You Should Be Replacing Your Kitchen Sponge Fairly Often

Your kitchen sponge might not be disgusting when you first start using it, but you should really think about replacing it frequently.

Researchers found that kitchen sponges are home to "a higher bacterial diversity than previously thought," and that in the long-term, sponge cleaning methods don't seem to be effective enough at curbing bacteria in them. In fact, such methods could even increase certain bacteria. The study was published last month in Scientific Reports.

Study authors recommend replacing kitchen sponges every week.

For the study, researchers tested 14 used kitchen sponges and collected data related to people's sponge use but didn't include personal information about the users. Sponges, of course, absorb food particles and other contaminants as we clean dishes and kitchen surfaces. Since they're often warm and wet, bacteria can easily grow. The researchers wanted to look at the community of bacteria, or so-called bacterial microbiome, of used kitchen sponges, "to visualize the spatial distribution of the bacteria within the sponge tissue and to identify factors that influence the microbiome composition," according to the study.

"Our study was designed to test intrinsic (sponge, sponge side, brand/no-brand product) and extrinsic (number of sponge users in the household, frequency of sponge usage, frequency of replacing the sponge, application of special cleaning procedures for the sponge) factors," the study authors continued. Researchers extracted DNA from 28 kitchen sponge samples (both sides of the 14 sponges).

One microbiologist once told Business Insider that placing a sponge "in a little bleach solution" was the best way to clean it, though the study authors didn't examine this method of cleaning.