The Misappliance Of Science

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Hot Pants

Debunked: Putting your panties into the microwave is a good way to kill any yeast bacteria they may carry.

University of Florida and Baylor College researchers discovered that the yeast-causing organism, Candida albicans, the spores of which can be found in a woman's undergarments if she suffers from a yeast infection, can be killed by microwaving. Home microwaving isn't, however, a good way to accomplish this.

Many microwave ovens do not heat evenly throughout the cooking space: some ovens use a stirrer blade on the output of the waveguide to distribute the radiation, some use a rotating antenna, and some rotate the food. It is undetermined which method is best or whether the distribution of microwave energy is completely uniform. To have any sort of value as a "budget autoclave", you would have to be able to completely rely on every point within the oven being heated as well as every other point, else you risk the whole process being ineffective.

This page relates the story of a fire department that was called to a house fire, to find nylon panties in the microwave as the source of the smoke. The site recommends more proven methods for eliminating the yeast spores.

You can visit this How Stuff Works page on microwave ovens to find out more about how these ovens operate.

References:

• Body & Fitness, on yeast infections.
• How Stuff Works, microwave ovens.