Help me find this dish sponge

September 4, 2021 5:54 PM

This dish sponge is perfect. It's on the small side with plastic mesh bits that scrub really well but also don't scratch. It's sold in large multi-pack of mixed colors (8-10 sponges per bag) in a clear plastic bag with a cardboard closure at the top. Have you seen this sponge? Backstory below.

For years this variety of sponge was my chosen dish washing, pot scrubbing, house cleaning implement. When I met Mr. Countrymod he didn't find my choice is sponge to be as delightful and we converted over to the "traditional" dish sponge/scrubber combination. Fast forward about a decade and Mr. Countrymod finds the package with the last of the sponges in it and discovers it's amazingness. He has seen the light and yes, I was right, my sponge is the better sponge. We was the dishes (lots of dishes) and throw away the remnant parts of the sponge package. We look for more of the sponge. We try the internet, the grocery store, the coop, the big box stores, the hoardery dollar store... and we cannot find the sponge. We have tried a few sponges with similar features with mixed results. THE SPONGE is still the best.

Helpful things to know: I adopted this sponge when I lived in NYC. It may have come from Surprise! Surprise! (now closed) or the Whole Foods or a neighborhood hardware store (East Village). I now live in Upstate NY and I don't remember if I imported the sponge from the city or also found local stock.

I know other sponges have desirable qualities so I'm not really looking for substations but am hopeful you've seen this sponge (and you know where I can buy it).

posted by countrymod to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

I know and love that style of sponge too, although it's been awhile since I've used them. I think I've most often seen them at random no-name/non-chain dollar stores and occasionally hanging in aisles at supermarkets. These look like the same style to me but the ones I've purchased are usually in a more primary colors. These are more similar to what I've bought but Alibaba is a wholesaler and I'm not seeing the same image used in any retail stores online.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:20 PM on September 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

Nylon scouring pads?
posted by XtineHutch at 6:22 PM on September 4, 2021

In a review for the first product I linked to, someone mentions "Mexican Fregon scrubbing sponges" (and says that the linked product looks similar but is inferior to those.) A lot of hits I got when I googled for Fregon sponges were out of stock, but Amazon seems to have them here, albeit for an annoying amount of money for two sponges.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:26 PM on September 4, 2021

I’ve seen similar sponges at Asian markets and Mexican supermercados, if that’s a thing in your area.
posted by Wavelet at 6:39 PM on September 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Similar, not as colorful, pretty cheap though!
posted by Wavelet at 6:42 PM on September 4, 2021

These are round, but I believe they are the same.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:30 PM on September 4, 2021

Those are my favorite too, and I can't find them! I used to get them at Rainbow Grocery when I lived in San Francisco, a worker-owned coop grocery store with a wall of various kinds of eco-friendly-style cleaning supplies. I believe the brand name was "Down to Earth" - these look similar, although they're bigger, not the good small ones in the plastic sleeve multi-pack. Maybe at least a good lead.
posted by dreamyshade at 10:25 PM on September 4, 2021

Fruit-shaped scrubbers

Scrubbers with a sponge from Casabella
posted by extramundane at 11:36 PM on September 4, 2021

I worked at a hippie food co-op for years and Down To Earth was one of primary housewares suppliers. I took a look on their webpage and these look a lot like them.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:41 AM on September 5, 2021

Response by poster: Excellent suggestions! I think Down to Earth is the right direction for the exact replacement & the logo even looks familiar (good news). Unfortunately the sponge currently available is twice as big as THE SPONGE and the petite palm size is a favorite characteristic.

We're also trying out the round scrubbers but they are a little bit different. The exterior is courser and I think THE SPONGE may actually have a "sponge" core that helps retain soap/moisture where the round scrubbers are "hollow". Side by side photo.

Having spent an awful lot of time looking and sponges lately, I can tell you the market is shifting to fewer in a package and trending toward hardier/less disposable cleaning implements (which is good) which may make the small sponge multi-pack an outdated & undesirable on the market. Ironically I favored THE SPONGE because it uses half the soap and lasts forever despite being sold in a multi-pack.
posted by countrymod at 8:05 AM on September 5, 2021

I find these to be very good, though not exactly what you asked for. They have a rough surface that scours well without scratching delicate things.
posted by ambulatorybird at 5:31 PM on September 5, 2021

Yeah, the round scrubber isn't as good, but that's what I've been using too. I can't find the small ones on the Down to Earth site or on other sites that distribute their products, so they might have discontinued the small ones. :/ Might be interesting to try calling them.
posted by dreamyshade at 5:32 PM on September 5, 2021