Kill Germs With Your Microwave Oven

January 24th, 2007 (2,814 Views) by Pinny Cohen

A new study at LiveScience has shown that your microwave oven is capable of killing germs. The best use of this would be taking your dish cleaning sponge, which is a haven for bacteria, and soaking it with water, since microwaves act on water and excite the particles. Then place the sponge in your microwave for two minutes to kill or inactivate 99% of all germs. To kill the most elusive type of bacteria (Bacillus cereus spores) keep it on for four minutes. Do this once every couple of days to keep yourself safe.

This is very useful because those sponges grow mold like nobody’s business, due to their porous nature, and the fact that they are usually damp.

2 Responses to “Kill Germs With Your Microwave Oven”

Maryanne O'Donnell Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Is it advisable to microwave USED, thick-paged children’s books to kill germs? If so, for how long? Is there any risk to the book OR the microwave oven?
Pinny Cohen Says:

May 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hi Maryanne,

I have not heard of that before, although you should always use extreme caution when microwaving dry objects (I would think your book would catch fire…)