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Washing your hands - Hot, warm or cold water? - POLL

W

wnangle

Member
I was at the doctors office the other day and noticed my doctor washing his hands (with soap) with very hot water. I asked him about it and he said that the hot water is cleaner since it has gone through a heater, whereas cold water could have any type of germ attached. He said that cold water is not good for you as many organisms can live through the chemicals (just look through a microscope at cold tap water) and hot water has much less to none. Has anyone else heard this? What temperature water do you wash your hands with?
 
1) There is next to nothing in the water anyways, so hot water doesn't have much to kill.

2) Since you probably can't stand the hottest possible water, you mix in some cold water. Thus, you get the germs anyways (albeit less of them).

3) The soap washes them away, or even outright kills them, so it doesn't matter what temperature it is if you wash properly.

4) Your biggest problem is stagnant water. That is where they breed. You'll do best to let the water run for a bit (if it has been stagnant for 4+ hours) before putting your hands under it. Doing that will dwarf the little difference you get by mixing in some hot water to the cold.

Conclusion: hot water helps, but it is a small help on a small problem, and other things you do can have a much bigger impact.

My take: I'm always damn hot, so if I use hot water, I'll sweat, wipe away my sweat, and have my hands far more germ filled than if I used cold water.
 
Hot water agitates the stuff you are trying to wash off. That is why it's good. I can't believe any doctor would offer up the foolish theory about killing germs inside the heater. That doctor should be using hand sanitizer if he's worried about getting germs FROM the water.
 
if what I was taught is true, it's the rubbing more than the soap or the water temp that helps clean the skin.

Even w/o soap you can get your hands fairly clean just by rubbing them together under water, so I was taught.

Doubt water temp matters. Theoretically warm water may help open pores so more germs are disloged, but I don't know if it really matters on a practical level.

Anything that gets people to wash their hands is good. If pleasant water temp does, good.
 
Originally posted by: torpid
Hot water agitates the stuff you are trying to wash off. That is why it's good. I can't believe any doctor would offer up the foolish theory about killing germs inside the heater. That doctor should be using hand sanitizer if he's worried about getting germs FROM the water.
Click to expand...

Hand sanitizer is CRAP!
 
Depends on my mood... most times I use warm water, but sometimes a nice cold hand-washing is o0o0oh so niiiiice.
 
Unless my hands are freezing and I'm trying to warm them, I always wash with cold water. It just feels more refreshing.
 
Originally posted by: dullard
1) There is next to nothing in the water anyways, so hot water doesn't have much to kill.

2) Since you probably can't stand the hottest possible water, you mix in some cold water. Thus, you get the germs anyways (albeit less of them).

3) The soap washes them away, or even outright kills them, so it doesn't matter what temperature it is if you wash properly.

4) Your biggest problem is stagnant water. That is where they breed. You'll do best to let the water run for a bit (if it has been stagnant for 4+ hours) before putting your hands under it. Doing that will dwarf the little difference you get by mixing in some hot water to the cold.

Conclusion: hot water helps, but it is a small help on a small problem, and other things you do can have a much bigger impact.

My take: I'm always damn hot, so if I use hot water, I'll sweat, wipe away my sweat, and have my hands far more germ filled than if I used cold water.
Click to expand...


All Myth...

Soap does nothing to kill germs... Soap will help remove the outer dead skin cells and wash away some bacteria... but few people wash long enough to achieve this effect. --Yes this include antibacterial soaps...

Hand Sanitizers are generally 40% alcohol by volume, studies show that for these products to be an effective sanitizer, the alcohol content must absolutely minimum >60, and much closer to 75-95% to be truly effective...

Additionally... heating water does very little to kill germs, unless you are going to boil it... and even then you should pressure boil it to reach higher than 212... (think why you should use a pressure cooker, instead of just an old canning boiler)
Regardless...No-one sets their hot water tanks to boil water because duh... you'd get 3rd degree burns from washing your hands.


if you want to kill bacter... um germs... you need to wash with a true disinfectant or antiseptic product.
 
hot water won't kill bacteria before burning your flesh off.

stick with 20 sec rule. lather up between fingers, fingernails and the rest of your hand/arms.
 
I prefer hot but not scalding or anything. But honestly, the soap and such is what kills the germs, the water temp just helps things get unstuck the hotter it is.
 
Originally posted by: sao123
All Myth...
Click to expand...
I said tap water doesn't have many bacteria/viruses. That is a myth?

I said soap washes away the germs. That is a myth?

I said that the hot water does little to kill the germs. That is a myth?

It sounded like your "all myth" was disagreeing with me, but then the rest of your post agreed with everything I said. So, maybe I mistook what you were tying to say.

 
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