Tip: Reuse your old wash sponges

Here's something that occurred to me a couple days ago, and I thought maybe I'd share.

As wash media goes, I'm a sponge person. Mostly Zymol sponges and Lowe's Pro Line grout sponges. They're cheap enough - the Lowe's ones especially - that when they start getting ratty, I throw them away. But now I've started cutting them into smaller pieces and using them for other things.

1. Applying interior dressings. Leather conditioners, vinyl dressings, and so on. For many years, when using products like these, I've used microfiber towels. What's one of the main things microfiber is designed to do? Absorb stuff! Here I was, spraying loads of product into my towels, leaving most of in the towel, and not on the car. And, I can cut my sponge pieces into whatever shape I want.

2. Applying LSP. I haven't used this with all of the LSPs I've got laying around, but using a hunk of a Zymol sponge with Bilt Hamber Auto Balm was a revelation. The usual yellow foam disc applicators are the "exactly wrong" size to fit into the BHAB tub. Not so with a hunk of sponge - it's perfect. And since it's sort of a cube, rather than a disc, there's more to hold on to while working with slippery LSPs. Dropping an LSP applicator is a pet peeve of mine. Finally, since wash sponges are designed to be soft, it's unlikely that you'll scratch anything up. Probably not an option for a super hard wax like RBOE, but for softer pastes, and for liquids, it works well.

3. Working with exterior dressings, especially messy ones like Black Wow. A MF towel is unwieldy, with the extra unused pieces flopping around in the wind. A cube from an old sponge worked great on my wiper cowling and my convertible top.

These are just the first three things I've tried - I imagine there will be more uses still.

This is probably something some of you have been doing for decades, but I just figured it out, and I'm pretty stoked. :bla2: It's a small thing, but it'll save me a few bucks here and there on applicators, and I'll get more mileage out of my sponges. And I'll be using fewer towels, so the ones I use will go through the laundry less often.

Just thought I'd share. :lol:

 

I cut up my spongers and use them for tires, dressing and what not. Cut them to the exact size of the tire so I do not get dressing on the wheel, use them to clean wheels/barrels when I pull wheels off the car.

Dont know about the whole using it for LSP as when I retire my sponges it is normally for some reason of why I dont want them on my paint.

 

Pretty good idea. I'd use a new sponge for applying LSP's though as agpatel has said. My Proline sponges got dyed pinkish because of my Uber towels. Time to get some new ones.

 

nice ideas Karl! Thanks!! I'll have to keep this in mind.

 

Thanks for sharing those ideas Karl!

 

Dude, appreciate the tip :headbang:

I tend to be tighter then a gnats ass stretched over an oil drum :giggle:

 

Funny you mention that Karl, as I've JUST started doing this over the past couple months. I have a stack of like 6 used Uber sponges that I was thinking about throwing away, and decided to cut a wedge out of one of the corners for applying some dressing. Worked great!

 

For using with LSP - you guys know this, but maybe it's worth repeating. Use your best judgment. If it's a sponge you recently used to clean a 10 year old diesel truck engine, then yeah, probably not a sponge to use for LSP. But mostly, they'll be okay. If they were simply "on the bubble" for use on paint because they look ratty, they'll be fine. Those of you using Zymol sponges and PL grout sponges will be familiar with the sponges that work fine, but look a little ragged - those are the ones I'm talking about.

You can also cut up sponges that you don't really like. A while ago, I picked up some "Grecian Wonder Sponges" at Advance Auto for 50 cents each. They're not my favorite, but they work fine. They'll be perfect for cutting up into smaller pieces.

 

For those using CG Water spot remover or something like that, half a uber/zymol or most spongers work great. I use to use yellow foam applicator but then it would get on my gloves and was not so pleasant. So I cut a proline sponge in half and used that, thick enough so you dont get any on your gloves and have to worry about getting it on your clothes somehow and smelling like rotting eggs.

 

I thought you were supposed to use a MF for CG Water Spot Remover. So the media doesn't disintegrate like the foam does.

 

I have always seen foam used, when I use foam it does not breakdown or anything. I know Norcal Bob uses a yellow foam app as well.

 

You mention the Zymol sponges, which I also use. I find that they, over time, tend to become very soft, to the spoint where they are almost flat as a pancake, leaving them a bit useless to use on anything else. I should cut them up and see what I can do!

 

I have a bottle, but have not tried it yet, so I will gladly try foam first. Good to know :thumb:

 

A great tip to share! I've been doing this myself for months.

 

Yep, it was a Zymol one that I cut up to try this out.