The Shocking Discovery Inside My Rubber Spatulas

Rubber and silicone spatulas are must-have kitchen tools. They help scrape out the last bits of peanut butter or mayo from jars, and are perfect for making fluffy scrambled eggs without damaging your pans. Plus, they come in a range of stylish colors and patterns to match your kitchen. But if your spatula has a wooden handle, you could unknowingly be adding harmful germs to your food—mold spores, E. coli, and yeast. Today, we reveal why your spatula might be one of the dirtiest tools in your kitchen, and you don’t even know it.

Why Spatula Heads Are Designed to Detach

If you’ve ever had the spatula head come loose from the handle and thought it was a manufacturing flaw, you're not alone. Many people assume the spatula should stay intact during use and washing. However, the head is purposely designed to detach for easy cleaning. If you wash the spatula as one piece, water can get trapped where the head meets the handle, creating the perfect environment for mold, especially with wooden handles.

The Right Way to Clean Your Spatula

If you haven’t rushed to check your spatula for mold yet, you might want to after reading this. What should you do if you discover mold?

How to Clean the Wooden Handle

Wooden handles should never be put in the dishwasher, as the heat and moisture can ruin them. After each use, separate the spatula from its wooden handle and clean the handle with soap and water, just like you would any other wooden kitchen tool.

For a stronger solution, the CDC suggests removing mold from hard surfaces with commercial cleaners, soap and water, or a bleach mixture—1 cup (8 ounces) of bleach per gallon of water. Remember, never mix bleach with ammonia or other cleaners.

Using a commercial cleaner might be overkill for the mold on your spatula’s handle. Scrubbing it with soap and water or the bleach solution should be enough to eliminate the mold, E. coli, and yeast. Let the handle dry completely before reattaching it to the clean spatula head.

How to Clean the Rubber Spatula Head

Rubber spatula heads can safely go in the top rack of your dishwasher, but if you've already discovered mold on the wooden handle, it's essential to clean the hole in the spatula head as well.

A user on the HomeTalk website shared a helpful tip for removing mold and mildew from the spatula head: ‘Use a thin brush, like the ones for cleaning baby bottle nipples, dip it in a bleach-water solution, and gently scrub the inside of the spatula head.’ Allow the head to dry completely before reattaching it to the handle to avoid introducing more moisture into the wood.

How to Prevent Spatula Mold in the First Place

To completely avoid the issue of spatula mold, simply don’t buy spatulas with detachable wooden handles. When shopping for kitchen spatulas next time, choose ones made from a single piece of rubber or silicone. Fewer crevices mean fewer chances for germs to hide.