The norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes severe gastrointestinal distress. It occurs when someone touches a contaminated item like a counter top, money, etc. and then puts their hand or fingers in their mouth. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends washing hands with soap and water to prevent norovirus spread. According to the article “Proper Hand Washing, Including Drying, Helps Combat Norovirus” at www.cleanlink.com proper hand drying is just as important as proper hand washing techniques. “A Mayo Clinic study determined that because bacteria is more likely to be transmitted from wet skin than dry skin, proper hand drying after washing should be an integral part of the hand hygiene process.” I feel this is important to know and think about next time we are washing our hands in the bathroom. In many public bathrooms I’ve witnessed individuals wipe there hands briefly on their pants or wave their hands around to shake some water droplets off. That’s not good enough. The soap and water doesn’t remove all of the bacteria from your hands. Drying is critical to removing the optimal level of bacteria and preventing illness. The article goes on to discuss how drying hands thoroughly with paper towel reduces bacteria on palms by up to 77 percent. What if an automatic hand dryer can take bacteria removal to the next level?
One example of a hand dryer on the market that takes bacteria removal seriously is the Dyson Airblade. Let’s look at the all new and improved Dyson Airblade dB or Dyson AB14. It’s much improved from the original Dyson Airblade as it operates 50% quieter and moves air at 420 MPH. You place your hands inside of this model so it is touch less and it dries hands more thoroughly than paper towel. The hand dryer “Wipes the surface of the hands dry with a high-velocity sheet of air in 12 seconds.” Both sides of the hands are dried simultaneously. This dryer does not require hands to be rubbed together which brings more bacteria to the skin’s surface. Bacteria is further reduced since the Airblade dryer has a HEPA filter that removes 99.97% of bacteria from the air before blowing it on your hands. This hand dryer eliminates the need to rub wet hands together and cleans the air before it reaches said hands. Once we’ve all washed our hands we need to also realize the importance of drying them. Wet hands still have many bacteria on them. Proper hand drying is key to not spreading disease and a good automatic hand dryer is an ideal way to dry hands thoroughly and quickly.
Another example of a hygienic hand dryer is the all new ExtremeAir CPC. This hand dryer does not need filters as it uses cold plasma clean technology which sanitizes hands safely (and surrounding air) without any chemicals. In fact, CPC technology kills E. Coli, C. Diff, MRSA, Staph, TB, and more on and around your hands naturally, without chemicals. It is the only dryer that kills small viruses and microbes, including bacteria, while creating a purifying bubble of air Cold plasma or bipolar ionization is nature’s way of cleaning the air and killing germs. High levels of ionization are found in the fresh air breeze off the ocean or on top of a mountain. CPC technology is natural and safe.
The Excel Dryer Xlerator Hand Dryer can also be equipped with an optional HEPA kit. This HEPA kit purifies the air before the air reaches hands making it one of the most hygienic hand dryers available today. The Xlerator is 100% USA made and offers a quality US build that is hard to come by in any industry. At ProDryers, we stand behind this hand dryer with 100% confidence and can honestly make the claim that after several years of selling 500+ per month, we have had less than 10 warranty claims. The quality of this hand dryer is absolutely amazing. We suggest the most popular hand dryer, the Excel Dryer XL-BW. The HEPA kit can be added if desired but even without it, the dry time is amazing at 10-15 seconds and damp germ-spreading hands will never be a problem again.
Just a few reasons why it’s time to use hand dryers and drop the paper towels:
- Save Trees (Trees Provide Oxygen, Shade, Shelter to Animals and Important Insects, and Much More)
- Save Resources Like Oil Used to Transport Paper
- Save Landfill Space
- Reduce Restroom Clutter
- Reduce Vandalism Such as Clogged Toilets Stuffed with Paper Towel
- Increase Customer Experiences
- Save on Paper Towel Costs
- Kill Germs (ExtremeAir CPC)
- Save Water (20,000 Gallons of Water are Polluted to Make Just 1 Ton of Paper Towels)