Whats the best way to clean the top of pop cans?

Question

I'm doing a science experiment and I want to know Whats the best way to clean the top of pop cans? But how do I see how much bacteria is on the pop can to begin with?

Answer 1

How to see how much bacteria is there: You would need to use a microscope or a petri dish. The petri dish would be more dramatic, because you can see the results with the naked eye. Or perhaps you have access to a microscope that can capture an image.

The way I would do the experiment: Buy a six-pack of soda. Use one can for your 'control'... that is, check the bacteria level without cleaning it. The other five cans, clean them with different methods before swabbing for germs. Use methods that a person would use in a normal situation. Drinking soda at school, a normal student could use plain water, water plus rubbing with a paper towel, and soapy water with and without rubbing. You could choose to test hot vs. cold water. If you really want to do a lot of testing, try rubbing alcohol, a bleach solution, dish soap... but then you're getting into stuff that the normal soda drinker probably wouldn't use.

How to get the bacteria from the can: Wet a new, totally clean cotton swab and rub it all over the top of the can. Then rub the swab on the surface of the petrie dish, or on a microscope slide. Do each one exactly the same way.

Tip: Hands are noramlly extremely germy. Wash your hands and don't touch the swab or the top of the can. For a dramatic flourish in your experiment, how about swabbing a person's unwashed hand to compare that bacteria level to what is on the cans. It's very possible that one's fingers are more germy than the metal.

Answer 2

Take a sterile cotton swab/q-tip and rub around the top of the can then swab the swab onto a petri dish. To clean you can use ultra-violet light or even triclosan, bleach, peroxide, or heat.

Answer 3

hot water and soap w/ bleach