Welcome to Coming Clean, a monthly column where writer Lauren Viera finds the best products for the toughest-to-clean parts of the kitchen. Along the way, she just might convince you (and herself) to actually enjoy this whole cleaning thing.
Once upon a time, around age 10 or so, I ran a cleaning service that catered exclusively to my parents’ suburban home. I toted around a roll of paper towels and a mostly empty bottle of electric-blue Windex in a supply caddy. I covered a metal Band-Aid tin with paper and labeled it, in careful uni-ball roller pen: “The Cleaning Lady.” In this earnestly branded tin, I collected tips—usually quarters—from my parents. I was cleaning—for fun.
This phase didn't last long. In fact, I now hate cleaning (which makes it pretty ironic that I've agreed to write a regular cleaning column for Epicurious). But there is one aspect of The Cleaning Lady that has remained consistent. No sponges. Yes, that was one item The Cleaning Lady didnotinclude in her caddy. I have always detested these smelly,germ-infested工具that ostensibly clean things but actually just hold on to bacteria. The disgust was solidified in college when, as one of five roommates, we developed a sponge conservation habit: We'd use a sponge on our thrift-store saucepans and then, when it was so worn down that it no longer stood a chance against our bean-caked dishes, we would relegate it to bathroom cleaning.
Even after I graduated to a life in my own apartment, where the bathroom got its own sponge, I frowned upon them. Pure laziness prevented me from looking into alternatives. Fast-forward to adulthood: I’ve got an incredibly tolerant husband who does most of the dishwashing for our family of three, and legit Cleaning Ladies who put my efforts to shame on a biweekly basis. My life is almost sponge free.
Almost.
As someone who works—and eats—from home multiple times a day, it’s on me tokeep the kitchen sink clean and tidy. Sponges have historically been an afterthought—something purchased in bulk and used only when absolutely necessary. With this assignment came the permission to move on. I wanted to find a way to do the dishes without a sponge. There are so many earth-friendly, odor-adverse scrubber alternatives available at the click of a mouse—and I wanted to find the very best one. Here are my favorite non-sponge scrubbers that will allow you to finally banish this unhelpful cleaning tool from your life for good (please don't just move it to the bathroom!).
First, the Not-So-Good Options:
I tried a few loofah varieties including these simplepear-shaped scrubberswhich get the job done, but aren’t very comfortable to hold. The biggest disappointment of the batch was thisbamboo loofa scrubber with a handle, whose replaceable scrubbers lock in place...except when they’re broken (almost immediately). I also initially loved the idea ofthis beautiful yet pricey wooden pot scrubbermade by “blind and visually impaired artisans in Berlin,” but the fine print notes that it’s not meant to be submerged in water. So there’s that.
The Best for Everyday Light-Lift Dishes: Norpro Fish Dish
My gateway sponge alternative was the so-called fish dish, whose silicone surface is impervious to cruddy residue. So, unlike a sponge that absorbs grease and bacteria, the fish dish can be blasted with hot water and kept clean—a valuable asset in a cleaning tool, I'd say. It’s also—like a real fish—quite slippery, which means that washing knives is an adventure, and working your way into dirty pan corners is near impossible. Still, this is a good alternative scrubber to keep around for your light-lift dishes. It'll take care of your plates and cereal bowls just fine—it just might be kind of annoying when you're trying to seriously go at some caked-on residue in a pan and it's flopping out of your hand.
Runner-Up: Twist Ravioli Scrubby
This made runner-up: it’s cute, it’s effective, and is made from biodegradable materials. This is technically a sponge—but it'scovered in hemp, which makes it a more effective scrubber and less prone to absorbing bacteria. Still, there are Amazon reports that this thing doesn't last very long and starts coming apart and fraying at the edges. Yes, like a conventional sponge, this won't last forever, but the fact that it biodegrades makes you feel less bad about replacing it frequently (which you should anyway for bacteria reasons). And, in the meantime, it'll do a much more effective job of scrubbing pots and pans than any sponge you can buy in bulk from Trader Joe's.
The Best of the Best: Tawashi Vegetable Scrubber
And then there’s this, the cream of the crop. This Japanese tool isn't actually meant to be a scrubber for dishes. Rather, it'sa tool designed for scrubbing vegetables, dubbed "tawashi,” which translates to bundle or squirrel, depending on your translator. I was skeptical of even including it in my review since it isn't for dishes, until I tried it. On dishes? Dreamy. On the sink? Sexy. On the underside of a decade-old Le Creuset pasta pot whose burner scars I’d written off as permanent? Impressive. The sponges are gone. I am doing dishes, happily. The Cleaning Lady is back.
