Washing Dishes

[CaseyH]

I live in a household with two other people who eat gluten. I was wondering with the dish washing situation, what should I do? I don’t have a dishwasher and typically what we do is use a sponge. I’m not too fond of the idea of switching out sponges every week. Should I use separate sponges and if so how, or should I try and wash the sponges?

[Scott Adams]

I would definitely use my own sponge, as it could definitely get contaminated with gluten. Hand washing your own dishes may not be necessary if everyone rinses off their dishes before loading them, but some here would definitely argue against using a shared dishwasher, and just doing yours by hand. 

I'm no expert on how to wash sponges, but to simply disinfect a sponge we put ours wet in the microwave on a plate for about 1 minute and it gets steamy hot.

[GodsGal]

On 9/21/2021 at 11:34 PM, CaseyH said:

I live in a household with two other people who eat gluten. I was wondering with the dish washing situation, what should I do? I don’t have a dishwasher and typically what we do is use a sponge. I’m not too fond of the idea of switching out sponges every week. Should I use separate sponges and if so how, or should I try and wash the sponges?

I would not try to decontaminate the sponges. You should definitely have your own sponge, and I would suggest that you keep yours separated from the other sponge. 

[CaseyH]

7 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

I would definitely use my own sponge, as it could definitely get contaminated with gluten. Hand washing your own dishes may not be necessary if everyone rinses off their dishes before loading them, but some here would definitely argue against using a shared dishwasher, and just doing yours by hand. 

I'm no expert on how to wash sponges, but to simply disinfect a sponge we put ours wet in the microwave on a plate for about 1 minute and it gets steamy hot.

My thought is that if I go and use a gluten designated sponge for gluten plates, that sponge will still have some gluten in it which it can spread to other dishes. Should this be a concern? 

[GodsGal]

1 hour ago, CaseyH said:

My thought is that if I go and use a gluten designated sponge for gluten plates, that sponge will still have some gluten in it which it can spread to other dishes. Should this be a concern? 

I agree with you. I would be concerned about it too. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions. I'm just trying to make sure I understand what you are dealing with. 😊

Do you have your own separate dishes/kitchen utensils that are stored separately? Are you sharing dishes and utensils with the others? Are you washing all the dishes at the same time/with the same dishwater? 

[CaseyH]

Just now, GodsGal said:

I agree with you. I would be concerned about it too. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions. I'm just trying to make sure I understand what you are dealing with. 😊

Do you have your own separate dishes/kitchen utensils that are stored separately? Are you sharing dishes and utensils with the others? Are you washing all the dishes at the same time/with the same dishwater? 

Yes, I live in a small apartment building with two other people who eat gluten. There is no dishwasher, and we don’t have the space or resources to have separate dishes and utensils.

[GodsGal]

1 minute ago, CaseyH said:

Yes, I live in a small apartment building with two other people who eat gluten. There is no dishwasher, and we don’t have the space or resources to have separate dishes and utensils.

I see. That does make it harder. I live in a small apartment as well, so I understand tight spaces and limited resources. Cross contamination is going to be a challenge. Just a few thoughts to start with...

1) I think that having your own separate dishes and utensils and storing them separately is pretty important. That includes toasters. Would it be possible to designate a plate, bowl, cup, fork, knife, and spoon as yours? Would you be able to either have a small kitchen cabinet or a plastic container that seals tightly to store them in?

2) If you are needing to wash all the dishes in the same water. I would suggest washing and drying the gluten free dishes first with the gluten free sponge. Then switch to the gluten sponge for the rest.

3) I would suggest that you sit down and have a conversation with the other people who live there. Any changes that occur will affect all of you. Are they supportive of you? Are they willing to take the extra precautions necessary to limit cross contamination as much as humanly possible?