Help Me Wash My Dishes
By Jenn | February 21, 2008
Well, not literally… unless you really want to…
Here’s the thing– I’ve been using Scotch-Brite Dobie scrubbing sponges for my whole life, practically. I grew up using them, and everyone in my family still uses them. In fact one of my sisters-in-law once said something along the lines of, “What’s up with you Sturiales and the Dobie?” which I thought was really funny. But I guess we all use it because it’s really really good at what it does– it cleans dishes like nobody’s business. I’m never left with crusted-on anything, it never scratches, and it lasts for months (which is more than I can say for most alternatives I’ve tried). So, yes, love. And my family are not the only ones who feel this way–read the reviews! and watch the video review! and the other video review! (C’mon, do you love your sponge so much that you would actually review it?)
Well, I just kind of realized that this thing is in no way green, as it’s “a urethane sponge encased in plastic,” and it just seems like the kind of thing that’s easy to replace with some kind of more eco option… but I’m not sure what that eco options should be. I’ve tried natural cellulose sponges before and they were fine, as far as sponges go, but I’ve never really been a big fan of the sponge in general. I feel like they just spread the schmutz around, without any real scrubby action. I guess I really like scrubby action.
So, here are some alternatives I can try:
- 3M Never Rust Soap Pad: “No job is too big for the Never Rust Soap Pad. Use it on your biggest, greasiest jobs around the house. With no wear and tear on your hands either. And you will find that they are also gentle enough to clean off kitchen surfaces. Available in heavy duty for general purpose cleaning or delicate duty for a scratch-free clean. Made from recycled material.” (what’s the “recycled material”? I dunno…)
- Pacific Dry Goods Sponges: “The fabric we use to manufacture our trade name Towl™ and Sponge products is as unique as how we produce them. It’s a natural and environmentally-friendly fabric (made from recycled wood chips) called Viscose… Cellulose fibers are completely biodegradable under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and are decomposed by naturally occurring micro-organisms into CO2 and water. Cellulose is generated during photosynthesis. Wood, a renewable raw material, is the basic material for our fibers… Beech wood, the raw material for our fibers, is harvested exclusively from forests that are under sustainable management in keeping with all forestry regulations… These forests have Pan-European Forest Certification (PEFC): global labeling of wood from ecologically, economically and socially sustainable forest. “Also, they are located in the Bay Area, and much of their production work is done by folks with disabilites. And, bonus, they make Eco travel towels!
- Twist Loofah Sponge: “There are two sides to every story. Our Loofah Sponge is no exception. On one side you’ll find our absorbent sponge material. On the other, a natural loofah scrubbing layer for those times when you need a little edge to get the job done. Use your Loofah Sponge for everything from spills to regular kitchen cleanup, and help us realize our vision of a clean world…. At TWIST, we take special care to make sure 99.97% of all our waste is reused in production. And, our cellulose is sourced from renewable tree farms. We are committed to continually improving our production process to minimize our effect on the environment.” I like this because the scrubby part is loofah, a vine fruit, and thus totally natural. Plus, their (minimal) packaging is designed to be repurposed as a bird feeder or mobile! I wonder how long they hold up.
Have ya’ll used any of these? Have opinons on the topic of scrubby sponges?
[Image via Amazon.com, I’m sure they won’t mind…]
I prefer my hand-knit cotton washcloths. :) Good & scrubby, and just toss them in the wash, so you don’t have to worry about what’s growing in the sponge!
They can even be knit with organic-grown, natural-colored cotton yarn too, for that extra green punch.
Natalie! Sistah! That’s what I do, too! I wash my pet bowls after the human dishes, so every night the hand-knit cotton washcloth goes into the laundry (well, it hangs up to dry before going into the laundry) and a fresh one is used every morning. Obviously, I make enough to last between loads of laundry (and to replace the ones that wear out).
I have never understood using a dishcloth for more than a day before laundering it. Talk about your bacterial build-up…
I too, am a die-hard dobie girl. As is most of my family–those things are awesome, and get EVERYTHING off with no scratches! love them.
I think the key to the dobie is the plastic casing though. Without that you just have a sponge, and really, a sponge does nothing for me. I have tried dishcloths, but again, too soft, no scrub in that scrub, and it takes so much longer for me to actually get anything off I feel like it’s a waste of water (multiple rinses) and soap.
I was thinking of slicing off an end of a dobie, and inserting a new sponge, but for me, when a dobie goes, it’s the casing that dies first.
maybe making a diy dobie from a cleaned up onion bag (for teh scrubby), and a cellulose sponge?
Why do you all need to do so much scrubbing? Just soak the dishes that have anything stuck on. Stubborn spots can also be scrubbed with a dishrag and some baking soda or salt.
For pots and pans, you can also “cook” off extra junk (a.k.a. burn it off). This seems to cause less damage to the pans than scrubbing them, too.
Of course, keep in mind that some of these (like woks) don’t *need* to be washed that thoroughly, just wiped down and “seasoned.”
i am probably approaching the edge of this topic but i feel compelled to throw this out there …
if you eat a vegetarian based diet, the amount of scrubbing goes WAY down. my fiance realized this after several months … no more soaking the pan over night or scrubbing your heart out. plant grease or what-have-you is so much easier to wash away. possibly less ickies growing in your sponges, too??
jenn didn’t step in, but here’s a secret: she is a vegetarian!
It’s true, I (generally) am. And I don’t find that I have too much to scrub off, but sometimes do, especially if pan-frying something (tofu, dumplings, etc). But even just with washing general foodstuffs off dishes and pans, I have found that sponges/clothes just don’t do a great job of getting off the oils, sauces, etc. But obviously not everyone has this problem!
I am also in love with knit washcloths they scrub and wash and using them makes me smile, but I bought a pack of woven cotton cloths a few months ago and they are almost as good (without needing to push my slow self to knit). We use a new one every day and have a brush for anything that needs scrubbing (as cat147 mentioned, we don’t eat meat and so we aren’t really left with many difficult dishes).
I too loved Dobie sponges but couldn’t always find them so I started using scrubbers from Trader Joe’s (still plastic, alas, but a pack of 4 lasted me over a year and I didn’t miss the sponge). Have you heard anything about these loofah scrubbers? http://loofah-art.com/
We’ve used the Twist scrubby sponges in our cafe. They work pretty well, for the little bit of scrubbing we have to do. The packaging on the sponges is very small (and paper). At home we use a scrubby brush; I wish there was an option that wasn’t plastic, though.
I hadn’t realized it until now when I just read it, but I’m a vegan and I don’t scrub dishes! Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to understand my boyfriend’s need for something to scrub the dishes with. Thanks for the revelation. :)
I had the same issue for a really long time, until I gave up and bought these 3M dish rags, wit ha scrubby side and a microfiber side. I have two and they’ve worked pretty well. Anything tougher and i break out the baking soda.
They’re also plastic, but go in the wash over and over again.
I’m a huge fan of “the soak”. I’m a chemical engineer and soaking dishes in *hot* water is not just a good idea, it’s the law (thermodynamic and Fick’s law of diffusion, that is). I crack me up.
Seriously, though. I find the entire act of washing dishes extremely therapeutic. I have a system that I’ve been using for years. I actually *like* doing the dishes. I make it a little game to see how little water I can use.
By soaking the dishes in hot water, you shouldn’t have to scrub for so long. I use a plastic bristle scrubber and any old sponge. I like the idea of using a cloth material, will have to try that.
I *love* the name of this website, by the way.
ha! you crack me up too. now I’ve got homer simpson in my head saying “in this house we obey the laws of THERMODYNAMICS!”
and thanks!
This may or may not be helpful, depending on how things are in the US, but in Australia, onions and oranges often come in plastic ’string’ bags that make good scourers. But then, I’m almost entirely vegetarian so there’s not a lot on my dishes that doesn’t come off with soaking and a bit of a rub with a regular dishcloth.
I soak. No scrubbing. I try to minimize the amt. of water, but soaking is where it’s at. I have no sponge, no cloth, no nothing but water and one of those dish brushes. They last forever, clean really well, and are so much less gross. Counters do get cleaned with a knit dishcloth.
I also cook mostly in cast iron. It’s so low-maintenance — a little hot water and a swish with the brush and you’re done. Everything slides right off.
For things where I really feel like I need a scrubber (&#$(*@! hard water/soap scum hybrid buildup in shower), I use a thin green scrubber. They’re easy to rinse, dry quickly, and get/stay less gross than sponges.
Blogrdoc: dropping Fick’s Law? Nice! Heh.
[…] you’ve got some of that, you’ll need something to scrub the dirty dishes with, and Jenn Sturiale at Tiny Choices would like to help. I’ve been using Scotch-Brite Dobie scrubbing sponges for my whole life, […]
I just saw a crochet pattern for a dishcloth with a scrubby center made out of plastic bag yarn (I hate the term “plarn”):
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/02/16/dishcloths-with-plastic-scrubber/
It’s still plastic but it’s reusing something once you or your friends are done with it. I don’t use plastic bags very much but I always find them at work and from my roommates.
Personally, however, I wash dishes with the cellulose sponges from Trader Joe’s and a reuseable plastic scrub brush, after soaking.
[…] were so helpful back over on my “Help Me Wash My Dishes” post, wherein I asked for eco-friendlier options to replace my beloved Dobie. As I mentioned […]
There is a recycled scrubbie that I use, they sell it big health food chain stores- it’s called “Natural Value”. They seem to work really well and last a long time, and are made entirely from recycled materials- plus they are NOT laced with icky weird perfume soaps like most regular scrubbies.