Tip Tuesday: Clean Beauty Sponge

Following in the trend of last week’s Tip Tuesday post, we’re continuing the trend of cleaning and caring for our beauty tools. We did brushes (and I know I promised an instructional post on the exact steps for both deep cleaning and spot cleaning, I will be posting those so keep your eyes peeled for them) but I thought we’d dive into a very popular item first.

Yep, let’s talk beauty sponges.

Is it getting grimy and gross really really fast? Washing it often causing it to break up faster? Stained and full of product that refuses to come out? Or does it just take too damn long to get clean?

I came armed with all the answers and a lazy girl hack you’ll love me for….

Before I get into the methods I use and my hacks, for those of you who are looking for a more professional approach and want to invest in a soap/ cleanser made specifically for sponges then you might be interested in the BeautyBlender Cleanser ($16 which is about P160 excluding shipping).

Now, with that out of the way, this one if for my busy girls who want to use the fastest and least labor intensive method, grab a mug (well grab two if you’re a tea lover), put the kettle to boil and follow the steps below after making yourself a cup of tea in the one mug.

First, add the boiling water from the kettle and some dish soap, facial cleanser or hand wash (whichever you prefer) then pop the sponge into the cup and let it soak till the water turns cold, by that point it will be a pretty shade of brown, almost a milky tea-like shade. Usually it can sit for about 30 minutes, so feel free to go do something else or answer some emails in the time. Pro Tip: weight the sponge down with a spoon to make sure the whole sponge soaks through properly.

Once the water has turned to “makeup tea” and is cold, throw it out of the cup and squeeze any access water out of the sponge. Then under a running tap re-soak it and squeeze the water out of the sponge a few times until the water runs clear from the sponge. This usually takes three to five repeats. Follow with soaking in plain boiling water for another half hour, this not only sterilizes the sponge but it also ensures every single stubborn stain and makeup residue is thoroughly removed from the sponge. Then squeeze out sponge thoroughly and leave on a flat surface to dry out. Pro tip: leave it to dry on a towel or invest in a sponge holder on amazon.

And while I’ve been cleaning my sponges like this for the longest time, I recently discovered a genius lazy girl hack to cleaning my sponges, from the lady behind Journal of a Daisy Kid: Bibi Aisha Paruk (@beebzonian), that I am dying to share with you guys. It is such a perfect idea for those days when you just want to get done and chill.

Jumping straight into it, you’re going to need the same basic three supplies I used in my regular method, i.e. a cup, water and soap, as well as a microwave for this hack. Fill the cup half way with cool tap water and a pump or two of soap (whichever you prefer, liquid is better, just like in my previous method) and throw your sponge into the cup ensuring it is submerged. Then comes the genius part (and yes, I am kicking myself for not thinking of this before) pop the cup into the microwave for thirty seconds to heat the sponge and the water. By heating the water you will sterilize the sponge as before as well as draw dirt and grime out of the sponge. Leave it to soak and cool (about five minutes) then squeeze and rinse sponge like normal under running water. Repeat until sponge is spotless. (I did it three times)

Pro Tip: LET IT COOL DOWN. while the water coming out of the microwave and the cup don’t feel too hot the actual sponge and the water inside the sponge can be extremely hot when you go to squeeze the water out.