Skip to content
I first encountered Mitts, the beak-shaped sponges designed for cleaning chippable wine glasses, just ahead of my peak stemware season during the holidays. And I honestly wasn’t sure if my love for the funny-looking things would endure. But, there’s a Mitt still at my sink, still getting daily use.
Mitts are soft but sturdy, built to carefully swipe off dried-on wine and lipstick marks without scuffing. Their aforementioned beak-like construction ensures they can both sweep the rim, then slot seamlessly to fill (and clean) the bowl of a glass. And finger-shaped divots at the top of the sponge let you gently pinch it to fit to curves without exerting too much pressure and causing a break. My handy Mitt helped me power through dozens of dirty wine glasses without cracking a single one from November through New Year’s Eve.
Outside of the festive season, I’m not usually hand-washing much glassware, but I do clean my knives nearly every day. And let me tell you, this special sponge happens to fit perfectly around sharp blades too. It glides seamlessly along both sides of a knife (or kitchen shears) at once, neither tearing, snagging, nor slipping along the way. Once I realized it worked so well on my santoku (decidedly not a wine glass), nothing was safe. The Mitt left my little glass prep bowls, mini tongs, jiggers, measuring spoons, and thermometer probes sparkling clean. Honestly, the more I used it, the more uses I found for it. It’s like a precise extension of your hand in the sink. Bonus: it’s dishwasher-safe, so it’s a cinch to sanitize.
Now, you might be thinking, “I too can fold a sponge in half and approximate this utility.” And, yes, you can. But approximate is the keyword here. The Mitt’s open-cell foam structure means it dries quickly (less chance of mold) and, most importantly, it means it is precisely flexible enough to clean fragile things well. It doesn’t force you to squeeze too hard to fit the form of your glass. The shape is so intuitive to hold and use, it makes me wonder why all of my other sponges are just rectangles. It’s a Goldilocks sponge, not a unitasker, but it is still particularly great at the thing it is specifically designed to do.
So I will be keeping my Mitt sinkside, right on its handy little sponge rest, no matter the season. I will be spreading the word too. I think they make the loveliest hostess gift, paired with a bottle of your favorite drink, of course.
