Eli5 why do people say to wash dishes or your hands in warm water when cold slows down bacteria growth?
In: 722
Cold water from the tap isn’t cold enough to affect bacterial growth.
And the difference between that and the warm water isn’t enough to make a significant difference in bacterial numbers for the few seconds you actually have your hands under the tap.
Hot water from the tap isn’t hot enough to hurt most pathogenic bacteria.
The advantage to warm water is that:
* Most soap works better in warm water, and things dissolve better in warm water. The point of soap and water isn’t to kill the bacteria, it’s to wash away any film of dirt and oil that might be harboring bacteria. Warm water does that slightly better than cold water… but there’s not a LOT of difference between water at 60F and water at 100-110F in that regard.
* It’s comfortable. People are more likely to do something like wash properly if it’s comfortable than if they build up an aversion to it because they think they’re expected to stick their hands in icy (or scalding hot) water every time they do it.
Latest Answers