"Sponges for pennies

I make sponges for washing dishes with my own hands. Easy and fast

It would seem that the cost of foam sponges for washing dishes is not so high. And you can easily buy them in the store. But if you do not have a dishwasher, and the family is large, every housewife will say that not so little money is spent on them. After 5-7 days, the sponge simply becomes unusable. Why buy something that can be made from improvised materials? And later I will explain why such a sponge lasts for a longer time than a purchased one.

How to make homemade sponges

I used scraps of light-colored furniture foam that were left over from my other works. What is convenient - you can independently cut the material of any shape, one that is more convenient for you. Someone likes to use small sponges, someone more. But in the case of foam rubber, you can make them square, round, triangular - or whatever, it all depends on your imagination and desire.

We cut the foam rubber with a new construction (clerical knife). We cut only on a hard surface, which is not a pity to scratch. You can also use scissors, but then the edge of the sponge will be uneven. We use a ruler or any object that can be circled.

Why are these sponges better?

Dishwashing sponges and furniture foam are made from the same material - polyurethane. But in the purchase version, a dye is also added. Well, the size of the air cells is very different, which is why the materials have different densities. And, accordingly, the period of use. And you should not worry about the fact that furniture foam rubber has some harmful additives - they are made the same way.

I specially made a foam rubber sponge and bought a regular sponge. Used both for exactly two weeks. Purchased foam rubber strongly sat down and became soft, and my favorite sponge remained dense. If you put two identical glasses on the material, you can see that the purchased material is very strongly crushed. On a homemade sponge, the glass stands firmly, but on a regular one it just falls.

It would seem that the matter may be in those "ribs" that are on the sponge. But if you take a new purchased material, then the glass on it is also exactly. So draw your own conclusions. The quality of which material is better and where wear is higher. Accordingly, and for how long this or that sponge will last.

Of course, you can’t make a rigid substrate out of foam rubber. But if you just need such a part, you can buy Scotch-brite material in hardware stores. It is sold both in cut leaves and in rolls. You can simply cut off the necessary piece and stick it on one side of the foam rubber. And you can not glue anywhere at all and use it only when necessary.