Hand dryers vs paper towels - which would you choose ?

Deciding whether to install electric hand dryers or provide paper towels in a restroom can be a difficult decision. Factors such as the price, hygiene properties and even environmental aspects of each method will play a significant part in the final decision.

Costs

Hand dryers are more expensive than paper towels − but only for the initial installation. After that they are cheaper than paper towels in every possible aspect, so the cost of the initial installation will be quickly recouped. It was found that hand dryers roughly have a 90% savings in cost compared with paper towels due to eliminating the need for the paper towel dispenser maintenance. Therefore a significant amount of money can be saved annually.

Hygiene

Several experiments have been conducted in recent years to try and establish which hand drying method is the most hygienic. One particular experiment measured the effectiveness in the removal of bacteria by assessing the changes in the number of bacteria on the hands before and after the use of paper towels and hand dryers. Finger pads were sampled by contact plates, and the palms were sampled by swabbing and inoculation of agar plates.

The results showed that paper towels were the most effective method and reduced the overall bacteria levels on the hands. Hand dryers were the least effective method of removing bacteria from washed hands and actually resulted in an increase in bacteria on the finger pads by 42% and on the palms by 15%

Environment

Hand Dryers and paper towels both use energy and environmental resources to produce. However, paper towels leave physical wastage which will then be stored in a landfill forever, whereas there is no physical waste after using a hand dryer. Moreover, if hand dryers are not provided in restrooms then there can be a problem with waste build up of paper towels.

Conclusion

It appears that hand dryers would be the preferred choice when it comes to keeping costs low and being environmentally friendly. However, the fact that bacteria on the hands can actually increase after using a hand dryer is a a concern. After all, the very reason we wash and dry our hands in the first place is to remove bacteria.

This increase in bacteria after hand drying may come down to how people are actually drying their hands though. Quite often people will only dry for a few seconds and then walk away with their hands not fully dried. Other times people will rub their hands together in an attempt to speed up the drying process. Both of these will lead to an increase in bacteria as the hands are not being dried properly.

Drying your hands for the correct amount of time and in the correct way should yield the same results as wiping your hands with a paper towel. However, for convenience reasons it appears most people don’t dry their hands in the correct way. A solution to this would be to provide a hand dryer with fast, efficient drying times.