Hot water from faucets doesn't kill germs and anti-bacterial

[BigmanPigman]

soap doesn't help much more. Wash your hands often and don't touch your face.

https://www.tested.com/science/life/459452-doing-it-wrong-hot-water-and-antibacterial-soap-dont-help-kill-germs/

"First, that business about hot water. It's true that hot water will kill off bacteria, but only at temperatures that would seriously damage your skin."

"Plain old soap may be just as effective, and ultimately better for you, than the antibacterial variety. And hand sanitizers that use alcohol also avoid the potential pitfalls of antibacterial agents while still being effective."

[Warpy]

1. Thank you. Cold water will do the trick in the laundry

Warm water is more comfy washing your hands but cold water works as well.

The only times I've used antibacterial soap is doing surgical scrubs. Otherwise, it's counterproductive since it kills some of the beneficial bugs we carry around with us. Soap binds to skin oils so that nasties stuck to it get dislodged by friction and washed away. Beneficial bugs hide in ducts and follicles and miss the deluge.

Hand sanitizer is better than nothing if you can't wash your hands, but mostly it just moves the bugs around. Good handwashing is the only thing that will send them down the drain.

[BigmanPigman]

2. When I taught 1st Graders that is what I preached.

Even with flu shots I was sick most of the school year. I told all the parents on the first day of school to send anti-bacterial soap and they did but I knew it was mainly useless. The students would find many uses for it though...like cleaning their desks' legs and sneakers with it.

I know I avoided touching their keyboards like the plague. They were germ factories since they were used by all the kids in rotation and then I had to use them all. Yuk!

On Back To School Night I told the parents to KEEP THEIR KIDS HOME if they were even slightly ill and to keep them there for two days after they recovered but of course most couldn't/wouldn't do this since they couldn't afford to. Both parents have to work these days and they don't have enough of an income to pay for temporary day care or a baby sitter.

[Warpy]

4. If you're still teaching, do this experiment, no matter what grade

If an Idaho teacher can have observable success with little kids, big kids will be even better.

And yes, they're walking Petri dishes. I worked retail and was sick the whole time because we were usually the first stop for parents with sick kids they'd retrieved from school in tow, never letting them wait in the car.

[BigmanPigman]

6. I got sick all the time when I worked in retail

but the school environment was even worse. I stopped teaching 6 years ago since I was getting so sick all the time and I have almost no immune system now. I was catching strange stuff (like Mono when I was 45 years old and no one I knew had it. It went misdiagnosed for 6 months. I also almost died from pneumonia due to a rare strain. I got Chicken Pox when I was 31 years old (while working in retail, not school at that time).

I want to know who is going to take care of those who get this virus and don't get help medical since they don't have insurance and can't afford it or are afraid to go to any public health facility for fear of being discovered by ICE. Those are real concerns due to this screwed up administration in DC. When I was working I had insur and now I have the ACA but if that is killed by the SCOTUS and/or GOP I lose everything I own in order to pay my medical bills and I am not alone.

[braddy]

3. Hot water makes for better cleaning because it remove the oils better. Wash your dishes in cold

water and notice the greasy barrier.

[Warpy]

5. That applies to meat grease on dishes, not to hands, clothing

or much else. Hot water sets grease stains into fabrics. Soap and detergent bond to oil molecules and dissolve them away,. Hard grease needs to be liquefied in order for that to work.

Best thing to do with clothing stained with motor oil or other heavy grease is to soak it for 24 hours in cool water with Dawn detergent worked into the grease, then wash as usual. Dawn is the go-to for processing greasy fleece into something a crafter wants to touch.

[braddy]

7. Being a plumber for many years I found warm water better for cleaning my hands, cold water didn't

seem to penetrate the skin oils and dirt as well, I don't know about oily mechanics and clothes.

[Warpy]

9. You were likely called a lot for congealed meat grease clogging drains.

So yeah, that makes sense. Plus, warm water is just more comfortable. Cold water and friction work, they just take a bit longer.

[braddy]

10. I was a plumber not a drain man so drains were not my primary source of calls, but yes, warm water

is more pleasing and I think the media got a little weird again with all of their reporting on "cold water" hand washing as though it is the ideal.

[Warpy]

11. Yeah, it works, but I'd hardly call it ideal

especially in cold weather. Brrrrr.

[Duppers]

8. Good info.

👍