[evil_twin]

You're not washing the potato to get rid of germs, you're washing it to clean off the bits of mud you cannot see to make it taste nice when it comes out. Oven cooked dirt might be clean but it doesn't taste nice.

And really, if you use an oven to make a baked potato and it doesn't come out nice then you need help. First scrub the potato lightly to remove the dirt, and then fork it in a few places. Then wrap the potato in aluminium foil for the first hour of cooking, this prevents the skin from getting over cooked while the middle heats up. After the first hour take the foil off and cook for another 45 minutes. Remove and prepare for the awesomest baked potato ever.