrying that stuff so I went down there and helped her today.