Stanley, the Stinky Sponge

Everyone, no matter where they are, who uses a sponge in the kitchen has had to deal with Stanley, the Stinky Sponge! No matter how hard you squeeze the water out of the darn thing, the next day, or two days after, the aroma rises up and assaults your nose! Once you get that stinky smell in your nose, you smell it the rest of the day…So what can you do that will get rid of Stanley and end up with Nice Nancy, the Good Smelling Sponge?

Is this Stinky Stanley or Nice Nancy?

Well, I found an article on what works to get rid of Stanley and end up with Nice Nancy! The article was written by Beckey Worley. Now, just so you know, I have tried most of the remedies that Ms. Worley indicates do not work. What have I tried that does not work?

* Microwaving the wet Stanley offender. What you end up with is a hot stinky Stanley!
* Washing the sponge in hot water with dish soap. No matter how much you scrub Stanley behind the ears, he still smells bad.
* Ms. Worley indicates that she soaked the test sponge in bleach and it fell apart. I tried this too, although not overnight. It worked for about 10 hours. Stanley went into the trash and was replaced by Nice Nancy!
* The top rack of the dishwasher. It works, for about 5 minutes! Nice Nancy comes out of the dishwasher and gets wet once, and Stinky Stanley is back!
* Ms. Worley also tried a vinegar bath followed by a bath of baking soda…didn’t work either!

What Ms. Worley did discover is this: Place Stinky Stanley outside in the full sun and let Stanley sit there for four days. When you go back out and pick up Stanley, you will discover that Stanley is no longer there but you will have Nice Nancy there in your hands. What causes the change? The UV rays of the sun! It kills all those bad critters that make their home on Stinky Stanley! Ms. Worley did indicate that she left the sponge out for less than the four days and it worked!

But, who uses a sponge once every couple of days? Hmmm…can’t think of anyone I know. So here is the suggestion for keeping Nice Nancy in the kitchen and Stinky Stanley out. First, always squeeze the water out of the sponge. Do not let it sit in the sink to grow allow all those ghastly bacteria and potentially dangerous other stuff grow! After using your kitchen sponge, rinse it well, squeeze it well and stick it outside in the sun. Then have a backup sponge to take its place. By rotating sponges maybe we can all have Nice Nancy in our kitchens!