Electric hand dryers, a sustainable alternative.

Hand washing with soap and water is considered the most effective method for removing impurities and microorganisms. So much so that the United Nations established Global Handwashing Day in 2008 as a reminder of the need to improve hygiene practices. This day has become an annual event to raise awareness of the importance of hand hygiene for public health.

In the context of the pandemic, hand hygiene became a priority for both WHO and millions of citizens around the world. Although the role of hand washing had always been largely considered in healthcare and food facilities, following Covid-19, companies and institutions in all sectors became aware of the need for adequate hand washing facilities to minimize the spread of infections.

However, while in recent years we have constantly heard about the importance of hand washing, we have not heard so much about hand drying.

Hand washing consists of a series of steps that safely loosen and remove dirt and microorganisms through chemical and physical actions. When done correctly, each step can reduce the number of microorganisms on the skin by 10,000. Thus, the hand washing process includes the following four steps:

1.Moisturizing the hands to remove dirt.

2.Hand washing

3.Hand rinsing

4.Drying hands

Hand drying is often considered less important than hand washing. This perception is unjustified, as wet hands can spread a thousand times more bacteria than dry hands. Wet hands are a breeding ground for bacteria, which are quickly transmitted through moisture from the toilet to other areas.

As we have just seen, drying hands is an essential step in hand hygiene. But what exactly are the benefits? We list them below:

Microorganisms play an important role on the skin. The skin harbors both beneficial and harmless microbes and undesirable microbes. In the so-called resident flora and transient flora.

The resident flora is permanent and is found in the outer and superficial layers of the skin. The transient flora, however, only reaches the first layers of the skin after contact with contaminated fluids, surfaces or objects. As a rule, these microorganisms usually survive on the skin, but do not multiply because the environment is too harsh – unless the hands are wet.

Transient microbes are eliminated by careful washing and drying of the hands. Since wet hands provide a favorable environment for their survival and transmission. Drying hands reduces the transfer of microorganisms to various surfaces, including food, by more than 90%.

Drying hands on clothing is a common practice for many people. However, this practice is strongly discouraged, as hands can be re-contaminated by dirt accumulated on clothing from the environment or from toilet mist.

The installation of washroom hand dryers encourages washroom users to use them. This prevents them from drying their hands on their clothes or leaving with wet hands, which considerably increases the risk of recontamination.

The sensation of having wet hands is not comfortable, so the natural reaction of any person is to want to dry them. Therefore, establishments should offer hand drying methods to customers and staff. The aim is to encourage them to dry their hands and reduce the risk of contamination of wet skin by unwanted microorganisms.

Proper hand washing should remove most of the dirt from the skin, however, small traces may remain if the process is not done properly or if the dirt is difficult to remove. Therefore, drying hands can help to get rid of more dirt that may remain after washing.

We can conclude that hand drying is an essential step in hand hygiene. There are several hand drying options to meet the needs of businesses and establishments in all sectors: paper towels, textile towel rolls, hot air hand dryers, electric hand dryers… Each has its own characteristics, but how to choose the best washroom hand dryer?

The use of a hand dryer has advantages and is the best alternative to paper dispensers. It inevitably reduces paper consumption and, by extension, contributes to biodiversity conservation. In fact, the electric hand dryer reduces the environmental footprint of everyday life to a large extent. In fact, to produce 1,000 kg of paper, about 17 tree trunks have to be sacrificed. Therefore, using an electric hand dryer can be very beneficial for the environment.

Thus, the most appropriate solution to achieve a healthier environment in an establishment is the use of an electrical device designed for this purpose, which is none other than an electric hand dryer. The design of this device makes it possible to improve hygiene in a professional environment in a more ecological, but also more economical way. It is true that drying hands with paper towels or napkins is still effective. However, their constant use increases the daily amount of waste in the toilets or in other rooms of the establishment, and their manufacture is significantly detrimental to the environment. Therefore, their use is not a sustainable solution and that is why the use of an electric hand dryer is recommended.

In conclusion, the importance of using an electric hand dryer is that it greatly minimizes the use of paper towels and any type of textile towel, which will need to be washed, using a large amount of water to do so. Therefore, a facility that uses these electric hand dryers will be making an important contribution to the preservation of the environment.

Here are some of the advantages of electric hand dryers over traditional paper hand dryers:

1. They are convenient and easy to maintain.

Compared to paper towels, electric hand dryers require very little maintenance. The new high-speed hand dryers eliminate the stress of having an empty paper towel dispenser and a toilet overflowing with paper in garbage cans and on the floor.

2. Discarded towels can spread germs and bacteria down the toilet if not disposed of in a receptacle.

3. They are a sustainable alternative for the environment.

As mentioned above, they are a great advantage in terms of reducing paper production. However, their use not only avoids the felling of trees, but also the greenhouse gases generated by such production.

4. New technologies

It is indisputable that electric hand dryers can be harmful to the environment precisely because of their electricity consumption. However, new technologies have made it possible to develop the latest generation of hand dryers with this issue in mind, with designs that consume up to 80% less energy than traditional hand dryers.

TOPFLOW electric hand dryer