The 71-Cent Trader Joe’s Find I Can’t Live Without

Cleaning. We all do it. Well, some of us do it. If you are reading this, you are likely one of the chosen ones: the designated cleaner of the household. Privileged as I am with this title, I highly value the finer tools of the trade. And given the hours I spend wiping and suds-ing, I demand a top-of-the-line sponge.  

Trader Joe’s pop-up cellulose French sponges are ingrained in the fabric of my daily life and have been since I first set foot in a Trader Joe’s over 20 years ago. Back then, I could walk to the nearest location in mere minutes, but now the closest one is a two-hour drive. So anytime I visit a Trader Joe’s, I stock up on those sponges because cleaning without them is miserable.

If I go to an Airbnb, I always bring a new pop-up sponge with me and set it on its post by the kitchen sink. Because any other sponge is just total wannabe garbage. And a soggy old dishcloth? Ugh, don’t get me started. Pop-up sponges have made me a proud sponge snob.

Why I Love Trader Joe’s Pop-Up Sponges

They outlast any other sponge by weeks. I cook hard and I clean hard, and the typical kitchen sponge quickly turns to a shredded mess at my house. These sponges? Supple and dense, they retain their integrity for up to a month or longer.

They hold up to the dishwasher. To extend its life, I’ll throw the sponge in the dishwasher once it starts looking a little mottled, and it emerges renewed. 

They resist getting stinky. My pet peeve is a kitchen sponge so smelly you feel you have to disinfect your hands after you touch it. Regular old sponges and dishcloths get to the stinky point ridiculously fast, but these TJ’s sponges take days or even weeks longer to get half as gross. When they do, I let mine soak in a solution of about a teaspoon of bleach mixed with two cups of warm (not hot) water for about 10 minutes. Not only does this destroy the odors, but the sponge looks quite new.

They really do pop up, which is just super cool. The old “makes cleaning fun” adage actually holds true here. Each one emerges from the package in a tidy, bone-dry flat strip. You run it under water to get it to pop up like magic. For a more dramatic popping, submerge it in a tub or water. It reminds me a bit of those little colorful animal sponges that come in gel capsules, except these have an actual function.

They’re compostable. These sponges are made with cellulose, a biodegradable plant fiber. When your sponge is showing its age, you can throw it in your compost and release it back into nature. (Usually once my sponge gets too ratty for kitchen chores, I downgrade it for a few floor cleanings, and then into the compost it goes.

They’re a good deal. When I run out of the TJ’s version, I can get single pop-up sponges at a fancypants cooking store where I live, but these lookalikes cost about three times more and strangely aren’t as good. That’s why I stock up when I make it to a Trader Joe’s (at $8.94 for a pack of 12, they’re less than 71 cents apiece).

They make great stocking stuffers. If discovering cleaning products in your stocking would strike you as miserly or disappointingly practical, be glad you aren’t on my gift list. I love introducing my friends to these sponges in the hopes they will make the drudgery of cleaning just a bit more delightful. Because it has for me. Baby, I’m worth it, and you are, too.