7 Creative Ways to Give Old Sponges New Life

Most people use sponges in their kitchen to clean dishes or countertops, or in their bathrooms to keep their sinks and tubs squeaky clean. But what do you do with your old sponges when they are worn out and ready to be replaced with new ones?

Don’t toss your old sponges where they will end up in landfills, repurpose them instead, suggested The Spruce. Whether you upcycle them into new items or put them to use in different tasks, there are a myriad of  ways to reuse a sponge. Here are seven to get started with.

Seed Starter
You can use old sponges to sprout seeds. Make sure you thoroughly clean and disinfect your sponge before you start. Wet your sponge and then spread a layer of seeds on the top. Cover it with a clear bowl and check it every few days to mist the sponge. This will keep the seeds wet. After the seeds sprout you can move them to planters.

Clean Grimy Places
When your kitchen sponge is getting worn out, you can use it to clean grimy areas of your home and yard. You can use it to clean your oven, outdoor furniture, or even to clean your grill. You can reuse larger sponges to clean your car.

Dust the Leaves of Houseplants
Repurpose your dishwashing sponge to clean the leaves of your houseplants. Make sure to sanitize it first, then simply dampen the sponge and gently wipe the leaves of your plants. You will be surprised by how much dust you will remove by using this method.

Remove Pet Fur From Furniture
Don’t break out the dust buster or lint roller, stressed the Hello Homestead blog, just use an old, dampened sponge to remove dog or cat fur from your furniture. You can remove the hair and use the sponge again.

Use as a Soap Dish
After you thoroughly clean and sanitize your sponge, you can use it as a soap dish. This will help prevent soap residue from accumulating on your sink and will allow your bar soap to last longer and not get dried out. If you have a special soap dish, just put a thin section of sponge under the soap.

Use as an Ice Pack
The Spruce suggested that you can use old sponges as ice packs for lunch bags and small coolers. After you thoroughly clean your sponge, soak it in water, put it in a leak proof bag, and freeze. You can refreeze and reuse these homemade ice packs.

Add Sponges to Your Compost
If you are using biodegradable sponges made of cellulose, walnut, hemp, or other natural materials, they can go into your compost bin. Just cut them up in small pieces before composting so the sponges will break-down faster. Do not put sponges that are made of plastic in your compost.