Is there a better alternative to sponges? *Warning: OCD/Rant*?

I have a weird freak out thing about sponges. If it's fallen in the sink which has dishes in it... and has been there for more than ten minutes, I have to throw it away.





I have obsessive compulsive disorder. Which I've learned how to control very well to be a normal person, but at the same thing some things just freaking gross me out like sponges.





I added it up and I spend 4 dollars a month on sponges... which doesn't sound like a lot but 4 dollars x 52 dollars a year= $208 on sponges.





After ten years that's $2,080 alone spent on sponges. (That is a NEW CAR.)





I tried sham-wow but everytime I wash them they get little lint balls on them (you can't dry them or they tear) and it freaks me out. My husband wants to try wash clothes but I don't know, especially with as many pots and pans as I scrub. (I bake, and I cook, A LOT.)Is there a better alternative to sponges? *Warning: OCD/Rant*?
Dishwasher cleans cloths and sponges really well. They come out with no odour at all.Is there a better alternative to sponges? *Warning: OCD/Rant*?
Just wash the sponges in the dishwasher or microwave every day or put them in the clothes wash. Have enough on hand to get you thru the week til you do the laundry. I use dish cloths and get a new one out every day. Or you could get two or more out every day - one for dishes, one for the counter. For scrubbing pans, I use a brush that I put in the dishwasher every night.
i use thin wash cloths for the benches.


rinse you sponge before and after use and leave it to dry somewhere where nobody will touch it, even a little tray/basket would do.


also rinse your dishes before they touch the sponge it keeps the sponge cleaner
I wouldn't eat it either.
I use washcloths, and they seem to work fine. I wash the dishes because of my OCD. My wife doesn't wear her glasses when she does it, and does everything ';real quick';. I have to rewash most of them anyway when she does it.





P.S. I'd like to know where to get a new car for $2000.....
You have cats on your kitchen counters, and sponges


that fall in the sink bother you? OK; different strokes


for different folks. Cat hair on my kitchen surfaces would bother me.





Do the Shamwows get lint balls because of towels washed with them or in the load before them?





Have yu tried microfiber cloths, or microfiber sponges? QVC.com


Don Aslett products? They are machine washable, and I've never seen lint on mine.





Good Luck!
I've read that you should microwave a sponge for 2 minutes after you are done using it (once a day). Make sure the sponge is wet, as a dry sponge could catch fire! This is supposed to kill 99.9% of all bacteria in the sponge.





I do this, and I use the sponge until it starts to fall apart. This really gets rid of my phobia about dirty sponges. I have also thrown it in the dishwasher for the same reason. You can use washcloths, but the laundry is not going to kill 99.9% of the bacteria.
You really mean $4 X 12 months don't you? A new car for $2,080.? Please let me know where, I can send them a lot of business! (your math is faulty, $4/mo. is only $48/yr)





Try the dish cloths, you can soak them in bleach after you use them. A curly kate - pot scrubber made out of plastic netting type substance can be used to scrub your pots and pans. It is porus enough to be rinsed thoroughly after each use. You can buy special decorative holders for them to be stored on you counter.