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Microwave experiments cause sponge disasters
Reuters ^ | 01/25/07

Posted on 01/25/2007 6:18:32 AM PST by presidio9

Reports about a study that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen sponges sent people hurrying to test the idea this week -- with sometimes disastrous results.

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A team at the University of Florida found that two minutes in the microwave at full power could kill a range of bacteria, viruses and parasites on kitchen sponges.

They described how they soaked the sponges in wastewater and then zapped them. But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge.

"Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off," one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.

"First, the sponge is worthless afterwards so you have to throw it out instead of using it. And second your entire house stinks like a burning tire for several hours, even with windows/doors open," complained another.

Aaron Hoover, a press officer at the University of Florida, said several other news organizations received similar complaints, although no one had complained directly to the university.

"We figured, 'wow, we better let people know right away that the sponge should be wet,"' Hoover said in a telephone interview.

The university issued the following advisory: "To guard against the risk of fire, people who wish to sterilize their sponges at home must ensure the sponge is completely wet. Two minutes of microwaving is sufficient for most sterilization. Sponges should also have no metallic content. Last, people should be careful when removing the sponge from the microwave as it will be hot."


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: microwave; sponge; usemorebleach
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To: sportutegrl

SpongeBob amazes me: oh, the power of marketing.

I try to imagine a creative director going to a meeting of top managers, saying "I'd like you to spend tens of millions of dollars on ... a talking sponge. And market this thing for display on everything from notepaper to boxer shorts."


41 posted on 01/25/2007 7:07:48 AM PST by ctdonath2 (The color blue tastes like the square root of 0?)
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To: martin_fierro

If anything, a billion of the latter could lessen the former.


42 posted on 01/25/2007 7:09:06 AM PST by Erasmus (Live was I ere I saw Evil.)
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To: SeeSalt

Bleach works. No more than about a 10% concentration and not for too long, but it'll kill most of what needs killin'.


43 posted on 01/25/2007 7:09:15 AM PST by ReignOfError
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To: presidio9

Sponges are nasty.

If one absolutely needs to use one, it should not be in food prep areas. Clean the bathroom with it, then throw it away.

Sponges are nasty.


44 posted on 01/25/2007 7:09:53 AM PST by petro45acp (SUPPORT/BE YOUR LOCAL SHEEPDOG! "On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs" By David Grossman)
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To: ctdonath2

I try to imagine a creative director going to a meeting of top managers

45 posted on 01/25/2007 7:11:52 AM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: Incorrigible

46 posted on 01/25/2007 7:12:03 AM PST by steveo (ADVERTISEMENT)
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To: zerosix

"go to your local Dollar General store and buy a bag for $2.00"

That reminds me of something funny.

We have more than one "Dollar store" chain in Boise. One of them, just raised their prices, and it's now "Honks 1.05" store... Even the sign was changed.


47 posted on 01/25/2007 7:13:31 AM PST by babygene (Never look into the laser with your last good eye...)
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To: zerosix

Those sponges are crap.

Besides, if you can clean it, why throw it away?
OTOH, I wouldn't waste electricity nuking it, I clean sponges in a mild bleach solution.


48 posted on 01/25/2007 7:15:18 AM PST by visualops (artlife.us)
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To: presidio9

These people are allowed to vote?


49 posted on 01/25/2007 7:16:22 AM PST by Jimmy Valentine's brother (For DemocRATs, being an American is all about rights, not duties.)
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To: westmichman

It probably wouldn't be wise to start a rumor that a microwave will recharge batteries.


50 posted on 01/25/2007 7:17:43 AM PST by cripplecreek (Peace without victory is a temporary illusion.)
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To: presidio9

good grief


51 posted on 01/25/2007 7:19:09 AM PST by cyborg (No I don't miss the single life at all.)
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To: presidio9

Any reason why soaking them in hydrogen peroxide won't work?? I saw this coming...the whole burning sponge thing. This is cruelty to sponges.


52 posted on 01/25/2007 7:22:00 AM PST by cyborg (No I don't miss the single life at all.)
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To: CholeraJoe

Yep, microwaves just love little magnetic conductive strips.


53 posted on 01/25/2007 7:23:38 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CholeraJoe
Then I put my whole wallet in....

Damn doc, I'd have to think pretty hard to top that. However, a microwave has some real good uses in a medical practice. I use it to warm towels to use to wrap animals coming out from under anesthesia. Learned by trial and error that 10 seconds is the best....20 seconds is a fire with a mess. I use it also to warm fluids, leave it in for 45 seconds per litre, no longer. Any longer melts the plastic or explodes the fluids and makes a mess....also warm the fluids without the IV set...the metal in the drip makes for a few sparks. Also, whole blood in the microwave is another story....

54 posted on 01/25/2007 7:25:13 AM PST by vetvetdoug
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To: cyborg
Steven Colbert (who I actually find funny) stole Bill O'Reilly's (who I find to be a bit of a pompous ass) microwave when he was on his show the other night. Then, he displayed it on his show, and microwaved a CD in it. As seen on Mythbusters, this produces a cool light show, but I couldn't help thinking that it is only a matter of time before some copycat burns down his apartment building. I am also shock that after three weeks no numbnuts has tried to copy Wesley Audrey by laying down between the subway tracks.
55 posted on 01/25/2007 7:26:36 AM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: petro45acp

You know what's really got me creeped out -- those Tempurpedic commercials that explain to me that eventually my mattress will weigh twice as much as when I bought it, all because it will be filled with dead and live mites.


Fortunately, I have one of those select-comfort beds now, but still.......


56 posted on 01/25/2007 7:26:38 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: presidio9

What's that -- its Crab People!!!


57 posted on 01/25/2007 7:27:12 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: babygene

Humorous.


58 posted on 01/25/2007 7:39:08 AM PST by zerosix
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To: visualops
I, too, used to bleach mine but my daughter said, "Hey Mom, you don't need to waste time soaking in bleach solution, I just put mine in the dish washer and run it with the dishes."

Yet another way to clean sponges.

59 posted on 01/25/2007 7:41:27 AM PST by zerosix
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To: Jimmy Valentine's brother
I've been spouting this for months now. The same people that do this are the ones being polled as to what to do in Iraq. They've never been so much as a boy scout, but they know how to win wars. I feel the same with Wrangel now in charge of trillion dollar budgets and he graduated from Harlem high. Last night on American Idol, you get to see the fruitcakes that hate Bush and know everything about the war, economy and politics and they are asked what they think in polls. They are as bad at politics as they are singing.

Recently Sean Hanity asked New Yorkers to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. They couldn't. They didn't know who Pelosi was, but they voted Democrat. We should be consulting movie stars and singers for the war strategy because they at least finished Jr High and were waiters. When people say Bush has a 30% approval rating, I say "Thank God".

60 posted on 01/25/2007 7:42:13 AM PST by chuckles
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