Thoughts on hot air hand driers....

[eyepaddle]

Believe it or not, I have actually grown quite partial to them! In addition to saviing trees, and being more hygienic than roller towels they actually get your hands completely DRY. That rubbing hands briskly direction is quite useful. SO my reasons for making the switch:
1) Reduces paper use
2) Gets hands totally dry (even right between the fingers
3) More hygienic than towels (especially the sensor activated type)
and perhaps most importantly
4) They don't obliterate all your skins natural moisture! I've got hand lotion here at my desk, but I barely need to use it these days.

Oh yeah, I'll throw in the obligatory PSA--washing you hands frequently is the best way to protect yourself in cold nad flu season. It just can never be said enough.... :)

[montanto]

1. press button, wipe hands on pants.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. On the other hand....

Using electricity adds more carbons to the atmosphere.

Here's a Carbon Footprint Calculator:
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html

[eyepaddle]

3. As I understand it making and transporting the paper towels

emits more Co2 than using the hot air driers. I just don't have specific number on that so I left it out.

[Little Wing]

4. And germs in a bathroom just lurve the warm dark spot to grow

until they are blasted all over your hands

[eyepaddle]

5. Unless they're TB it likely wouldn't matter,

TB is (so far) the only illness that has been shown to be transmitted as an aerosol. Everything else is almost surely direct contact. This includes flu. An additional protective factor is the air coming out of one of those things is VERY dry, which would keep the surfaces inside dry, and thus not a very favorable location for bacterial growth.

On the down side though removing the water form the droplets would give any aerosols a much smaller aerodynamic diameter and thus keep the particles from settling out of the air.

However, I've never heard of any studies done on germ growth in air hand driers, and I must admit I'm kind of curious to see what is growing in them. Of course seeing if there are things residing there AND are transmitted as an aerosol would be a pretty big follow-up project.

[chaska]

6. I loathe them. Can't stand the noise. They're...

LOUD AS HELL!

I never use them. I just wipe my hands on my pants after washing my hands. That's the best solution for the environment. And besides I got better things to do than to stand there half the day waiting for my hands to dry.

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. I always carry hand sanitizer in purse

I hate public restrooms, and any and all things found there for "cleaning up" oneself x(

[eyepaddle]

8. I used to do that

but the way you always have SOME water left on your hands means your hands get very cold if it's chilly outside--that's actually the reason I started using them in the last couple of weeks. I always hated the noise and the waiting, but now my hands don't freeze when I go ourtside. So I decided I'd test it out for a little while and see if I got used to it (just like I did with wearing my seat belt back in the day) and have noticed my hands aren't nearly as rough and cracked as they usually are at this time of year.

I know most people hate them, but I have been pleasantly surprised in my try-out here.

[Zavulon]

9. Sorry, I'm not sold

So many people don't wash their hands that I prefer to use the paper towel to open the door on my way out. I prefer to let the lumber industry grow and chop down a few more trees than just blindly assume that I'm not getting fecal bacteria on my hands on the way out the door.