Washing hands with hot or cold water makes no difference
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Previously the Food and Drug Administration recommended us to use hot water to wash our hands. They said hot water doesn't kill bacteria but it removes the oils from the hands, which provides a safe haven for bacteria.
But a study done by the scientists from the Joint Bank Group/Fund Health Services Department found that hot and cold water have the same effect when used in washing the hands. They said the following:
...subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had "no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction."
The study was posted in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2005.
The scientists also found that hot water not only didn't have any added benefit but also it might increase the irritant capacity of some soaps and may cause "dermatitis".
They recommended that instead of using just hot water, we should use water at temperatures that provides us comfort from tepid to warm temperature range. A combination of good antibacterial soap and tepid water will do as good a job as soap and hot water combination. Plus it saves hot water energy bill.
I have been using cold water in combination with antibacterial soap for a number of years without significant cold problems. I also do meditation and wash hands regularly after various tasks.
Do you use hot or cold water to wash hands?
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Thanks Stricklydating, I work in cars sometimes I am able to remove the grease and other stuff with cold water also, hot water makes it easier in very hard cases. I think use of a good antibacterial soap is very important here.
Thanks Cgull8m, it is nice to see the facts. I read somewhere that it was more the action of scrubbing your hands that cleaned them. Of course I still figured the warmer the better too. But, it is nice to know that doesn't matter. It does seem hard to believe it is still just as good after handling raw meat though. But, I think it has just been put into my head that way for so long.
That's interesting to know. I agree, I think a good antibacterial soap is the more important ingredient here. I must admit though that washing with warm water feels better than washing with either hot or cold.
Thanks for this informative hub!
I don't use soap. :)
Heh, by my opinion, warm (or hot) water is better. After using cold one, my hands never feel realy clean...
Jim, thanks, use whatever is comfortable for you. If it saves energy then it is cool.
Jill, Tatjana-Mihaela, yes, it feels better to use warm water. But from energy point of view cold water is a better option.
Misha, be careful though, water alone doesn't remove the germs. Cheers.
Very interesting! I use cold water but I didn't realise that it was as good as hot water when used with an anti-bacterial soap.
I always thought the temp. of the water did make a difference. Nice to hear that it doesn't matter.
Thanks Shalini and Christoph. Let us conserve energy unless the doctors say otherwise.
This is really cool to find out. The job I work doesn't supply hot water always, so often I was my hands with soap and cold water. As you said, I don't get sickly much but did often think it would be better to have hot water due to what I was told growing up. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. Crickette
Crickette, thanks, I also learned it recently so I shared with you guys.
Great Hub ! Actually I was just recently contemplating the difference between hot , warm or cold water myself :)
stricktlydating Level 5 Commenter 2 years ago
That's a really interesting topic. I always wash with a hand-soap and hot water - mostly I find because it removes my foundation (waterproof) makeup easier than with cold water. Then I use a paper-towel to dry them.