Re: [DIYbio] Practical biology - preventing kitchen smells

Hey Dan,
"Musty" suggests fungal spores, but identifying species by smell is
hardly an exact science!

A cheap hack I've heard a few times is simply to microwave the damp
cloth after each use, effectively pasteurising it. Done each day, this
amounts to tyndallising, though you'll be re-inoculating the sponge each
day so it's never sterile. Still, it stops anything firmly establishing
in the sponge, and should do away with anything already in residence
after a few days of this treatment.

It may never stop smelling funny, though! :)
To kill spores, use 3% peroxide or bleach. Heat alone won't do it.

On 03/07/12 22:43, Daniel C. wrote:
> I realize this isn't *precisely* on topic, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
>
> The sponges and dishrags in my sink regularly start to smell
> unpleasantly in a way I can only describe as "musty". I'm assuming
> that I'm smelling a byproduct of some kind of bacteria that lives in
> the kitchen and which loves to digest the cellulose in rags and
> sponges. Other than storing them in rubbing alcohol, is there a way
> to retard the growth and - when I'm done with my yeast project - how
> would I go about isolating the bacteria that's responsible (assuming
> that's what it is) and learning more about it?
>
> Thanks,
> Dan
>

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