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I've had some good replies, ideas and questions about my sponge problems...

Here's the solution I've come to, with some suggestions:

I bought some thin little Scotch brand scrubbers, they're kind of wide and
long, so I cut them into three pieces, which are still big enough to scrub
with.  These will be "disposable" so that if anything possibly containing
gluten is scrubbed with them, they'll get tossed out.  They are thin enough
that they may come clean in the dishwasher, but I'm not going to rely on
that unless I think they're still gluten-free.  (It's easier to clean germs
in sponges, because they can at least be killed by heat or chemicals, but
gluten is forever once it gets deep into a sponge).  I also use dishcloths
and launder them frequently.  I think there are other disposable scrubbers,
like SOS pads, though I haven't checked them out.

I now have a basket to one side of the sink for dirty rags, sponges and
scrubbers.  That way anybody can easily put one there, and from there I'll
launder them or throw them away...they can also be used on nonporous dishes
that will go in the dishwasher.  The gluten will come off in the dishwasher
as long as it's non-porous.  (I tossed out all wooden spoons as well)

As far as pans go, I was reminded of Teflon's possible problems, and I've
never really liked teflon pans for that reason, but wanted something
dishwasher safe that stuff wouldn't stick to.  I ended up deciding on
something that's not dishwasher safe, but is nonporous, nonstick, and not
teflon.  I found a good deal on calphalon, much better than anything I could
find on high-quality teflon, so I went with those.  They're annoying because
they can't be cleaned with normal detergent or in the dishwasher, but these
will be the pans that only I can touch, cook in, or clean, so that should
work out fine.  I'll be putting signs here and there in the kitchen with all
these rules, since, at times, plenty of people help me in the kitchen...
"Calphalon pans are to be used and cleaned only by me, if you don't know
what was in the pan you just cleaned, or if it had gluten in it, please put
the rag/scrubber in the dirty basket, and use only clean scrubbers and rags
for hand-wash dishes."  etc.

Hopefully that will take care of things.

I also got a suggestion to deglaze the cast iron pans with apple cider
vinegar then scrub with salt and oil.  I did that, and they look great, but
I'm still a bit trepidatious about using them.  I've never had trouble with
cooking gluten and non-gluten in them, as long as they were seasoned and
cleaned in between uses, but maybe I need to be more careful since they are
slightly porous; I'll just stick with my calphalon now.

I realized the thumb of my oven mit could get in foods and
cross-contaminate, so I now have a silicone-coated oven mitt.  I can launder
it or just wash it quickly beforehand on the outside before using it.

The more degrees of separation, the better, of course separate kitchens
would be nice too!

-Melissa

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