Scoop Sponge: The Sponge for Germaphobes

The curvaceous design of Full Circle's Scoop Sponge minimizes contact with the sink or counter while it's not being used, increasing the speed at which it will dry out, thereby limiting opportunities for bacteria to fester in moist places.

$4.50 at amazon.com.

A Cleaning Tool for the OCD Oenophile

 
Talk about your niche cleaning products: Casabella's Wine Glass & Champagne Flute Sponges are designed just for obsessive compulsive oenophiles:

$9.95 for a set of two at The Spoon Sisters.

Use Your Noodle

On a recent visit to to the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, I picked up this nifty Spaghetti Scrub for washing dishes.

Made from recycled corn cobs, the golden strands look like a real nest of noodles. The scrubber is not a replacement for a material like steel for removing serious stains, but the noodly scrubber worked fine on easier jobs.

$11 for a box of two scrubbers at the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum Shop.

Kitchen Mashups: Apron + Towel

How many ways can you re-engineer a towel?

From the minds behind the somewhat Elmo-esque Grab&Dry dish drying gloves comes the Zip&Dry, which mashes up an apron and a terry cloth dishtowel. Instead of wiping your hands all over your apron, the idea is to use the removable towel, which can be zipped off and washed separately. Available in blue, gray, and green (with contrasting towel) for $39.95 at Just Perfect.

Crush Groove

Step on its foot pedal, and the Ecopod crushes plastic and aluminum containers and stores them in a plastic pod for curbside recycling. The unit also contains pods for newspapers, glass bottles, and plastic bags. $328 at Williams-Sonoma. [via shelterrific]

Can't Touch This

Simplehuman's Sensor Soap Pump brings a little public restroom sensibility into your kitchen -- but in a good way -- by dispensing dishwashing liquid soap touch-free to avoid cross-contamination. A sensor in the device automatically delivers a dose of soap as your filthy hands pass under it. Germaphobes, rejoice! $39.99 at simplehuman [via gizmodo]

Clean Your Cups

We were recently tipped off to a handy trick from the bloggers at Shelterrific: use denture cleansers to remove stubborn tea and coffee stains from your cups and mugs. Who knew? But, we tried it, and, amazingly, they do work. So, next time you're visiting grandpa, steal a few tablets from the medicine cabinet, or invest in a supply of your own ($6.69 for a box of Efferdent at drugstore.com).

Clean Your Cups

We were recently tipped off to a handy trick from the bloggers at Shelterrific: use denture cleansers to remove stubborn tea and coffee stains from your cups and mugs. Who knew? But, we tried it, and, amazingly, they do work. So, next time you're visiting grandpa, steal a few tablets from the medicine cabinet, or invest in a supply of your own ($6.69 for a box of Efferdent at drugstore.com).