Why is it easier to clean things with warm water than with cold water?
In: Chemistry
Higher temperature means higher average kinetic energy. More movement means more stuff will come off. Also some viscous substances become less viscous at higher temps, and hot water kills off microbes. Above 165, bacteria cell membranes rupture.
It’s not necessarily easier for cleaning (unless cleaning things like fats/oils), on most surfaces it’s for sanitation. A lot of surface living infectious bacteria/fungi/viruses need a specific range of temperature to replicate and infect a host. For many human related infections, they do well with temperatures mirroring our internal temperature of 96-99 (F). When the temperature is increased further (100+) many infectious diseases will start to fail/be prevented from replicating or die. So when cleaning a surface with hot water coupled with a detergent, you’re destroying the infectious disease or causing them to be less effective at replicating therefore reducing its infectious potential.
Some surfaces with grime like fats or oils need heat to be a liquid again. So for something like a stove top, hot water helps with removing the oil splatter.
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