eli5 Because alcohol kills bacteria, could someone reuse something like a shot glass over and over without cleaning and have no ill effect?

Question

eli5 Because alcohol kills bacteria, could someone reuse something like a shot glass over and over without cleaning and have no ill effect?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The problem with a lot of alcoholic drinks is that they come with sugars and other organic compounds which can feed bacteria. The alcohol used to sterilize things is just a solution of alcohol and water. If you only used high proof alcohols in the shot glass, you wouldn’t need to wash it as often, but I still would if it’s been sitting around dirty for more than a couple hours. Once any residual alcohol evaporates (which wouldn’t take long) the rest is bacteria food.