# Automatic Hand Driers: the one true Evil **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 4, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337 "2002-08-04T22:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/21 "2002-08-05T04:52:22Z")
I’ll chime in as finding these things pretty damned useless, as well. However, there’s one thing about the OP I gotta ask… > [@](#): > > Today, after a sticky breakfast that involved cheese and some jelly and such, I went to the ladies room to relieve myself and clean up. > > _“Hey hey! It’s one of those new fangled hand driers Cletus!”_ > > _“Look, there aren’t even no words on it, son!”_ WTF were Cletus and his son doing in the ladies room? And why does he refer to his dad by his first name? [sub]Okay, so, two things.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/22 "2002-08-05T06:26:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > **Today, after a sticky breakfast that involved cheese and some jelly and such** See, **Skeezix** , _this_ is the part of the OP that I’m having trouble concentrating after. I dunno; something about **jarbabyj** and the words “sticky” and “jelly” is commanding virtually _all_ my attention. Respiration and heartbeat are hanging on by a thread. [sub]I know, **jarbabyj** , you said a few months ago that you were trying to get people _not_ to flirt with you. Plus, this is the Pit, so it’s twice as bad. But I can’t help myself.[/sub] Oh, and those hand dryers truly do suck. [/shameless attempt to distract attention from above flirt] ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/23 "2002-08-05T07:32:47Z")
Yep, I hates 'em too. I like to wash my face after I eat. Have you even _attempted_ to dry your FACE with those things. If you’ve got a beard, forget about it. They SUCK. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/24 "2002-08-05T11:14:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Yep, I hates 'em too. > They SUCK. \*\* No, they don’t. They BLOW! Sorry. Couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Dravin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dravin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dravin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/25 "2002-08-05T17:08:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I like to wash my face after I eat. Have you even attempted to dry your FACE with those things. If you’ve got a beard, forget about it. Personally I try to prevent the storage of food for later use in my facial hair. 🙂 Though to be fair my beard isn’t all that thick or long and I suppose somebody with a more magnificent growth of facial hair could have trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/26 "2002-08-05T18:40:42Z")
The trick is to start up the drier before you start washing your hands. Usually, they need to go through one full cycle before they get hot. Hot air is where it’s at. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/27 "2002-08-05T21:06:05Z")
Hand dryers are not all that hygienic, but they are cheaper to operate than, say, hand towels since you don not have to replace or dispose of the waste, and there is no landry produced. This cuts labour costs tremendously. Having worked in a hospital maintaining the damn things (until they went out to contract maintenance[yet they still kept me on so where the hell was the cost saving!]) our infection control teams discovered that they could harbour bugs that cause respiratory infections, the most serious being those implicated in bacteria that can cause pnuemonia illnesses, not good in an environment where people with compromised immune systems are nearby. Here is one quote > [@](#): > > In some studies, air dryers have been shown to reduce > the number of organisms on hands after hand washing(26-28). > Several studies have demonstrated that air hand dryers > are unsuitable for use in critical patient care areas > because of the potential for cross infection, either > through airborne dissemination or contaminated > personnel(24,29-31). Air dryers may be an impediment to > hand drying because of the time taken to dry hands and > the need to ensure that the equipment is functioning. from here [http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/ccdr/98pdf/cdr24s8e.pdf](http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/ccdr/98pdf/cdr24s8e.pdf) and more from a site about protecting yourself from influenza > [@](#): > > 1. Do not use the air-blowing hand-dryers you find in public toilets. > Why? They suck in lots of bacteria, including air-borne urine particles after flushing, and blow them unto your hands; and bacteria also multiply within them. from here [http://www.hcmservices.com/article.htm](http://www.hcmservices.com/article.htm) Hand dryers are more useful in non-critical areas where the alternative of sterile paper towels is not economically viable, and so they are very likely to be more hygienic than cloth towels, but they are only on equal terms with rotating towels. ---
**Author:** ![RedDevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@RedDevil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedDevil)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/28 "2002-08-05T22:54:20Z")
I hate hand dryers. The ones I’ve used you may as well blow on your hands for all the good it does. Now I’m thinking about peer pressure in public lavatories. Everyone just shoves their hands under the tap for a second if there are other people around so they don’t face ridicule for not washing their hands. If I’m still on the loo when someone comes out of a cubicle, I know they’re alone out there when you don’t hear the water running or the dryer going, just them sprinting to the door to avoid being caught. Is this normal? Do I just live in a stinky town? ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/29 "2002-08-06T02:54:53Z")
Oh you poor, sad fucks. You should live in _Japan!_ We have these great dryers here that create a sort of little box that you put your hands in. You put your hands in up to the wrists, triggering the electric eye that starts the dryer shooting out an exxtra-strong stream of warm air on all sides. You slowly draw your hands up out of the box, as the downward-aimed air streams blow all the water down to your finger tips and off into the drain waiting below (kind of like an air squeegie). Fifteen, twenty seconds, and you’re dry! I love 'em. **jarbaby,** you think you hate 'em all just because you’ve never had a good one. Like some sort of hand-dryer lesbian. No, really, that analogy is perfectly valid. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/30 "2002-08-06T04:58:59Z")
Personally, when affronted with a dryer, I just use a big wad of TP. Fresh, clean, TP that is. Hey - if it’s good enough for my butt, it’s good enough for my hands. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/31 "2002-08-06T07:19:12Z")
Shit, why does Japan get all the good electronic devices? [Dave Barry]I mean, we _invented_ the VCR, right? We are, on average, taller, right?[/Dave Barry] ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/32 "2002-08-06T07:49:04Z")
[Crazy People] Because caucasians are just too damn tall. [/Crazy People] ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/33 "2002-08-06T21:40:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\*Personally, when affronted with a dryer, I just use a big wad of TP. Fresh, clean, TP that is. > > Hey - if it’s good enough for my butt, it’s good enough for my hands. 😃 \*\* I like to use the ass-gaskets myself. A wad of those things does the trick, and unlike TP, they’re strong enough to not fall apart from moisture and stick to your hands. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/34 "2002-08-07T18:29:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > 4) They suck in lots of bacteria, including air-borne urine particles after flushing, and blow them **unto** your hands; and bacteria also multiply within them. Was that from a website, or the Bible? “And yea, did the hand-dryer sucketh in the airbourne urine particles, and bloweth them unto thine hands, and the bacteria were fruitful and multiplieth.”😃 If they have those things at a restaurant, I just grab some napkins at a table and dry my hands with them. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337/35 "2002-08-08T01:03:55Z")
This reminds me of a comic strip I saw years ago (I don’t remember the name of it) when hand dryers were relatively new. It went something along these lines: Guy reading instructions on hand dryer: 1) Push button, 2) Rub hands under warm air, 3) Wipe hands on pants I laughed myself sick–because it was and still is the truth! BTW–I use good ol’ TP instead of those stupid things myself. Sometimes, if I’m in a restaurant, I use the paper napkins when I return to the table. Almost anything is preferable to those so-called dryers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-hand-driers-the-one-true-evil/122337.md?page=1)