Do Hot Hands Wash Away More Germs? Myth vs Fact (Video)

Transcript

Hot water kills germs? The myth debunked.

Hot water kills germs? The myth debunked.

Hot Water Hand Wash Myth

Ever wondered if hotter tap water really kills more germs? Stay tuned, because the answer is surprising and the key tip comes at the end.

Verdict: Myth

The short answer: it's a myth. Water hot enough to sterilize would scald your skin first, so at tolerable temperatures, warm and cold clean equally well. Soap, friction, and time do the heavy lifting.

What actually removes germs

Think of your skin as a greasy plate. Germs hide in that film. Soap molecules have a water-loving end and an oil-loving end, so when you lather and rub, they turn the grease into tiny bubbles that lift germs away. The three essentials are soap, friction, and about twenty seconds of scrubbing.

20 seconds

Health experts suggest about twenty seconds of thorough scrubbing, roughly two rounds of the Happy Birthday song.

Warm water helps

Warm water isn’t useless. It softens grease, making soap work a bit easier, and the pleasant temperature can keep you washing longer, especially in chilly winters. But it doesn’t add any germ-killing power beyond what soap already provides.

Hot water harms skin

Very hot water strips the protective oils on your hands. Repeated scalding can lead to cracked, red skin and irritant eczema, which actually makes cleaning harder. Stick to comfortable temperatures and moisturize instead of turning up the heat.

The one thing that matters

The bottom line: the only things that matter are soap, good rubbing, and about twenty seconds of wash. Water temperature is irrelevant, so use any comfortable water and focus on the three steps.

Like, subscribe and comment

Useful? Like and subscribe, and tell us in the comments what we should check next.

Read the full guide

The full guide is on thecareonline.com. General information only, so check with your doctor for your own case.