Your household sponges could be harboring plenty of germs. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss them right away.

You can sanitize your sponges with a few quick (and cheap) tricks:You can throw your dirty sponges in the top rack of dishwasher with all your dishes and let it run through a cycle.  That will get them clean.

Or to really disinfect sponges, you can zap them in the microwave.  Simply get the sponge wet (and make sure there is no metal in the sponge!), and put in the microwave for 2 minutes.  The microwaves will sanitize your sponges.  Just be careful when removing the sponge – it will be VERY hot.

Alternatively, you could also soak your sponges in a mixture of bleach and water, but I prefer the dishwasher or microwave for both speed and ease.

Check out our other cheap tricks to help you save time and money and be sure to share your own cheap trick with us.  You just might see it end up in a future Cheap Trick post!