In a world of coronavirus and concern about the environment, paper towels have become increasingly unpopular, and yet they have great advantages over air dryer systems when it comes to hygiene. In this article we look at the reasons it can be good to use paper towels, so you can decide if they might be the best option for your business…
Which is more hygienic: air dryers or paper towels?
There has long been a debate over whether hand dryers or paper towels are better for hygiene. For many people, particularly in a world where we’ve been conditioned to avoid transferring the coronavirus, the sight of paper towels where a virus could potentially be lurking has led to many organisations switching to hand driers.
The science, however, suggests we should do otherwise. Numerous studies, including recent research by SAGE (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) reveals that the most hygienic way to dry our hands is with a single dispensed hand towel, to the point where NHS advice is actually to wash your hands using soap and water and then dry your hands thoroughly using a paper towel.
While many individuals have focused on the importance of washing hands for 40 to 60 seconds at least, or two rounds of Happy Birthday, drying your hands properly is actually a crucial part of the process as it removes any residual bacteria from your hands after they have been washed. Conversely, some studies indicate that air dryers may actually disperse bacteria or virus particles around a washroom while hands are being dried. There is often the issue too that people don’t spend enough time drying their hands on air dryers either because they’re impatient or because they don’t want to keep others waiting.
Rolls of hand towel are effective at cleaning hands, but slightly less so than single dispensed hand towels.
Add into consideration the fact that there are now antibacterial dispensers such as the one below available and it is perhaps understandable that SAGE are now advising organisations to replace hand dryers with single-use paper towel dispensers.
SOFIDEL FOLD HAND TOWEL ANTIBACTERIAL DISPENSER -- call our sales team 01726 74264 or email sales@cisafety.com for more information. You can also find more information about this new product range here
Dissolve Tech
A new evolution in the world of paper towels is the range of Dissolve Tech paper towels by Sofidel. These have been created to resolve the issue that people often flush paper towels down toilets, causing blockages.
Dissolve Tech paper towels are designed very cleverly to remain strong even when they get wet during the initial three minutes when you are drying your hands. During this time they are as strong and absorbent as other hand towels. After three minutes, however, the towels become more soluble, so that they behave in a similar way to toilet paper, ensuring that if they are flushed away, they do not cause blockages in the drainage system. Click here for a video demonstration.
Dissolve Tech 15 packs of 250 sheets. Ecolable and FSC accredited. Call our sales team 01726 74264 or email sales@cisafety.com for more information.
Of course, issues such as the volume of people using hand washing facilities and also existing provision and dispensers are all factors that will influence the decision over what is the best hand drying system for your organisation.
Our team are always happy to help outline the options available and talk through what is best for your needs. Call our sales team 01726 74264 or email sales@cisafety.com for advice and information.