Sunny Health

 "Soapy hot water" is often the recommendation for washing just about anything that needs to be sanitized of dirt, from hands to milk bottles to the laundry. Indeed, heat is often associated with germ extermination. This is because many harmful pathogens are unable to survive at high temperatures in water. It is why we cook our raw food at boiling point, or add boiling water to milk for the baby - to get rid of bacteria that might otherwise make us sick.


Since high temperatures help to destroy bacteria, does it mean that washing in warm or hot water is more sanitary than washing in cold water? These days, we have the luxury to pick between either as most of taps at the wash basins at home have options to switch quickly between hot and cold water. But perhaps only if you use boiling or very hot water would it really make a difference, and I'm sure no one would want to scald themselves to kill some bacteria. Besides, bathing in hot water can be very drying on your hair and skin.

Rutgers University-New Brunswick did an experiment, which proved that cool water is just as effective as warm water for getting rid of bacteria when washing hands. And this is good news because warm water uses more energy than cold water. Even the amount of soap does not really have an impact on the effectiveness of ridding bacteria, though studies are still being done on the type of soap that would be most effective.

On a related note, soap and water triumphs alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which should only be used if soap and water are not accessible. Moreover, it should have an alcohol concentration of at least 60% to be helpful, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What is more important when it comes to hand washing, is the duration spent on it, and how thorough you are. You should wash your hands for at least 10 seconds to remove a significant amount of bacteria. There's a set of detailed instructions on how to go about it, but rather than making things complicated, just remember this:

When lathering soap around your hands, make sure that it covers the entire surface of your hands, including the palms, back, and all over and in-between fingers. Then rinse off with water. The whole process should take around 20 seconds.





In the case of laundry, the temperature of the water you should use would actually be dependent on the material of your clothing. However, drying them under the hot sun would help to eradicate moisture and prevent mildew from setting in.