topic Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water in Community Chat

Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

handygal2 — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:42:22 GMT

Using cold water to wash your hands kills just as many germs as hot water. Just use plenty of soap. Interesting...

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/cold-water-good-hot-killing-germs-hands-study-article-1.3216103

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

wvumountiefan — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:44:50 GMT

They taught us in nursing school that when washing our hands, the water temp made no difference. What matters most is the soap and the length of time. I avoid hand sanitizer as much as possible.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

Bri36 — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:49:05 GMT

Personally, I don't like the feel of cold water.

I always thought it was the length of time you washed your hands over the temperature of the water myself.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

PinkyPetunia — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:52:22 GMT

I knew that but I don't like putting my hands in cold water. It chills me to the bone.

In the winter the cold water from the tap is freezing. In summer it is still very cool.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

handygal2 — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:51:25 GMT

@wvumountiefan wrote:
They taught us in nursing school that when washing our hands, the water temp made no difference. What matters most is the soap and the length of time. I avoid hand sanitizer as much as possible.

@wvumountiefan: I've heard that if you sing the Happy Birthday song to yourself twice, that's the proper length of time to be effective. That's about 20 seconds when l do it, lol.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

candys mine — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 14:55:31 GMT

Yup, and in some cases cold water is absolutely better than hot water. Any instance where you do not want to open the pores.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

Quse — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 15:00:16 GMT

Water temp doesn't matter, but you are likely to wash longer with warmer water...unless you like cold water better.

Soap doesn't actually kill germs. It traps dirt, bacteria, etc..within the bubbles and lather and they are rinsed off. The longer you work the lather, the more likely you are to trap more in the suds.

FYI- most "soaps" are not soap at all, but some chemical concoction. Soap is only soap if it's made with lye and oils that create a thermal reaction, turning into soap.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

SeaMaiden — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 15:28:01 GMT

That is good to know about cold water being ok. How long do you need to wash with the soap for all the germs to die? I know my husband does not wash his hands long enough, and probably nor do I. If it is the length of time to sing happy birthday( the song)... I doubt most people wash long enough.....

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

noodleann — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:08:23 GMT

Here's an abstract from the actual study, as published in "Journal of Food Protection."

Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 from Hands

The literature on hand washing, while extensive, often contains conflicting data, and key variables are only superficially studied or not studied at all. Some hand washing recommendations are made without scientific support, and agreement between recommendations is limited.

The influence of key variables such as soap volume, lather time, water temperature, and product formulation on hand washing efficacy was investigated in the present study. Baseline conditions were 1 mL of a bland (nonantimicrobial) soap, a 5-s lather time, and 38°C (100°F) water temperature. A nonpathogenic strain of Escherichia coli (ATCC 11229) was the challenge microorganism.

Twenty volunteers (10 men and 10 women) participated in the study, and each test condition had 20 replicates. An antimicrobial soap formulation (1% chloroxylenol) was not significantly more effective than the bland soap for removing E. coli under a variety of test conditions. Overall, the mean reduction was 1.94 log CFU (range, 1.83 to 2.10 log CFU) with the antimicrobial soap and 2.22 log CFU (range, 1.91 to 2.54 log CFU) with the bland soap.

Overall, lather time significantly influenced efficacy in one scenario, in which a 0.5-log greater reduction was observed after 20 s with bland soap compared with the baseline wash (P = 0.020). Water temperature as high as 38°C (100°F) and as low as 15°C (60°F) did not have a significant effect on the reduction of bacteria during hand washing; however, the energy usage differed between these temperatures. No significant differences were observed in mean log reductions experienced by men and women (both 2.08 log CFU; P = 0.988).

A large part of the variability in the data was associated with the behaviors of the volunteers. Understanding what behaviors and human factors most influence hand washing may help researchers find techniques to optimize the effectiveness of hand washing.

--------

This makes it clear that 20 seconds of lathering (versus 5 seconds) is important to the effectiveness of clearing the bacteria, that the water temp within those ranges didn't matter (although 100 isn't really "warm" to me), and that regular soap worked just as well as antimicrobial.

BUT they only tested this with one "challenge microorganism." It would be interesting to see this rerun with other germs typically found in bathrooms and kitchens, to make sure the 20 second lathering with any old soap in cool to lukewarm water had the same results.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

ROMARY — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 20:05:17 GMT

Regarding laundry: 'Used to be', years ago, that they were saying that cold water actually releases the stains, while hot water actually 'bakes in' (sets in) the stains. For many, many years (decades), I've been using cold water only, to avoid shrinkage.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

ROMARY — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 20:13:34 GMT

Most of us wouldn't want to use hot water on our hands. Also, I'm thinking that most germs like and thrive in warmth (rather than cold), and using warm water doesn't necessarily mean that those germs are being eradicated. Well, just a fleeing thought of mine (as usual), right or wrong. (I guess I'm saying and thinking right now that opening our pores by using 'hot' water might not be as good for us as it might sound. Freshly opened pores, then touching public bathroom door knobs, store items, grocery carts, etc., etc........Well you get my drift.......)

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

LilacTree — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 20:15:17 GMT

Linens and towels, both bath and kitchen . . . hot water.

Regular wash . . . tepid water.

Jeans and other clothing items that can shrink . . . cold water.

I also use tepid water when I shower. Hot water makes me itch all over for hours. And it's really not good for one's skin.

OT: I brush my teeth every time I eat anything. I put Listerine in with the water when I use my WaterPik. I wash my hands constantly and have to use hand cream every time because they are so dry.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

chickenbutt — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 20:32:31 GMT

Interesting! I wash my hands quite a few times a day and, in the interest of not wanting to waste water and unless I was just handling raw poultry or something, I just turn it on, hit the soap, and start washing in the cold/cool water. Glad that's not problematic.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

chrystaltree — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 20:36:01 GMT

Yes, I've heard that. It's not the water temperature that matters, it's length of time you wash scrubbing your hands together and using soap.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

Starpolisher — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 23:30:10 GMT

@wvumountiefan wrote:
They taught us in nursing school that when washing our hands, the water temp made no difference. What matters most is the soap and the length of time. I avoid hand sanitizer as much as possible.

I also learned this in nursing school. I also learned that singing a verse of Happy Birthday two times was one way to keep track of the time. I sometimes still hum it inside my head when washing my hands!

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

151949 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 03:33:21 GMT

Actually the way things hold onto surfaces is something called surface tension. Soap releases that surface tension so that the friction of rubbing your hands together or washing something with a rag loosens it and then it rinses away.

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

hyacinth003 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 03:45:44 GMT

Time and the friction are important for hand washing. It isn't necessarily which soap or water temperature you use.

Handwashing is super important in infection control. Probably why my hands will never look great again!

Hyacinth

Re: Cold Water Hand Washing Just As Good As Hot Water

Mominohio — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 03:57:18 GMT

I had heard this years ago, as other posters have noted, it is about the whole friction thing, not really about the heat of the water.

Time is important. I notice people washing their hands, especially in public restrooms, and it is alarming how many people just barely dampen their hands and move on.

I have no scientific support for this, but I've always thought that in addition to the length of time spent washing, one of the most overlooked things in proper hand hygiene is the length of time and the thoroughness of hand rinsing. It makes no sense to me, to spend the proper time washing, and getting those germs transferred to the 'soap', then not get that cleaning agent completely removed from the skin.

Rinse time and quality are not something I've ever heard addressed in things that teach proper hand washing techniques, but I tend to put as much importance on it as the actual washing.