The Best Dish Sponges of 2023

It may seem gimmicky, but if you can get past the first day of use with this sponge, it’s worth having in your arsenal. The first few times you use the Scrub Daddy, it will feel stiff and scratchy, but thankfully it softens with use to become a tool that will clean the toughest crud off your dishes. That said, the round shape and larger size mean the Scrub Daddy won’t be able to reach any burnt-on bits in the smaller corners of your baking pan, so you may want to keep a second, smaller sponge around for daintier jobs. Theoretically, the Scrub Daddy’s grinning mouth is ideal for cleaning spoons, but I found its main appeal was visual—it’s awfully cute when cleaning a spoon looks like you’re feeding a smiley sponge man.

You'll be able to scrub and squeeze this happy camper for multiple days of heavy use without wear and tear, though Amazon reviewers have reported an eventual disintegration over time. It’s not a perfect tool, but it is surprisingly effective—plus, according to the packaging, you can run it through your dishwasher for cleaning.

This is a basic, effective sponge. Comfortable to hold, decent at scrubbing, fairly absorbent, and all-around good at doing what sponges do. The scrubby side is gentle enough that it won’t scratch your dishes, but rough enough to clean the gnarliest singed egg pan. It’s nothing special, but therein lies the key to its success—a sponge doesn’t need to be flashy, it just needs to get your plates and countertop clean.

Scotch-Brite’s heavy-duty offering is one of the most successful sponges when it comes to removing stains. However, it scratches the crap out of almost everything I used it to clean. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using this Scotch-Brite’s scrubby side on a nonstick or stainless-steel pan, whether you’re wiping gently or with vigor. Either way, you’re going to end up with a series of fine scratches. There’s a time and a place for a rough sponge, but the place for this one probably isn’t your kitchen sink.

This is less of a sponge and more of a giant pillow with a soft side and a rougher side. It sat sodden on my counter for days, and I despair that it would ever dry. The soft side matted, its damp fur tangled around bits of egg and unidentifiable crumbs. The rough side was easily gently stained. Touching it is so unpleasant that I avoided using it at all costs.

Does it clean well? Honestly, yes— if you can get past its soggy texture. NanoSponge’s claim to fame is that you don’t need to use soap with it. I found this was true for more basic stains, but I wanted soap when something was really burnt onto a pan, and frankly, I don’t understand why I’d want to go without the sanitary properties of soap. It’s a little too big to effectively clean corners, but otherwise worked a charm. Regardless, I hated touching it so much that I’d never voluntarily use it.