Eli5 why do people say to wash dishes or your hands in warm water when cold slows down bacteria growth?
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ELi5: because you don’t want to slow down their growth. You want to KILL them and hot water is effective at that.
“Explain it like you’re 5” up in here today.
Lots of people reverse clarifying their previous bold claims that removing more oils/fats with warmer water had no impact on effectiveness in terms of bacteria/virus removal or otherwise.
ELi5: because you don’t want to slow down their growth. You want to KILL them and hot water is effective at that.
I watched a video on a similar topic about this. It was focused on dishes, but hand washing was mentioned.
Basically, the water temperature doesn’t matter much unless it is able to kill germs. It’s the soap that does the work. The only time warm/hot water will help is if it helps remove whatever is on the surface of the item you’re cleaning.
I watched a video on a similar topic about this. It was focused on dishes, but hand washing was mentioned.
Basically, the water temperature doesn’t matter much unless it is able to kill germs. It’s the soap that does the work. The only time warm/hot water will help is if it helps remove whatever is on the surface of the item you’re cleaning.
well, for me, cold water makes dishes feel icky, so i like hot water. hot water also makes the food stuck on dishes go away faster because it melts it somewhat. warm water also just feels nicer to wash my hands with
well, for me, cold water makes dishes feel icky, so i like hot water. hot water also makes the food stuck on dishes go away faster because it melts it somewhat. warm water also just feels nicer to wash my hands with
well, for me, cold water makes dishes feel icky, so i like hot water. hot water also makes the food stuck on dishes go away faster because it melts it somewhat. warm water also just feels nicer to wash my hands with
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.
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.
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