Do I need to rinse the dishes with hot water after washing them by hand?

Question

My wife says yes...I say no because you have already cleaned them with soap and cold water is just fine.

Answer 1

For bacteria to actually die, the hot water would have to be at a temperature above what your skin could tolerate. Most people can tolerate a temperature of 110 degrees for little bits of time, but that's the most we can do. To kill bacteria with hot water alone is not feasible when you are handwashing items.
However, hot water, is necessary to get rid of bacteria. Hot water and detergent together attack oils and grime. That oil and grime that you rinse away with the water contains bacteria. Without hot water, detergent is unable to be as effective. You may end up with an oily residue on your dishes or clothes.

Hot water also makes dishes able to air dry on their own very quickly. You can do your own experiment to watch this in action. Take two dinner plates. Rinse one in cool or even warm water.

Rinse the other in very hot water. Set the plates down and watch them dry. You'll be able to see the hot water plate dry right before your eyes.
But why do we care about dishes drying quickly? Wet dishes and dishcloths are a haven for bacteria growth. Dishes that dry on their own, don't have to be towel dried, risking cross contamination. If your dishes are completely dry in your cabinets, you give no opportunity for them to be contaminated.

So technically, hot water by itself can kill bacteria, although it would have to be hotter than what we could tolerate. But the hot water we use is necessary to remove bacteria from our surfaces.

Answer 2

I agree with your wife. I always use hot water both to wash and rinse for the following reasons: hot water does a better job of rinsing off the soap residue and also any leftover food residue (which means germs- eww!), and it also helps the dishes to dry faster because the hot water will evaporate quicker than cold water will. This also reduces the chance of developing more bacteria on your dishes due to them sitting in stagnant water while they're drying. Of course, you could also dry them by hand, but that's double the work (eww again- lol). Seriously though, also note that anywhere food is prepared commercially, they use hot water for both the wash and rinse cycles because they are required to by health and sanitation codes. Well, now you have my opinion on the subject- I hope I have helped to resolve this disagreement between you and your wife. :)

Answer 3

Use hot water to rinse the dishes. The soap will clean & remove most bacteria from the dishes but hot water will remove the soap residue & most bacteria that the soap didn't kill. The hotter the water, less time it'll take for the dishes to dry before putting them away.

Answer 4

It doesn't matter if you use hot or cold water or anything in between. What gets germs and food off of the dishes is elbow grease and the soap you use. The modern dish washing liquids have grease cutters and surfactants in them, which is what you need to get your dishes clean. Surfactants make the broken up grease, dirt, food particles and germs slippery by wrapping around them and trapping them in the bubbles - wash the bubbles away and all the nasties will go, too. The same goes for hand washing - as long as you get a good frothy foam, scrub all surfaces and wash away those bubbles, you will have nice, clean hands.

Answer 5

Why don't you clean them with soap and hot water? You don't need to rinse the dishes with hot water again. Hot water not only kills bacteria, it also makes your dishes dry faster.

Answer 6

Yes, you do, because you are actually rinsing off the 'soap residue' and cold water doesn't do nearly as good a job ... and you can then taste it and could get 'diarrhea' from the 'soap' still on the plate.

Answer 7

I would think it was just a preference thing - I wash with hot water and soap,antibacterial preferably,then rinse with hot. At some point i would use hot because heat kills germs,but may put waterspots on glassware. Tell your wife at least you ARE washing them :)

Answer 8

Well in my house it's my husband doing the fussing saying it should be hot water. Hey, I don't care, as long as it's someone else doing the dishes. LOL

As long as you're getting the soap off is my motto.

Answer 9

You do the dishes???Wow she should consider herself lucky and not worry about the temperature of the water
that you are rinsing the dishes with.As long as you are washing them in hot water it really should not matter!

Answer 10

No difference, other than there may be some soap scum left from the cold water. YUCK!