> > My housemates are convinced that air drying is more hygenic than tea-towel drying, when washing up dishes. I happen to 'know' that that's only true if the water is steaming hot, and the dishes are put away as soon as they're dry. What I need is to find it written somewhere, so I can prove it to them.
> > Does anyone know where I can find such a beast?
> >
> > sam"besides, it looks neater if you dry and put away immediately"hael
>
> It is better to air dry something than to towel dry something only if the water is steaming hot and the dishes are put away right after they are dry. There you go.

I would assume air drying is better UNLESS you use a newly laundered tea towel every time OR the air in your kitchen is full of soot, fly spray, cigarette smoke, or airborne anthrax spores being secretly piped into your house by a malicious neighbour.

I air dry dishes because, hey, it happens all by itself. I'm not going to spend time towel drying dishes when you get exactly the same result from doing nothing.