My mother-in-law asked why I changed my regular dish sponge to a silicone one, and was surprised to hear the answer

A few months ago I changed my regular dish sponge to a silicone one. Now I couldn’t be happier – washing dishes has become much more enjoyable! My new “helper” is not saturated with grease and foreign odors, bacteria do not multiply on it, and it can also serve as an oven mitt if you need to remove a hot pot or frying pan from the stove. At the same time, it costs mere pennies, and its service life is unlimited. Isn't it a miracle?

Why is a silicone sponge better than a polypropylene sponge?

The polypropylene sponge seems ideal - it whips up fluffy foam, does not scratch plates and cups (unlike hard brushes), and washes off dirt well. But it has two huge disadvantages that completely cancel out all the advantages:

• Rapid contamination. If you wash a plate of herring with it, the sponge will begin to smell like herring; Wash the plate that contained the garlic sauce - the sponge will smell like garlic. But what’s even worse is that invisible food particles get stuck in its pores and cannot be removed.
• Spread of infections. In a humid environment, these food particles quickly rot and become a nutrient substrate for millions of bacteria. The bacteria are happy about this and multiply at the speed of sound, populating all the free space inside the sponge while it lies near the sink and waits for its turn.When it's time to wash the dishes again, we're literally transferring germs to our forks, spoons, bowls, and pots. This can be dangerous to health, because not all bacteria are “friendly” to humans. For reasons of hygiene, I never used the same sponge for several days in a row - I threw the old one in the trash in the evening, and in the morning I took a new one out of the package.

But the silicone sponge is completely devoid of such disadvantages. The material from which it is made does not absorb odors at all, germs cannot penetrate it, and fat and food particles are easily washed off. In addition, it has several other advantages:

• Durable. As long as I don’t destroy it physically—for example, by accidentally melting it over an open fire or cutting it with a knife—it will retain all its properties.
• Universal. Since bacteria and dirt do not penetrate inside, it can be used to wash not only dishes, but also vegetables - carrots, potatoes, beets. Soft but elastic silicone bristles, which cover the entire surface of the sponge, perfectly clean off soil particles remaining on root crops.
• Multifunctional. If I need to remove hot-handled pans from the stove and my cloth pot holder is missing, I use a silicone sponge. It is impossible to “kill” it in this way, because silicone can withstand high temperatures.
• Teflon does not scratch. Previously, I had to buy special sponges for Teflon, since you can’t wash the frying pan with regular ones - the coating will quickly collapse. But silicone is suitable for everything.
  
• Convenient. Polypropylene sponges come in only a few sizes - larger and smaller.Their silicone “competitors” attracted me with a variety of sizes and shapes - it’s very easy to choose one that will fit well in your hand.

As you can see, a silicone sponge is superior to a polypropylene sponge in all respects.

How to care for a silicone dish sponge?

In order for this “helper” to serve you faithfully for many years, you just need to... wash it. You can use dish soap, or you can use laundry soap. There is no need to wipe; I just hang it on a special hook near the sink, and the remaining drops of water drain off on their own.

Questions and answers

How much does a sponge like this cost?

Prices vary, on average it’s 50 rubles. There are also more expensive copies - for 300, 400 rubles, but I believe that in this case there is no need to overpay.

A regular sponge has a hard side. What about silicone?

And she has silicone “spikes”, also known as “villi”. Their hardness is closer to medium, so in order to wash dried buckwheat or mashed potatoes, the dishes should first be soaked in warm water.

You can do without a silicone sponge. But is it necessary? It costs mere pennies, but the benefits from it are worth more than one thousand rubles. I am sure that if you ever try to wash dishes with it, you will fall in love with it as much and passionately as I do. And washing pots and dishes itself will no longer be a hateful task.