Tried the 'freeze your sponge to kill germs' trick and it was a total mess

I saw this tip online about putting your kitchen sponge in a ziplock bag and freezing it overnight to kill bacteria instead of buying a new one. Sounded smart, right? I mean, I was trying to save a few bucks and be less wasteful. So I did it, put my damp sponge in the freezer. Next morning, I pulled it out and it was a solid, weirdly shaped brick of ice. I let it thaw on the counter for like an hour, and when I finally squeezed it, it just fell apart into a bunch of soggy, shredded pieces. The cold made the material super brittle. I guess maybe it killed some germs, but I still had to throw it out and buy a new one anyway, so I wasted time and a bag. Has anyone else had a kitchen hack completely backfire like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

terry_wood5117d agoTop Commenter

Read somewhere that freezing doesn't actually kill most germs, it just puts them in a deep sleep until things warm up again. So you basically made a popsicle of bacteria water that got a little crunchier in the process. The microwave trick works better because the heat actually cooks the germs dead, but you gotta wet the sponge first or it can catch fire. My buddy tried the microwave thing and forgot to wet it, filled the whole break room with smoke.

olivia_bailey1mo ago

Wait, why not just microwave it for a minute instead?

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michaelchen1mo ago

Microwave for a minute reminds me of when my roommate tried that with a potato. It exploded and we had to clean the roof.