to take a personal washing up sponge to work?

[WindUpPenguin]

Big office. There is usually washing up liquid (provided by Facilities Management) by the sink in the kitchenette, but often no sponge, and if there is it is grim due to volume of people using it/ not rinsing/wringing after use.

I am now in the office two days a week. If I want to wash up my breakfast bowl/mug or lunchbox, I have three options:

1. Bring in a sponge everyday I am in, sacrifice it to office use (it will be chucked or in gross condition by my next office day).
2. Bring in a sponge. Wring it out and keep it in my locker (may not be completely dry, get a bit smelly).
3. Take all my stuff home everyday to wash (not too fussed about lunchboxes, but I would much prefer to leave my mug/bowl/cutlery in my locker).

So AIBU to go for option 2 and be the weirdo with the locker sponge. Will my whole locker smell damp and gross? Is there a special type of sponge or cloth which will be less smelly?

I rinse, squeeze out and microwave the office kitchen sponge for 1 minute before using it, every time! That sterilises it ok.

you microwave the office sponge?
ingenius

Option 2 - take your own sponge to work and leave it near a radiator so that it dries and then keep it in your locker in a ziplock bag 😊

I take my stuff home to wash each day I go to the office. I take my breakfast and lunch and I can't be bothered washing up twice plus I hate drying tupperware so by taking it home it air drys on the drying rack.

Option 3. When I was working I brought my mug home to put in the dishwasher. We had a dishwasher in the staffroom but often there wasn't a tablet in it and I didn't want anyone else using my mug. I was almost never off with the bugs that were always going round (Primary school).

I would cut a sponge in to smaller segments and take a small piece in with me each time. You only need a really small chunk.
Communal office cleaning facilities tend to be grim in my experience.

I just rinse my items in work, dry them with paper towels and put them in my bag. Once home, they go through the dishwasher.

I would take my stuff home or get a washing up brush\silicon washing up sponge to leave in your locker

Rinse items under hot water, dry, put in a bag to take home to wash properly.

Bring your own sponge, take it back home with you in your empty lunch box, bring it back the following week.

This. Ya weirdo. Rinse then chuck in the dishwasher at home/hand wash.

I would get a silicone brush or sponge

You go into the office 2 days a week... How many people work in your office that a sponge would be 'grim' by the next time you are in?

Can't you just contact facilities/ your manager and point out that sponges are needed in the kitchen area?

Oh same here, I just put my lunch stuff in the dishy at home.

Laughed at the poster who is grossed out by washing up a bowl you've just finished using with your hand/fingers. Some people are so delicate.

Was thinking about my wild camping dishwashing which involves river gravel and my hands. She'd faint.

Got to LOVE a bit of highly strung Mumsnet competitive cleanliness.

@snowlolo you obviously have lived a charmed shared office kitchen life!

I never realised my kitchen hygiene standards were so high until my current office 🤮

Surely you just give the sponge a bit of a rinse/clean and bash away?

I would just throw everything away every day after work and have a new set of bowl/mug/lunchbox every morning.

You could raise it with the facilities team as they might not be aware.
I once witnessed a colleague clean bird poo off his coat with the kitchen sponge so I’m reluctant to use them at all

Option 2 but risk people thinking you're 'precious'. I've taken my own bleach in before and bleached all the teaspoons.

The yellow “sponges” are plastic so if you’re happy with using a new one every day and being ridiculously wasteful and polluting then sure a new sponge is absolutely fine. I mean who can be arsed carrying a spoon to wash … pfft.

Option 4: don’t use a sponge at all.

• rinse your things
• tap flow directly on stubborn bits
• use your fingers for any more stubborn bit
• wash hands after

If you leave a damp sponge in your locker, whether in a zip lock bag or not, it will end up full of bacteria anyway so wouldn't be much of an improvement. Just wash with your hands and washing up liquid would be my vote, and take home lunchboxes to wash there.

I'd wipe most of the food residue off with kitchen towel, bag it and wash the stuff properly at home. Nothing is going to stink after 4 hrs in a locker.

I use a bit of kitchen roll for just a couple of not very dirty things. You could just leave a roll in your locker and grab a bit when you heed it.

This. Use the grim sponge or just rinse under the tap enough to be able to put the stuff in a bag inside your bigger bag and not feel like you’re carting dirty rubbish around all day, then wash it again when you get home. The grim sponge isn’t so contaminated it will permanently taint your stuff beyond washing clean.