
01/10/2025
DID YOU KNOW THAT HAND-WASHING AND GERM-FREE DRYING ARE IMPORTANT FOR BRAIN HEALTH? PAPER TOWELS ARE BETTER THAN TOUCHLESS BLOWERS FOR DRYING
If your body is busy fighting infection, there are less reserves to sustain your brain and other aspects of your health. Washing your hands is known to be one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs and reduce the likelihood of illness. But did you know that paper towels are healthier for hand drying than touchless automatic hand blowers?
After washing hands, residual water can serve as a medium for bacteria to grow and spread. Studies show that damp hands carry up to 1000 times more bacteria than dry hands! Therefore, effective hand drying is important to reduce infections.
Paper towels are highly absorbent, allowing quick, thorough drying, minimizing the time bacteria have to adhere to wet skin. As single-use disposables, there’s minimal cross-contamination. The friction created while using paper towels physically removes dirt, dead skin cells, and microbes from the hands, providing an added layer of hygiene. However, if not properly stored or dispensers are poorly designed, paper towels can become contaminated by airborne bacteria or other environmental factors.
Touchless blowers eliminate the need for physical contact, reducing the potential for cross-contamination and generate no physical waste. However, research indicates that powerful air jets can disperse bacteria present on hands or in the surrounding environment, increasing the risk of contamination. They take longer to dry hands completely, so users often leave with damp hands, negating the benefits of washing. Plus, they are noisy.
Numerous studies comparing paper towels to touchless blowers show that paper towels:
- spread bacteria less and keep bacteria more contained
- offer faster, more thorough cleaning
- have less airborne bacteria
Conclusion: For optimal health, wash your hands frequently. If you have a choice, paper towels offer superior hygiene, minimize bacterial spread and dry more effectively than touchless blowers.