How Hot Water Kills Bacteria, Breaks Down Grease, & Cuts Your Drying Time In Half
Should you wash your dishes with hot water? If you are someone who still washes the dishes by hand (and we all do a time or two) then you know that keeping your hands under running hot water isn’t ideal. So maybe you wash your dishes with lukewarm or cold water instead. But did you know that the temperature of the water can actually determine whether or not your dishes are really clean? You learn something new every day!
Pro Tip: Buy a heavy-duty pair of bright neon colored household gloves to protect your hands. You’ll look super cool. And your dishes will be grease-free.
You should be using hot water when washing your dishes in order to…
Cut Grease
A water temperature that’s under 90 degrees will leave a harboring film grease on your dishes. The ability for the water to cut the grease diminishes the cooler the water gets. Which means you’ve ultimately wasted all of that water for nothing. Try letting dishes with heavy stuck on food debris or grease soak in hot water for a few minutes before scrubbing them and rinsing them off to dry.
Downsize On The Drying Time
Hot water, in general, tends to dry quicker than warm or cool water. But as an added bonus dishes washed with hot water dry without spots or streaks. That’s right. No more towel drying to massage out those old water spots. If you’re not too worried about water spots, I hate to tell you that they are a haven for growing bacteria. So it’s important to wash and dry them properly.
Enhance Magic Cleaning Power
If you want to spend less time scrubbing and more time rinsing and drying you’ll want to wash your dishes with hot water. Washing your dishes with hot water helps lift away food debris cutting your scrubbing time in half. So it only enhances the effect your dish soap has on your dirty dishes.
Get Rid Of Lingering Bacteria
You need to have hot water to effectively kill bacteria on your dishes. Although you may think that you get a better clean with more soap suds, which is what you get when you use cold water, that’s not the case. The more soap you have doesn’t mean the cleaner your dishes are. It’s also more effective to let your dishes soak in hot water and soap for at least one minute prior to washing them and setting them out to dry.
Tips For Washing Your Dishes With Hot Water
- Buy two pairs of cleaning gloves
- Don’t let food sit in a dish overnight, let them soak in soapy hot water overnight
- Always soak in hot water before scrubbing and rinsing
- After they’ve soaked in hot water if you cannot withstand the running hot water on your hands you can lower the temperature
Anything else we should know? Let us know by dropping a comment below!
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Professional NYC Cleaning Company Recommend Hot or Cold Water for Dishes?
As a professional NYC cleaning company, we get asked all the time whether hot or cold water really makes a difference when washing dishes. Based on our crew’s experience cleaning thousands of kitchens across New York City, we always recommend hot water – but the reason might surprise you.
Hot water isn’t just about killing germs (your dish soap actually does most of that work). The real advantage is that hot water cuts through grease and oil much faster than cold water. Think about how butter melts in a hot pan versus a cold one—the same principle applies to the greasy residue on your plates and pans. Our cleaning team has found that hot water reduces scrubbing time by nearly half, which means less wear on your dishes and less effort for you.
One of our satisfied customers shared, “The kitchen looks incredible – countertops, cabinets, and appliances all spotless.” This attention to detail starts with understanding how temperature affects cleaning power.
Maid Sailors Cleaning Service trains our entire cleaning crew on the science behind effective cleaning, and water temperature is one of the first lessons. For tough, baked-on food, we combine hot water with proper soaking time before scrubbing. This same approach works whether you’re tackling dirty dishes or need a full bathroom cleaning in NYC.
Here’s our pro tip: If you’re washing dishes by hand, the water should be as hot as you can comfortably handle with gloves. For dishwashers, your machine heats the water to about 140-160°F automatically, which is hotter than your tap water and perfect for sanitizing. One thing we’ve noticed in our deep cleaning services in NYC is that many people don’t realize their water heater might not be set hot enough. We recommend checking that your water heater is set to at least 120°F for effective dishwashing and cleaning throughout your home.
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