The Best Kitchen Sponges to Make Hand-Washing Dishes More Enjoyable Than You Ever Thought
Turns out, it's not a one-sponge-fits-all world.
If you buy something from the links on this page, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?
You may be brand-loyal to your sparkling water or your sunscreen, but what about your kitchen sponge? If the thought of hand-washing a stack of dirty dishes for 20 minutes straight is making you squirm right now, it's possible that reaching for the cheapest sponge you can find at the grocery store might not be the best method going forward.
Whether you hand-wash all of your dishes or only the items that can't go into your dishwasher, using a kitchen sponge that isn't merely OK but actually excellent can make all the difference. We spent 6 weeks testing all of the sponges in this guide so you can swap out your usual scrubber for one that makes quick work of your daily dishwashing.
The Best Kitchen Sponges
What to Consider
→ Material
Most sponges are made of plant-derived cellulose, plastic-derived polyester, or polyurethane. In our testing, we really enjoyed using the naturally derived sponges from Blueland and Public Goods because they were very gentle and felt markedly different from using a traditional plastic-derived sponge. The plastic and silicone sponges were all stiffer and took longer to soften after moistening.
While these and many other eco-friendly brands say that their sponges are compostable and contain no synthetic materials or adhesives, we strongly recommend that you check with your local composting organization before mixing them in with your regular organic food scraps.
→ Abrasiveness
Along with its soft, soap-absorbing side, a good kitchen sponge should have a little bit of grittiness to it to help scrub away stubborn gunk on your dishes. This scrubby side differs for every single sponge that we tested, from the pleasantly soft Scotch-Brite to the texture-changing Scrub Mommy to the straight-up sandpaper-like feel of the Skura Sponge. Depending on your comfort level and the type of dishes you most frequently wash by hand, you may want a gentler or rougher sponge than the norm. For this reason, we rated all of our sponges' abrasiveness on a five-point scale with 1 as the least abrasive and 5 as the most abrasive.
→ Lifespan and Cleanliness
It's a good idea to find a sponge that you're OK with buying in bulk and replacing on a semi-regular basis. Using a sponge any longer than a couple of weeks is just too long. According to a new study from Nature Chemical Biology, sponges provide the ideal environment for billions of types of bacteria to live and proliferate on: Sponges are porous, moist, and usually lodged with food bits. The good news is that most of these bacteria won't make you sick — however, if your sponge comes in contact with a pathogenic strain like salmonella, it may cause cross-contamination.
After you use any type of sponge, it's a good idea to wring it out as thoroughly as you can and leave it on a channeled, elevated surface like a sponge holder to dry. Why is this important? Doing these things will help the sponge dry faster so that it doesn't become a gross breeding ground for bacteria. When your sponge starts smelling and looking dingy, it's best to get rid of it right away.
Is there anything you can do to get rid of bacteria? Some sponges that are made of resilient foam, like the Scrub Mommy, are actually dishwasher-safe, so you can throw it in with your regular dish loads to thoroughly clean and continue using for longer. It's also been shown in a 2020 study that you can microwave your sponge to kill bacteria, although there are a lot of variables (like microwave wattage and the length of time needed) that may not guarantee that all bacteria will be killed doing this.
The one notable exception to this is by using a silicone sponge like the Kuhn Rikon Scrubber, which can be sterilized in boiling water and reused endlessly.
How We Tested
For this guide, I tested each of these sponges for 1 week apiece on my daily pile of dishes. Because I currently work from my apartment, am an avid home cook/baker, and do not own a dishwasher, I wash at least two loads of dishes per day (sometimes three!).
After each washing, I rang out the sponge and set it on a channeled sink-side sponge holder to help the sponge dry faster and to prevent bacteria from spreading. I evaluated these sponges based on their initial firmness, comfort in hand, and their skill at soaping and scrubbing my dishes, utensils, glassware, and cookware.
Ready to start scrubbing smarter, not harder? Roll up your sleeves, cue up a podcast, and reach for one of these six superior kitchen sponges.
3M Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponges
Pros
- Easy to hold
- Not too rough or soft
- Affordable
Cons
- Not biodegradable or compostable
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 3/5
- Pack of 6
Scotch-Brite's Non-Scratch Scrub Sponges were easy to use right from the get-go — there was no breaking-in period needed to soften it up. Plus, its wavy shape conforms nicely to your palm's grip whether you're right- or left-handed.
The sponge's scrubby side was fairly abrasive but not scratchy at all — I never felt like I had to go gently on my easily-scratchable cookware while using it. And although this sponge isn't biodegradable or compostable, its scrubbing fibers comprise 100% recycled material.
After thorough testing, I can confidently say this is the best overall kitchen sponge because it is pliable and easy to grip (no hand-cramping here!), it has a medium abrasiveness that's able to thoroughly clean any dish, cookware, or flatware without fear of scratching, and it's also affordable and widely available at grocery and drugstores.
More: Everything You Need for the Most Well-Organized Kitchen
Pros
- Bacteria-resistant and endlessly reusable
- Slim, multipurpose sponge
Cons
- Nonabsorbant, requires you to pre-soak your dishes
- Pricey
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 4/5
- Sold individually
This may be the most expensive kitchen sponge in our guide, but it'll outlast all of the others. Made of silicone with a nylon scraper on its back, the Kuhn Rikon Stay Clean Scrubber offers a very unique cleaning experience.
Because this sponge doesn't absorb soap, it won't lather up like the other picks on this list will, and you may go through a lot of soap if you're used to applying it to your sponge before hand-washing. To remedy this, you could use a spray-on dish soap like Dawn's Powerwash.
While its scrubby side was very effective at cleaning baking sheets and saucepans, I felt a little awkward using the soft side of this sponge to clean my glassware. It just doesn't offer the same level of grippiness that cellulose does.
However, my favorite way to use this sponge wasn't on my dishes or cookware, but on cleaning my sink area and dish rack. Its slim form fits into all of the hard-to-reach places without fear of scratching anything.
It's also a great pick for the germaphobes: Unlike the porous, airy structure of a regular sponge, this silicone surface makes it difficult for bacteria to anchor and grow on. This material is also easy to clean in boiling water to reuse over and over again.
Skura Style Skrubby Sponges Set
Pros
- Great for cleaning stovetops and stubborn grime
- Treated with antimicrobial coating to keep bacteria at bay
Cons
- Too abrasive for regular dishwashing
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 5/5
- Set of 4
Warning: Do not use the Skura Skrubby Sponge without gloves on. The abrasiveness will exfoliate your fingertips and then some. The scrubby side of this sponge is the same coarseness as sandpaper, so it truly lives up to its name — “skura” is the Swedish word for “scrub,” after all.
I found this sponge to be difficult to use because of its abrasiveness and firmness. It didn't soften up significantly in the week that I tested it. However, the sponge side was pleasantly squishy and sudsy, feeling very similar but less porous than the Scrub Mommy sponge. It's also treated with an antimicrobial coating to help prevent bacteria from breeding. I found this to be a very quick-drying sponge, too, which also keeps odor-causing bacteria at bay.
Also, it features a built-in reminder that'll let you know when to swap out your sponge: The logo on the back gradually fades with use, signifying the end of its lifespan.
While my dish load felt very daunting with this sponge, it handled other kitchen-cleaning tasks better than any other. I was able to scour my stovetop and clean the inside of my oven more thoroughly than I'd ever been able to before. The Skura Skrubby Sponge is truly a workhorse, and I'd recommend this one solely for heavy-duty cleaning tasks, not for your everyday dishes.
Public Goods Walnut Scrubber Sponge
Pros
- Effective at sudsing and scrubbing
- Cleans tough gunk without deteriorating
Cons
- Requires membership to purchase regularly
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 3/5
- Pack of 4
If you've ever thought that an environmentally friendlier product may not be as effective as the regular version, this kitchen sponge from Public Goods will change your mind right away. It comprises vegetable-based cellulose and a walnut-derived scrubber, and we were seriously impressed with how well these materials held up after a week of heavy hand-washing.
As soon as it's moistened, this sponge becomes pliable and easy to work with, yet not flimsy at all. Its scrubbing side isn't scratchy and coarse — it actually feels slightly fuzzy. Still, it works extremely well to get baked-on gunk off of your cookware.
If you're done with traditional sponge brands and want to limit your plastic consumption, this Public Goods sponge is every bit as effective as our best overall pick from Scotch-Brite.
The only catch? Public Goods is a subscription-based brand with a membership that costs $79 a year. This is why such a premium-quality product like this sponge is so affordable. You can buy anything from the site once, and you'll be automatically signed up for a 2-week free trial. After that, you'll have access to everything else they carry as part of the paying membership. This is only a drawback if you're not interested in making that kind of commitment.
Scrub Daddy Scrub Mommy Dual Sided Sponge
Pros
- Very soapy and scrubs effectively
- Washing in dishwasher or washing machine kills bacteria
Cons
- Hard for smaller hands to hold
- Pricey
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 4/5
- Available individually or in a set of 3
The Scrub Mommy needs no introduction. A renowned Shark Tank success story, this product is the dual-sided version of the original Scrub Daddy sponge. It comprises equal parts texture-changing FlexTexture with squishy ResoFoam, and when you squirt on some dish soap, it lathers like a dream. It holds onto soap way better than any other sponge, and it also dries out quickly, reducing the likeliness of bacteria growth.
Our editor Cat Bowen is also totally obsessed with these sponges, saying, “I use them everywhere I need a sponge in my house. I use them with cold water to scrub the crap out of the bottom of my pots and cookie sheets, I use them with hot water to scrub dishes and bowls. I use them in all manner of ways in my bathroom — and I have two kids and three pets, so I’ll let you use your imagination with those.”
Although these are pricey sponges, they have a far longer lifespan than most due to their unique materials. Cat adds that they’re also easy to clean and rid of bacteria, “Using these has actually cut down my sponge waste tremendously. Before, I’d throw my kitchen sponges out every 2 weeks or so, but with this one, I just toss it in some boiling water with a little baking soda, and it’s as good as new.”
Unfortunately, I did find this sponge a little hand-crampy and awkward to hold, and I didn't find the circular shape, eyeholes, or mouth to serve any practical purpose. If you have small hands like me (my palms have about a 3.5-inch diameter), you may run into a similar issue. The Scrub Mommy is 4 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick, and I was frequently worried about it popping out of my hands while washing something fragile.
Pros
- Great for sensitive skin
- Scrubby side is soft but thoroughly cleans
Cons
- Deteriorates quickly
- Pricey
Key Specs
- Abrasiveness level: 1/5
- Available in packs of 3, 6, or 9
We never thought a soft kitchen sponge could be an effective cookware cleaner until we tried Blueland’s Scrub Sponge. Whereas most sponges are mainly “sponge” with an abrasive scrubby top layer, Blueland’s is 50/50 plant-derived sponge and natural loofah scrubby.
It was the softest and most cloth-like of the sponges we tested, and when it dries, it does look a little wonky. After a week of use (which is the recommended length of time to hand-wash with a sponge before disposing of it), we could see the loofah beginning to separate from the sponge part.
Overall, this sponge, while not abrasive or indestructible, was such a pleasure to use — it was great to use something a little gentler on the hands, particularly in the dry, colder months.
Melanie Yates is the Senior Digital Editor at House Beautiful, where she oversees design, gardening, and home renovation content. Since joining the team in 2024, Melanie ideates, assigns, and edits digital stories from in-house and freelance writers and helps execute big-picture projects for the brand. Prior to this role, Melanie was a senior editor at Best Products for over eight years, where she launched the site’s home vertical, conducted numerous bedding product tests, wrote The Present Perfect newsletter column, and produced video tutorials on how to wrap a gift. A lifelong enthusiast of the written word, Melanie holds a BA in broadcast journalism from Hofstra University and a certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego Extension. She’s always on the lookout for the next vintage find to furnish her Queens apartment.
Watch Next
40 Genius Kitchen Gadgets That Will Save You Time
These Are the 8 Best Dishwashers of 2024
The Best Coffee Grinders for Brews Big and Small
Breville Labor Day Deals 2024
