TL;DR
Moisture conducts heat extremely well – this leads to severe burns.
 ## Why is this so dangerous? Water conducts heat **up to 25 times better** than dry air. If your oven mitt or cloth is damp, the heat from the hot tray is transferred to your hands immediately. ## The physics behind it - Thermal conductivity of water: ~0.6 W/(m·K) - Thermal conductivity of air: ~0.024 W/(m·K) - A damp cloth feels instantly hotter ## What you should do instead 1. Use dry cotton oven mitts 2. Silicone oven mitts – heat resistant 3. Wait 5 minutes after turning off A damp cloth never belongs near the oven.