Eva Mendes Shares Her Dishwashing Icks and Fave Sponge

It’s no secret that the Real Simple team loves Skura Style’s sponges. We’ve tested their Skrubby Sponge extensively in our labs, and it was the best sponge overall out of the many we considered. We’ve featured it many times in the pages of our magazine. And I even professed my love for the sponge on social media after being a loyal customer since 2017! 

The reason these sponges in particular are so special? They’re made with antimicrobial materials so they never really get smelly, and they feature a “fade-to-change” technology, which means the pattern on the sponge will gradually disappear, signaling it’s time to swap it out for a fresh one. (Because honestly, no one replaces their sponge when they should!) 

The hype around this sponge is real; so real that in 2022, Eva Mendes—the actress, author, mom, and wife to Ryan Gosling—joined Skura Style co-founders Linda Sawyer and Alison Matz as co-owner. And now in 2024, she has her own line of sponges and skrubbys, the Skura Style x Eva Mendes collection, which was inspired by Mendes’ Cuban heritage. The cheery, tropical colors definitely caught my eye (and made my heart happy as a fellow Caribbean Latina). 

It also made me wonder what inspired Mendes’ entire venture, as well as what her kitchen cleaning habits are. How do celebrities really clean?! Luckily, I was given the opportunity to ask Eva directly some of my burning dishwashing questions (because yes, I have some), and surprisingly, she had a lot of thoughts on the topic. 

Good Sponges Are Hard to Find

When asked what drew her to Skura Style in the first place, she admits it was her love of dishwashing—and her quest to find a solid sponge. Mendes explains, “Fun fact, when I was pregnant, I always wanted to be at the sink. I would plead with people to let me do them. I find it relaxing. Then the pandemic hit, dishes were nonstop, next level. And germs became such a focus. So, I went looking for a better sponge, discovered Skura and became a customer. Then, I did a little digging–when I learned it was two women taking on gross sponges, I got even more intrigued. Then, finally, I met them and found my sponge soul sisters. The rest is dish-story. Sorry, I had to. Mom joke!”

A Wet, Smelly Sponge is Her Biggest Kitchen Ick

And it seems Mendes really has it out for gross sponges, because she revealed one of her biggest kitchen nightmares is actually a “wet and soggy sponge,” adding that if it’s not a Skura sponge, it also “usually smells.” And that’s bad news for the human dishwasher, because “when a sponge is smelly you can be sure it has tons of germs and bacteria… So yeah, ick.”

If there’s a faint odor coming from your sponge, you’ve probably held onto it for way too long—a bad habit that, like we alluded to earlier, people can seem to let go.

Washing the Dishes Can Be Meditative

Mendes truly prioritizes dishwashing—not only because a tidy sink is usually the sign of a clean kitchen, but also because it’s a good indicator of her mental state. She explains, “I don’t love a sink full of dishes—I mean, who does?  But you can tell what state of mind I’m in by the state of my sink. I always say a clean sink is a clear mind.” 

Mendes says she always finds time to wash her dishes, even with two small children. She says, “No matter what’s going on, I usually find time once everyone’s asleep to relax and do the dishes. Yes–relax! I find doing the dishes meditative. I find waking up to a clean kitchen so uplifting and joyful.” 

Microwaving Sponges is Not the Best Way to Disinfect Them

Mendes does not believe in attempting to disinfect your sponges with a microwave—and she’s actually spot-on about this. Referring to a 2017 German study, she says, “I learned of a study about disinfecting sponges that proved cleaning a dirty sponge [by microwaving it] actually helps the worst bacteria grow. When I read about it, I said, ‘Wha???’ People need to know this! The microbiologists who did the study recommend throwing your sponge out every 1 to 2 weeks.” 

You Don’t Need a Bunch of Other Dishwashing Accessories

You’d think a famous actress wears gloves to do the dishes, but nope, not Eva Mendes. She prefers to skip them with her Skura sponges since they rinse clean and squeeze dry quickly. (She does add that she “moisturizes like hell” afterward.) And I totally get that—I’m in camp no-gloves, as well. There’s something about being able to wring your sponge clean with your bare hands that’s incredibly satisfying, though my hand and nails probably aren’t thrilled with this. 

And she doesn’t place her sponge on anything fancy either—I was expecting to hear her say she has a fancy contraption that stores her sponge since there are a million of those on the market, but not at all. She relies on a simple dish, or sometimes she just leaves it straight on the counter. Because the sponge rinses totally dry, “it doesn’t sit in a messy puddle. And since it’s so damn pretty, I leave mine out,” she explains.