[HN Gopher] Sponge structure and bacteria
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Sponge structure and bacteria
Author : ingve
Score : 27 points
Date : 2022-02-22 18:01 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pratt.duke.edu)
(TXT) w3m dump (pratt.duke.edu)
| busyant wrote:
| I'm trained as a bacterial geneticist.
|
| For reasons that I won't go into, I worked at a biotech startup
| where (for a period of time) everyone in my group was trying to
| culture microbes from common household surfaces.
|
| The nastiest place we came across? kitchen sinks.
|
| One of the cleanest? our toilets (obviously after flushing).
|
| I probably should not have been surprised at that result, but I
| was.
| DantesKite wrote:
| I knew sponges harbored bacteria, but I didn't realize it was to
| this degree.
|
| Used to microwave sponges, but I'll look for a different medium
| from now on.
| onychomys wrote:
| I microwave my kitchen sponges about once a week. I don't
| actually know if that does anything, but it makes me feel better.
| Get them wet, put them on a plate, 2 minutes on high, hopefully a
| lot of steamed dead bacteria.
| Karawebnetwork wrote:
| I have always been told that you should put them in vinegar
| overnight. I don't know if this helps either.
| davidrupp wrote:
| It does, according to
| https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/a18731/how-
| to..., but it's number four on their list; preceded by
| [spoiler alert] 1. bleach, 2. microwave, 3. dishwasher.
| Karawebnetwork wrote:
| Obligatory Warning: Mixing bleach and vinegar creates
| potentially lethal chlorine gas.
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