How often should you replace your kitchen sponges?

If you have a kitchen sponge, there’s a good chance you use it multiple times a day — and for various reasons. From washing dishes to wiping down countertops tables table, sponges come in very handy as a quick picker-upper.

But a kitchen sponge should be replaced more often than you might think. According to a 2019 study, a typical kitchen sponge is dirtier than most toilets. Serving as a petri dish of bacteria, it’s the “most contaminated item in the household.”

“Kitchens are where new bacteria are regularly introduced, both because of human traffic and food preparation. Sponges, which are often warm, wet, and contain traces of old food, are ideal breeding grounds for those bacteria,” explained Business Insider.

So how often should you replace your kitchen sponge? According to experts, swapping out your sponges once a week is highly recommended.

“In view of the trillions of germs inside a sponge, probably no domestic method will eradicate all of them, and after a few days or maybe even hours, the sponge is recolonized again.” It’s also time to trash your sponge if it starts to give off a sour, mildewy stench,” advised Phillip Delekta, Ph.D., an instructor in microbiology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, in an interview with The Healthy.

Replacing a sponge that often can be costly though. Consider buying them in bulk to save money.

You can also clean your sponge, though, as explained above, it probably won’t eliminate all the bacteria.

According to TODAY, you should “wash the sponge daily in hot, soapy water and then microwave it wet for two minutes. Alternatively, you can soak the sponge for one minute in a solution of 1/2 teaspoon of concentrated bleach to a quart of warm water, but it’s still a good idea to replace sponges often.”