Microwave ovens may be good for more than just reheating leftover food, according to new research.

University of Florida engineering researchers have found that microwaving kitchen sponges and plastic scrubbers sterilizes them rapidly and effectively. The sponges and scrubbers are known to be common carriers of the bacteria and viruses that cause foodbourne illnesses.

“Basically what we found is that we could knock out most bacteria in two minutes,” says Gabriel Bitton, a University of Florida professor of environmental engineering. “People often put their sponges and scrubbers in the dishwasher, but if they really want to decontaminate them and not just clean them, they should use the microwave.

The researchers used an off-the-shelf microwave oven to heat the sponges and scrub pads for varying lengths of time, wringing them out, and determining the microbial load of the water for each test. They compared their findings with water from control sponges and pads not placed in the microwave. The researchers discovered that two minutes of microwaving on full power mode killed or inactivated more than 99% of all the living pathogens in the sponges and pads, although the Bacillus cereus spores required four minutes for total inactivation.

Bitton said the heat, rather than the microwave radiation, is what likely proved fatal to the pathogens. Because the microwave works by exciting water molecules, it is better to microwave wet rather than dry sponges or scrub pads, he noted, commenting “the microwave is a very powerful and an inexpensive tool for sterilization.”

The findings appear in the Journal of Environmental Health.

Editor’s note: Researchers say in order to guard against the risk of fire, people who try this sterilization technique at home should know that two minutes of microwaving is sufficient for most sterilization, and sponges must be completely wet and have no metallic content.