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Here is a brief summary of the 21 responses I received regarding my
question whether it is possible to get gluten contamination from
cleaning supplies such as dish washing brushes and sponges. Thank you
all for your replies.

Only one person said s/he had read something from a health
professional about this kind of contamination: "According to Danna
Korn's book, which is well-supported by the medical community, washing
dishes  in a non-gluten free household is sufficient for getting rid
of the gluten." I do not have either of her two books, so I could not
verify this.

Of the 21 responses, only one person felt s/he got sick from
contaminated dish cleaning rags.  9 people worried about this to some
degree, but never had an experience of getting sick from it. And 11
people said they do not worry about it.

Most people said dish sponges, towels and rags hold bacteria if they
are not sanitized properly.  Some people put their sponges in the dish
washer daily, others use towels that they launder daily. A few people
recommended using disposable towels to clean dishes. Many people
thought that bacteria in old sponges and towels was more of a threat
to their health than the possibilty of gluten contamination from the
same rags.

One person had a great comment that sums it all up: "Everyone has to
decide how careful/neurotic they are going to be.  It's hard to find
the balance sometimes between careful and crazy!"  How true!
Personally, I plan to not worry about this anymore.  I think
inadvertant contamination from food products with confusing labels is
far more of a threat. However, I will get rid of my sponges and use
brushes or disposable towels instead, and use the dish washer more
often--sponges are just breeding grounds for bacteria.

Thanks again for all your ideas.
-Rob

A few notable responses are listed below:

1. "I always get sick when visiting relatives and have concluded
through process of elimination that the most likely source of
contamination at their houses is the dishrag."

2.  "I am the nonceliac of the household--my husband and 4 children
are gluten intolerant. I do have some glutinous products in the house.
I use my own pan to cook the noodles or other glutinous products. But
I do use the same sponge. I am pretty good about keeping everything
separate except for the sponge and of course the dishes we eat off of
(and silverware). We use a dishwasher, which I think helps. My
daughter was rebiopsied and her gut was back to normal. So I think we
are doing everything right. It couldn't hurt to use separate sponges,
but I wouldn't get upset if things got mixed up."

3. ". . . contamination through inhalation is an issue too. We need to
stay out of bakeries, if your partner bakes you should probably leave
the kitchen."

4. "You could get the blue shop paper towels that do work as dish
cloths and then throw them away. Or you could use two different color
sponges. And for 22 years I have done dishes with the same sponges and
never noticed any problems."

5. "My partner and I have separate stuff: separate refrigerator
shelves, separate pantry shelves, and separate dishrags and towels.
It's a MUST."

6. "You should not share sponges.  I have a child with Celiac and we
have a mixed kitchen, I prepare both gf and non-gf meals.  I run
everything through the dishwasher.  That way I do not have to worry
about keeping sponges separate.  If I need to wash a large dish that
will not fit in
dishwasher I use a heavy duty papertowel (Viva) that can be used for a
few things then thrown away."

7. "I advocate the use of dishwashing gloves - it helps protect your
skin anyway. You can zap sponges in the microwave for one minute to
keep them from getting stinky, or to rescue them after they have
already gotten stinky. This will not "kill" gluten, of course, but as
long as you rinse thoroughly, you are probably okay. Ideally your
partner would err more and more toward gf and the issue would become a
moot point."

8. "If you wash your dishes in hot hot water it shouldn't be a
problem. My higly sensitive husband never got sick when I was not
Gluten free. Neither has his mom who has been celiac for 25 years and
her whole family ate glutenous meals because she'd cook 2 meals
everynight, one for them and a GF one for her. She is supersensitive.
If you have a dishwasher I would use that to be extra safe."

9. "I use separate dish towels for GF and not GF food (using different
colors). I bought a bunch of towels so I can rotate them frequently. I
also have separate butter, peanut butter, etc. for me to avoid crumbs.
 And don't share drinks with my boyfriend or kiss him if he has been
eating gluten."

10. "We use disposable dishwashing pads, I clean the gluten free
dishes first, then the gluten, and discard. We always use dishwaher
after, or extremely hot water. You can also put spnges in dishwasher.
"

11. "I wouldn't worry about it, as long as you use plenty of dish
soap, and rinse well.  I have a mixed household, gf an not gf people,
and I've never had a problem.  I would be more concerned about
bacteria on the sponge than I would be about gluten."

12. "Provided everything is rinsed, preferably under a running tap,
you should be fine. Don't use the same breadboards though! "

13. "Our whole household went GF because our celiac daughter was so
sick. She cannot stand to even have flour in the air.  Surprise! Her
Dad and I both got rid of digestive problems we had had for years,
constipation (his) and irritable bowel (mine)."

14. "You should wash all gf dishes first, then put the gluten ones in
the soapy water (not together).  We used separate scrubbies and
started with a clean dishcloth with each cleanup (and toss in dirty
hamper at that point, don't use to clean counters). Lots more laundry,
but no gluten moving to
other items.  Most mixed households keep seperate dishes (in different
colors) to make sure the gluten ones don't get mixed up (or a
dishwasher that is strong enough to get all food particles off)."

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