Do you need to wash dishes with hot water?
The short answer
Cold water with soap and scrubbing removes most grease and germs, but hot water makes cleaning easier by better dissolving oils. You would need to use water hotter than your hands can comfortably tolerate to kill germs, which is one reason why dishwashers are so helpful.
The long answer
This question has probably kicked off more than a few arguments in the kitchen, so it's time we finally put it to rest.
Whether you're a "Hot Water or Bust" believer or you're on team "Cold Water Is Just Fine," I'm sure we're all learn something new about getting our dishes spick and span.
What's the difference between cleaning and sanitizing?
First, let's define what it means to "wash" the dishes. Cleaning and sanitizing sometimes get used interchangeably, but they mean different things:
🧼 Cleaning involves physically removing grease and germs.
⚔️ Sanitizing involves killing germs.
When you clean a dish, you use water, soap, and scrubbing to physically lift and wash away all that nasty stuff. This physical process is effective at removing stuck-on food and most harmful viruses and bacteria, so it's sufficiently clean for most homes.
Sanitizing is more relevant for those with compromised immune systems or restaurants. Since there's a higher standard for washing dishes, sanitizing makes sure that any traces of harmful germs are neutralized, reducing the risk of disease.
Do you have to clean dishes with hot water?
No, but hot water does make cleaning dishes faster and more effective.
Hot water helps you clean dishes in a few ways. The heat from the water can help convert solid grease and fat into liquid, which reduces the amount of scrubbing needed. Hot water can also soften sticky and starchy food residues and make them easier to wash away.
Since food residue is less likely to get left behind while using hot water, it's less likely that a film of grease is left behind for germs to proliferate, leading to a cleaner dish. Finally many dish soaps are designed to work better in hot water, so if you choose to use cold water, you might end up leaving behind some soapy residue on your dish.
But, let me be clear, hot water isn't a requirement to getting a clean dish. In fact, the temperature of the water isn't a big factor in cleaning dishes. The effectiveness of dishwashing has far more to do with dish soap and scrubbing.
Need a refresher on how soap works? Check out an earlier article I wrote on that topic.
Dish soap is designed to lower the surface tension of water, allow it to mix with oil more effectively, and ultimately wash away grease and germs. The scrubbing action to get water picking up these dirty microbes and grease is critical to making the soap do its job.
So if you're happier using cold water, do what makes you happy. Just know that you're going to have to scrub a lot longer and harder to make sure all that food residue and bacteria is getting washed away.
Do you have to sanitize dishes with hot water?
If you want to go the extra mile with your dishes, let's talk about killing germs through sanitization. There are two main ways to sanitize your dishes and effectively kill harmful bacteria and viruses:
🧪 After cleaning, soak your dishes in a solution of bleach and water. This method doesn't require you use hot water.
🔥 Clean your dishes using water that's at least 140°F (60°C). This method would burn your hands. Ouch!
If neither of these methods sounds enticing to you, you may have a secret weapon in your kitchen: the humble dishwasher.
"Dishwasher with dishes" by Piotrus is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Most household water heaters are set below 140°F (60°C) to prevent scalding. But dishwashers can reach temperatures around 150°F (65°C) during wash and rinse cycles, killing far more bacteria than we ever could hand washing. Top it off with a high heat drying cycle, and bacteria doesn't stand a chance.
Do you need to wash dishes with hot water?
Hot water is not necessary to clean dishes because soap, scrubbing, and rinsing is primarily how grease and germs get physically removed. But since hot water makes cleaning more efficient, it likely also contributes to a cleaner dish.
And unless you're using bleach, hot water is critical to sanitizing dishes, so if you're fortunate enough to have a dishwasher: load 'er up.
In the debate between hot water and cold water dishwashing aficionados, hot water has an edge.
🧠 Bonus brain points: How should dishes be dried?
If you can't wash your dishes in a dishwasher, air drying is more sanitary than towel drying. The reason is simple: Most of us don't wash our dish towels frequently enough. We use them, they get wet, they harbor bacteria, and then we .... towel dry our clean dishes. The better way is to let your dishes air dry on a rack.
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Sources
Aguirre, S. (2024, February 7). Washing Dishes in Cold Water? 12 Reasons You Should Stop. The Spruce. https://www.thespruce.com/why-wash-dishes-with-hot-water-1900446
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, January 31). When and How to Clean and Disinfect Your Home. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/about/cleaning-and-disinfecting-with-bleach.html
Holland, K. (2023, February 3). Is the Hot Water in My Dishwasher Really Hot Enough to Kill Bacteria?. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/article/does-dishwasher-kill-bacteria/
Lee, J., Cartwright, R., Grueser, T., & Pascall, M. A. (2007). Efficiency of manual dishwashing conditions on bacterial survival on eating utensils. Journal of Food Engineering, 80(3), 885–891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2006.08.003
Macdonald, K. (2022, January 3). How Hot Does Your Water *Actually* Need to Be to Clean Dishes?. Food52. https://food52.com/blog/22044-the-best-way-to-hand-wash-dishes
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