"Debbie Deutsch" > wrote in message
. 71.230...
> "Vox Humana" > wrote in
> :
>
> >
> > That's sort of the point I was making. The germs on the floor
> > probably aren't the ones that we have to worry about. It's the germs
> > on food like raw poultry. A kitchen towel that is use to clean up
> > counters and wipe hands after food preparation is much more likely to
> > spread serious pathogens than a towel that touched the floor. I still
> > maintain that the longer a towel remains in the kitchen, the higher
> > the likelihood that it will become a vector for disease. I would
> > simply get a clean towel to dry dishes or clean up a mess and then put
> > it in the laundry. Finding ways to prolong the use of a towel is just
> > asking for trouble in my opinion. It probably won't land you in the
> > hospital, but who need unnecessary bouts of diarrhea and malaise that
> > are associated with food born illnesses?
> >
>
> Yes, we are pretty much on the same page. I use two towels in my
> kitchen. One (terry) is for my hands, the other (lint-free) is for
> drying dishes, glassware, and cookware. Since it is only used on things
> that have been washed, I am not so worried about it carrying bad germs.
> Also, both towels hang on a rod, and are NEVER placed on the counter.
> (Can you tell that I am single and the only cook in my kitchen?) For
> wiping up I have a big sponge used for sopping up big liquid spills and
> use paper towels for everything else. For dish washing I have a separate
> scrubby sponge used only for that purpose. I replace it every month, but
> still think that it is the one place in my kitchen where "bad" germs may
> be an issue. However I can't sanction using a new one every day (too
> much cost) and I won't switch over to a brush due to cleaning preference.
> (I just like using a sponge with a scrubby side in conjunction with a
> good squirt of dish detergent as required.) On the other hand, I do not
> obsess over the sterility of my counter or wooden cutting board (no meat
> touches it, for that I have polypropelene that can be bleached and/or
> washed in hot water) or even things that fall and land briefly on the
> floor. Also, I tend to let washed things air dry rather than drying by
> hand. The germs in the air are rather benign; also I recall reading that
> air drying is a cleaner way of drying than towelling off.
>
> The good news is that white (bleachable!) towels for hand-drying and
> dish/glassware drying are pretty inexpensive. You can buy a bunch for a
> few dollars, and clean the heck out of them as part of your laundry
> routine. They may not be decorator items, but they are a perfect
> addition to a practical kitchen - low cost and plenty effective.

You can saturate the sponge with water, put it on a plate, and microwave it
for several minutes. That should all but sterilize it with the exception of
vegetative spores (like from hepatitis B). If you did that each day it
wouldn't cost anything and would limit the spread of pathogens.