Washing up - alternative to disposable sponges?

[SingingfortheMoon]

Hello,

We are nearly through a massive pack of those disposable sponges with a scourer on one side, and I'm hoping to find an alternative that I can wash and re-use instead of throwing away.

My grandmother used to use dishcloths but I don't remember them being that effective at getting off baked-on food.

Any recommendations for something effective and reusable?

....wash the sponges? They happily go through the washing machine.

I don't think these ones would - after a week or two, three max, they are falling apart and the scourer goes fuzzy, starts to separate from the sponge etc. Perhaps I should buy higher quality ones that can be washed and would last longer than a few weeks!

The spontex yellow and green sponge ones are good and will take a couple of trips through the washing machine:

www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Spontex-Easy-Sponge-Scourer/56895011?from=search&tags=%7C20000&param=spontex&parentContainer=SEARCHspontex_SHELFVIEW

Link from Chrissas

Scotch Brite sponges are good too but they may be more expensive than the Spontex ones.

ecloth sponges

The one's Lidls sell (their own make) are everlasting almost . They are very cheap, and work well.

If you fancy going down the dishcloth route, B&M bargains have some that my granny would have been proud to use ( ). For baked-on food, I've found these are fantastic.

A nylon brush is a million times more hygenic, as it does not stay damp, and it is very difficult to trap food particles or grease in it. For stubborn marks like tea stains or grill pans you can use a green nylon scourer.

i just buy tesco value ones

the cost 9p (or is it 14p?) for 5

then i bin them

and i dont feel bad because i use e cloths / cloth nappies / wipes, and its just about the ONLY disposable thing i use in this house.

i also feel sponges are not tha hygienic so i bin them weekly and i use my e-cloth for surfaces which i wash daily

Brilliant, thanks for all the suggestions - I'll check them all out and see what looks best.

I don't think the sponges are that hygienic either, I do wash them every day in boiling water so hopefully that kills off any nasties, but I don't like to use anything antibacterial. I do use e-cloths for other cleaning so will look into their sponges. The sponges we have at the moment are Spontex, but they are the really cheap pack of 20 ones.

I do have a brush but I only use that for really stubborn things and I hate using it as I always manage to spray myself with dirty, soapy water. That's probably just me though!

The Pampered Chef scraper things look fab, thanks!