The two devices you see in the photo are common in restrooms across America and in other lands as well. Sometimes there is no choice to be made about which to use to dry your hands — it’s either a paper towel or the air dryer. But other times you can choose.
We recall a poll years ago by a Northern California TV station that asked which of these methods was the safest from germs — the towels or the air dryer. It turned out that the towels were safer, at least for men. The reason: The guys who used the air dryer would often, when they were finished, rub their hands on their pants to complete the drying process. Who knows, of course, what germs were inhabiting their clothing?
Let’s see what you and the other readers of this newsletter would do. Would you opt for the paper towels or use the hot, blowing air to dry your hands — after washing them, of course?
Remember, it can take a few moments for the poll to load, so stand by.
For the last week or so the actual poll doesn’t show up. The page loads but the vote does not. I’m using an iPad Pro.
Check your settings
Sorry about that, David. Here’s what one of our IT folks said about that issue awhile ago: “Sometimes script blockers and ad blockers interfere with our polls since they are from a 3rd party site. If you have one of these try and turn it off and see if that fixes the issue.” I hope that works for you. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
The air blower pulls air and germs from the air and concentrates them on hands and redirects through room. That is why a number of air dryers were pulled during Covid and replaced with paper towels. I will shake my hands before using the air dryer!
Yep, agree.
I wonder how long its going to take before the engineers who design the public restrooms realize, when you use a blow dryer to dry your hands the water forced off your skin falls to the floor, right below the blow dryer. They should place a drain in the floor to allow the water to drain away.
That costs money
Pipe, AND a mechanically filled P-trap, because there is not enough water off one’s hands to keep a P-trap full, therefore sewer gas in a room already too full of natural gas.
There is air circulating constantly in the restrooms rather from a hand dryer or from the ceiling and it’s not fresh air folks. I don’t know whom coughed or sneezed on the paper towel. I observed at a big box store some one coughing right at the paper towel dispenser. I shook my hands as leaving. Now I carry a couple of paper towels in my back pocket. But the norm for me is the hand dryer trying to help saving the environment from killing more trees and burying more trash and I’m still wearing a mask while in the stores.
What’s the difference? Killing a tree to keep it from dying from Japanese pine beetles, or dumping pollution into the air from coal fired power plants to run the dryer?
Trees used to make paper are a crop, like corn or wheat. Drive thru the southeast – full of cropped “paper” trees, just like Christmas tree farms , also a crop. Paper bags – renewable and quickly degradable even without burying and can be burned to make electricity, like where I live.. Plastic bags – oil that can be used for more important things, very hard to ever get rid of. Some paper towels are made from recycled paper. The people called ‘tree huggers” got this all wrong many years back. I too am a “tree hugger” when it comes to saving “real” trees. “Save the trees”, but I still have to have a “live” Christmas Tree. I’ve been trying to figure this out for decades. Trees used for paper are a farmed and renewable crop.
I would use the paper towel dispenser first as long as it had automatic hands free dispensing. I stay away from the ones that have a handle or bar that needs to be pushed. I’ve seen too many people just rinse their hands without using soap.
Paper towels for sure. I don’t want to stand in air full of germs floating.
Dry your hands throughly, damp surfaces pick up more bacteria than dry ones.
I grew up in Texas, played in the dirt, drank from the hose. Germs are a part of life, and they live on the door handle you grabbed when you exited the restroom. I bet some live on the keyboard you are using now !
use a stylus on the key pad! Lol
I like the hand air dryers at Costco. Otherwise, I prefer a paper one time use towel. But, germs are everywhere, hard to avoid.
Not a Germofobic.
Air blowers are too noisy. (Unless the Dyson hand dryer)
The poll should have read ‘paper towel’ or ‘air blower, then wipe hands on pants’. 😁😁😁
When using paper towels, one can use the used towels to pull the door to get out.
If you think blowers are better for the environment, how much electricity does it take to run a blower vs dispensing a paper towel? One reason blowers might be popular in a place is less maintenance. The owner of the rest room doesn’t have to order, store and replace paper towels if they use blowers.
Which is cleaner? Blowers blow any left over germs all over the place. Paper towels can wipe away a few more cruddy-bugs.
My personal preference, paper towels. Blowers in a tile lined room are uncomfortably noisy
I always carry a several full sheets of paper towel and a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my pockets. Paper towel for drying hands and opening the door.
The paper towel, and then I would use it to open the door on my way out of the restroom.
Yep, to protect yourself from the bacteria left on the door by pigs who don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. When I first started driving truck I witnessed a driver come out of restroom stall(from which I presume he had a bowel movement) and walk past the sinks and go right to the buffet line where he used his predominate hand to handle every serving utensil on the line. I swore I’d never eat off a buffet line again.
Agree, I don’t like touching someone’s private parts and behind by proxy. Just think of all the things they touch after leaving the bathroom! I always had a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket even before the pandemic.
I chose paper towels. It would be nice to know if the paper towel manufacturers are using recycled paper in their product…
While air dryers reduce paper waste, they are not totally environmentally neutral. After all, they use electricity, which is not produced without some environmental issues. Some of this power may even be produced by a coal-fired plant. Paper towels aren’t environmentally neutral either. I would like to see a study that takes into account all sides of this issue so we could be confident that we actually are acting sensibly.
If you are so worried about the environment then don’t wash your hands.
THIS!
I would use the paper towels, in part because of the “blowing germs”, I’d seen studies on that year ago.
On top of that, with hearing issues with loud noises, some air driers are literally painful for me, especially the high powered ones. I’m not the only one apparently, having seen a child have a meltdown when one went off unexpectedly next to him.
Air Hand Dryer Instructions:
1-Press Button To Activate
2-Rub Hands Together Vigorously
3-Wipe Hands On Your Pants
I can’t remember being in a public restroom where I had a choice.
I would choose the paper towels mainly because of the obnoxious deafening noise the air blower makes. I would then use my paper towel to open the bathroom door.
I read a study some time ago that says the blow driers in a bathroom are as dirty as a toilet seat. The air collected by the blower takes the air from same room as toilets and puts it on your hands as you dry them. The paper towels are reasonably clean as it comes off a roll.
This kinda reminded me of a public restroom I was in a while back that had both, but the towel dispenser was empty. Not sure if they just weren’t refilling it or everyone was using the paper towel. I will use paper every time I can, especially if I have to open the door afterwards. Remember when someone would write on the dryers and say, afterwards “wipe hands on pants”.
I don’t want to concentrate aerosolized bacteria and viruses onto my hands. Bad enough to have to visit one of those filthy facilities. Paper towels allow me to also open the door with them preventing further contamination.
You nailed it
Agree!
The installation of electric driers aren’t just about the customer. When driers are installed instead of paper towels restroom will look cleaner because of a reduction in trash on the floor and overflowing trash cans from the paper towels.
I’ll use either one but prefer paper so I have something to open the door and not touch the same handle people that don’t wash their touch.
Towel!!
These days by the time I get my hands dried I will need to pee again…!!!
You usually don’t need to dry your hands. I learned how to “air dry” in the Army. Works fine, saves time, saves resources.
Push button, wipe hands on pants!
Having been a nurse plus having worked in audiology for 8 years, I used paper towels if I have a choice. The blow dryers are damaging to your hearing and can stir up airborne pathogens that have settled on bathroom surfaces.
I agree with Cindy, I hate the sound of the blowers