Cold water 'as good as hot' for washing hands

A study has suggested that recommendations to wash hands with hot water rather than unheated water to kill more germs may not be true.

The US research, printed in the Journal of Food Protection, which investigated the popular assumptions about the benefits of warm or hot water, found that using water at 15 degrees left hands as clean as water heated to 38 degrees.

Studying a small group of 20 people, volunteers, who had harmless bugs placed on their hands, were required to wash their hands 20 times each with water that was 15 degrees, 26 degrees or 38 degrees, as well as experiment with varying amounts of soap.

The researchers claim that there was no difference in the amount of bugs removed as the temperature of the water or the amount of soap changed, but concede that further extensive work is needed to determine the best ways to remove harmful bacteria.

Professor Donald Schaffner said: "People need to feel comfortable when they are washing their hands but as far as effectiveness, this study shows us that the temperature of the water used did not matter."

Current NHS advice recommends that people wash their hands in either cold or warm water, for at least 20 seconds and stress the importance of using enough soap to cover the whole surface of the hands.