Green Talk®

Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Sustainable Garden Inspiration

 Get Inspired.  Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter

  • About
    • Press
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
  • New Here?
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • 5 Reasons to Subscribe!
  • Build Green
  • Gardening
  • Green Business
  • Green Living
  • Green Home
  • Recycling
  • Tech

8 Ways to Reuse Sponges. Nasty Sponge New Life Remedy

March 18, 2014 By: Anna8 Comments

8 Ways How to Reuse Sponges

How many old sponges do you have just laying around your sink or under your cabinet? Mine seem to disappear like socks to miraculously show up somewhere else.  So instead of two sponges, I have twenty.  You know me. I can’t seem to throw out anything and I would rather re-purpose or recycle.  During my spring cleaning I found 25 old sponges including  ones with Brillo pads throughout the house.  They weren’t in great condition so I started to think how can I reuse them.

As I mentioned above, most of my sponges have Brillo pads on the back so many of the suggestions I saw wouldn’t work.  Would you let your kids use them for outside water play?   Not me.

Suggestions like using them to protect your walls from furniture, on bike petals, or to protect your hands when working with tools just didn’t seem to apply to my hard as heck feeling sponges.  In my opinion, those re-use suggestions are for more pliable sponges who haven’t reached their shriveled up state.

So, let’s get down and dirty here.   We are talking about re-purposing or reusing those hard, dried-up- prune looking sponges.

A tall order.  Simply pitch them, Anna.  

Whoa.  Hold on and heed a few of my suggestions before doing the dunk in the trash can move.

8 Ways to Reuse Sponges

#1 Use as a Stencil for Painting Projects

My first inclination was to advise you to use the sponges for faux painting walls but generally sea sponges are used for this technique.  Ordinary sponges can be used for children projects.  Simply stencil the pattern you want onto the sponge and cut it out.

#2 Use for Face Paint

Cut up your sponges in small sections to apply face paint on kids.   Be sure to use eco-friendly face paints.

#2   Quench Thirsty Plants

I have four large tropical potted hibiscus that sit on my porch in the summer.  As you can imagine, they get quite thirsty.  I could plant a couple sponges a couple inches in the dirt to hold the water so it would slowly drip down to my plants roots.

Alternatively, when you pot small plants, you could insert a sponge at the bottom of the pot.  Simply cut it to fit the inside of the pot.  This is a great idea for many of us who forget to regularly water our indoor plants.

#3  Use as Packing Materials or to Protect Valuables

If you are sending something through the mail, instead of reaching for bubble wrap or Styrofoam chips, cut up your old sponges instead.  You can use the same scenario when packing a valuable item for storage.

#4 Accelerate Ant Removal

Use old sponges to attract ants.  Add sugar to the sponge and put  it near where the ants were seen.  Ants will be attracted to the sponge.  Then take the sponge and put it in water to kill the ants.

Better yet sprinkle cornmeal around the sponge so they take it back to their nest.  Cornmeal will kill them since they can’t digest it.  Eventually, they will starve to death.

Want to kill fire ants?  Using instant grits and sugar along with a certain size sponge accelerates fire ant destruction.  Read here for the formula.

#5  Use as a Bottle or Glass Cleaner

How many of you are smoothie lovers and can’t stand cleaning the blender or your tall glasses?  Read here on how to create your own bottle, bender, or tall glass cleaner.

#6 Stop Soap Scum in its Place.

Don’t have a soap holder in your bathroom?  Use an old sponge to keep your counters soap free and to extend the life of your soap.

#7  Remove Lint or Fur.

Do your clothes proudly state you own a dog?  Use an old damp sponge to remove lint and fur from your clothes and furniture.

#8 Sop up Water in an Umbrella Stand

Put a few sponges in the bottom of your umbrella stand to sop up any water left over from your umbrellas.

What will I do with my sponges?  The art teacher at the local elementary school wants them for art projects.  I washed them in the washing machine to make sure they don’t smell.

For more sponge reuse ideas, read here.

Join the Conversation:

How do you use reuse or re-purpose your sponges?

Similar Posts:

  • A Dab of Butter Makes A Household Chore a Breeze
  • Let Me Count the Way to Reuse Your Mylar Balloons
  • Make Your Own NonToxic Garden Bug Spray.
  • Eggshells: Don’t Toss Em. Top 7 Uses.
  • Row Covers: 6 Reasons Why They Are Must Have in the Garden

Grow From Seed Mini Course

Grow From Seed Mini Course

About Anna

Anna Hackman is the editor of Green Talk, and owner of The Naked Botanical and a avid (okay obsessed) gardener. She also loves video and podcasting and hosts Green Talk TV and Green Talk Radio. Her most important role is being a mother of four boys.

Chat with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , and Google+.

Comments

  1. 1

    karen says

    March 18, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    These are great ideas!! I knit my dishrags so I only go through maybe 2 rags a year but when I used to use these types, I’d go through them one every three weeks! These are great repurpose ideas!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Kristina (The Greening Of Westford) says

    March 18, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    OK, so I think I’m pretty good at reusing, but I have never thought about old sponges. #2 (the second paragraphs) and #7 spoke DIRECTLY to me. Thanks Anna!

    Reply
    • 3

      Anna@Green Talk says

      March 18, 2014 at 3:11 pm

      I am honored Kristina, since you are my recycling hero! Anna

      Reply
  3. 4

    Betsy (Eco-novice) says

    March 19, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    I tend to use up my sponges until they are in shreds, but I do believe some of these ideas would still work!

    Reply
    • 5

      Anna@Green Talk says

      March 20, 2014 at 10:59 am

      Betsy, mine are pretty gone too. Let me know what works for you. Anna

      Reply
  4. 6

    Lu lyon says

    August 22, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    I generally use sponges only for bathtub cleanup, so I don’t go through them too fast. My husband is a mason and uses the old ones wiping up extra mortar on slate, tile, rock, etc.
    They’re generally useful for washing outdoor stuff–cars, patio furniture, etc. Using them in the soil of a potted plant sounds like a great idea, but I’ve heard that sponges can harbor a lot of bacteria, so maybe they’re not ideal for kids’ face painting.

    Reply
  5. 7

    Jason Bulatao says

    January 28, 2018 at 10:30 am

    Hi there! I love the suggestions here. I was wondering if the sponges you meant for us to recycle are cellulose or the, um, less eco-friendly variety. Unfortunately that’s what we have a lot of here.

    Also, should there be two #2s? There are actually 9 ways you suggested there, right? Or am I counting wrong? 🙂

    Thanks for these! I’ll be sure to try them out for my plants, particularly putting them under the soil at the bottom of my containers.

    Reply
    • 8

      Anna says

      February 3, 2018 at 2:19 am

      Jason, it is the less eco friendly type. Good catch. I should rename it as 9 ways to reuse your sponges!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Shop from Anna’s Farm– The Naked Botanical– Farm Fresh Teas, Salts & Body Products

The Naked Botanical " Click HERE

Save Money By Growing Your Plants Indoors.

Three Must Have Equipment "

Grab My Free Mini Course

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?

RSS Green Talk Radio

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?
  • Freeze Cucumbers & Learn How to Use Them.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide + Ears = Bye to Colds. A Remedy that Works

RSS Green Talk TV

  • Turmeric indoor sowing time!
  • Short snippet of creating a rose hydrosol
  • Elderberry, more uses than just for health
  • The Naked Botanical's Gift Boxes
  • The Naked Botanical salts

Copyright Green Talk © 2023 · Website Designed by Clever Kiwi