Washing up/ Cleaning dishes with COLD water

Dermighty

Does it matter whether the water is hot or cold when you're washing dishes (from a health/hygiene perspective), assuming you're using fairy anti-bacterial washing up liquid and a regular yellow and green sponge?

Nope. Unless you're using boiling water then it's not gonna kill those germs any faster.

Hot water will remove the dirt more quicklier but isn't more hygienic.

Karl Stein

Warm water is more comfortable on the hands which means that you're more likely not to hurry so you'll do a better job.

Dermighty

Deleted User wrote: »

Nope. Unless you're using boiling water then it's not gonna kill those germs any faster.

Hot water will remove the dirt more quicklier but isn't more hygienic.

I thought the same myself, any evidence?

Dermighty

Dermighty wrote: »

I thought the same myself, any evidence?

Evidence that boiling water kills germs but warm water doesn't?

corkgsxr

I find if the water isn't hot it's it's hard to get grease off stuff

Elegant Elliot Offen

Im on the paper plates meself .


Paper plates FTW.

i use hot water when washing up and bubbles

conorh91

There's a straight dope answer for this. They're talking about handwashing but it's the same principle.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1935/whats-more-important-in-cleaning-soap-or-hot-water

in summary: Hot water is better than cold. Cold water is better than none. Soapy water is better than plain water. And you and your wife need to find some hobbies if this is what you're arguing about.

c_man

Elegant Elliot Offen wrote: »

Im on the paper plates meself .


Paper plates FTW.

Plastic knives and forks. Sometimes I just eat over the bin.

Yellowblackbird

I'm gone way past paper and plastic.
I've hooked up an IV

Karl Stein

conorh91 wrote: »

There's a straight dope answer for this.

"Hot water is better than cold. Cold water is better than none. Soapy water is better than plain water".

Hans Datdodishes.

WilyCoyote

All plates get put on the floor for Sammy to give the once over before being put in the dishwasher. Why they end in the dishwasher is beyond me as Sammy leaves them spotless.

WilyCoyote

Karl Stein wrote: »

"Hot water is better than cold. Cold water is better than none. Soapy water is better than plain water".

Hans Datdodishes.

Turn mild green (Fairy Liquid)?

dee_mc

WilyCoyote wrote: »

All plates get put on the floor for Sammy to give the once over before being put in the dishwasher. Why they end in the dishwasher is beyond me as Sammy leaves them spotless.

Puked in my mouth a little bit

WilyCoyote

WilyCoyote wrote: »

All plates get put on the floor for Sammy to give the once over before being put in the dishwasher. Why they end in the dishwasher is beyond me as Sammy leaves them spotless.

Your wife sounds like a keeper.

catallus

As has already been pointed out, hot water cleans quicklier.

Using cold water to wash or rinse dishes is detrimental to the environment due to the fact that you'll use more water if it is cold rather than hot.

You have to spare the water.

WilyCoyote

dee_mc wrote: »

Puked in my mouth a little bit

Just hang on in there Dee. Put false teeth on footstool and Sammy will do the biz ........... providing she also doesn't let a technicolour plasmic yawn atop

WilyCoyote

Deleted User wrote: »

Your wife sounds like a keeper.

She's a local girl ........... American football has no goalposts. But she twirled baton as a kid.

El Weirdo

catallus wrote: »

As has already been pointed out, hot water cleans quicklier.

Using cold water to wash or rinse dishes is detrimental to the environment due to the fact that you'll use more water if it is cold rather than hot.

You have to spare the water.

But you have to use energy to heat the water.

Swings and roundabouts, no?

endacl

c_man wrote: »

Plastic knives and forks. Sometimes I just eat over the bin jacks.

Saves emptying the bin.

catallus

El Weirdo wrote: »

Swings and roundabouts, no?

No. It's the exact opposite!

catallus

catallus wrote: »

No. It's the exact opposite!

Slides and monkey bars?

catallus

Precisely!

endacl

catallus wrote: »

Precisely!

To what tolerance? 'Precisely' is a big claim...

catallus

Tolerance? If we let people tolerate the waste of our most precious resource then we only have ourselves to blame.

Pumpkinseeds

Speaking of Fairy anti-bac washing up liquid, it's getting harder to get hold of. I've given up on Dunnes as they never have it. With pets I prefer to use an anti-bac liquid.

catallus

This is why we need a dedicated detergent forum. I could finally be a Mod!

LizzieJones

Dermighty wrote: »

Does it matter whether the water is hot or cold when you're washing dishes (from a health/hygiene perspective), assuming you're using fairy anti-bacterial washing up liquid and a regular yellow and green sponge?

I've used cold-ish water in the summer during a heatwave using a clean j-cloth and sunlight dish soap. Haven't died yet.

We haven't turned on the gas heating in about two months so anything which is washed by hand is washed in cold water (I wash stuff under the running tap). No way am I wasting money on gas or electricity to wash a few dishes.

If the heat is on to warm the house I'll use the hot tap for washing of course.

Custardpi

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Speaking of Fairy anti-bac washing up liquid, it's getting harder to get hold of. I've given up on Dunnes as they never have it. With pets I prefer to use an anti-bac liquid.

Plenty of cheaper alternatives. In any case regular soap is almost as good at killing bacteria. "Anti-bacterial" is mostly a marketing gimmick, you might as well buy special "hydrating" water.

El Weirdo

catallus wrote: »

No. It's the exact opposite!

No, instead of damaging the environment by wasting water, you're just damaging it in another way by heating the water.

Unless, of course you have a renewable energy source, and, let's face it, not many people here do.

Maphisto

corkgsxr wrote: »

I find if the water isn't hot it's it's hard to get grease off stuff

Hot water emulsifies fat - the hotter the better.

As it cools you're scraping themutton juice of with your nails :pac:

Markcheese

Didnt all the antibacterial claim to just keep your sponge clean between uses...
Kills 99 % of all KNOWN bacteria , (it's reckoned we know about 5% of them)

catallus

I have solar panels, water is boiling hot, handy for washing the recyclables. I know not everyone has them but it's the way things are going.

Anyways, if push comes to shove the OP can always boil a half kettle of water to do the washing up.

Custardpi

catallus wrote: »

I have solar panels, water is boiling hot, handy for washing the recyclables. I know not everyone has them but it's the way things are going.

Anyways, if push comes to shove the OP can always boil a half kettle of water to do the washing up.

Always wondered about that, would it use less energy than using the hot water from the tap?

Pumpkinseeds

Custardpi wrote: »

Plenty of cheaper alternatives. In any case regular soap is almost as good at killing bacteria. "Anti-bacterial" is mostly a marketing gimmick, you might as well buy special "hydrating" water.

The cheaper ones tend to make things more slippery though. I've lost plates and glasses using them in the past. I think I'll stick with the Fairy:)

Markcheese

A kettle is efficient , if you're heating the water with an immersion, in a poorly insulated cylinder, with a long line of pipe from cylinder to kitchen then kettle is way more efficient ...
Washing greasy ,oily things in cold water just doesn't work ...

Capt'n Midnight

Markcheese wrote: »

Didnt all the antibacterial claim to just keep your sponge clean between uses...
Kills 99 % of all KNOWN bacteria , (it's reckoned we know about 5% of them)

if bacteria can divide every 20 minutes then
the 1% will repopulate in 2 hours 20 minutes

all you are doing is breeding superbugs

Dermighty

catallus wrote: »

Tolerance? If we let people tolerate the waste of our most precious resource then we only have ourselves to blame.

Our children are our most precious resource.

catallus

That may have been true before they changed the child-labour laws, but, alas, no more.

Those freeloading kids, sickening.

_Redzer_

Hot water works better because there are enzymes in the washing up liquid that work more efficiently at higher temperatures to break down fats, oils and proteins. Like in your body some of your enzymes are geared to work best at 37 degrees celsius.
Hot water denatures proteins and softens fats, so the heat would help on its own too.

Also, even in cold water washing up liquids do help to kill off bacteria. It works better with hot water, but it does have an effect.

There's research being done to make the enzymes work as well in cold water by taking samples of deep sea bacteria and genetically modifying more common bacteria vectors, like E.Coli, to mass produce the right enzymes. There's a whole industry based on it actually.

Gael23

I thought you needed hot water to make the detergent work.

Edit: I hadn't read the last post before I wrote that!

smellmepower

Just give any cutlery or plates I use a scrub with a soapy sponge then rinse them under the cold tap right after I'm finished with them to stop sauces caking etc.Can't be using the heating in this weather.

Lingua Franca

Dermighty wrote: »

Our children are our most precious resource.

I dunno, I'm mighty attached to air. Can't get enough of it, really.

_Redzer_

Dermighty wrote: »

Our children are our most precious resource.

They made fantastic jumpers and shoes too!

Tail Docker

We pressure wash a lot of stuff, we have two big, feck off machines - one puts out cold water, one puts out hot. Both spray out at c.a 3000psi. The hot one cleans better, faster, easier and uses less water and very little detergent. Hot, ftw.

Shakespeare's Sister

Aryanna Abundant Mud wrote: »

We haven't turned on the gas heating in about two months so anything which is washed by hand is washed in cold water (I wash stuff under the running tap). No way am I wasting money on gas or electricity to wash a few dishes.

If the heat is on to warm the house I'll use the hot tap for washing of course.

I just put on the immersion for a short time rather than the heating. Can't wash dishes in cold water.

Tarzana

Aryanna Abundant Mud wrote: »

We haven't turned on the gas heating in about two months so anything which is washed by hand is washed in cold water (I wash stuff under the running tap). No way am I wasting money on gas or electricity to wash a few dishes.

Putting on the kettle a few times a day to wash up costs next to nothing. Seriously, try it out on this calculator:

https://www.electricireland.ie/ei/residential-energy-services/reduce-your-costs/appliance_calc/appliance_calculator.jsp

You need hot water to wash greasy things. Totally gross to not, not to mention stingy.

Tarzana

Deleted User wrote: »

Nope. Unless you're using boiling water then it's not gonna kill those germs any faster.

Hot water will remove the dirt more quicklier but isn't more hygienic.

Detergent, which can kill bacteria, works much better in warm water. It doesn't matter that the water isn't boiling. And even without detegent, a lot of bacteria will be killed in hot but bearable water.

ardle1

Once you wash them with wet they will get bubbled and then bacteria warm and drip dry.
That's the beast way in washing thim.
Also in tumble-dryer is tea towel.
I think em drunked.