You know, those “upside down” hand dryers that have a slot in the top that you stick your hands into. Which moron came up with them? (I’ll tell you, it was this moron.)
With a normal hand dryer, the air blows the water down off your hands and onto the floor. Not a problem, it’s a few drops of water and it’s a bathroom floor. With the Airblade, it blows the water off your hands and into your face.
That’s not the worst of it, though. the water that doesn’t blow into your face sticks to the sides of the slot and pools in the bottom of it, where it mingles with the water, arm hair and other detritus from the previous God-knows-how-many users. Because the slot is quite narrow, it’s almost impossible to avoid touching the sides. How the heck is this meant to be “more hygienic” than a normal dryer?
I’m not alone on this, but sadly they seem to be spreading. My local hospital (whereI’m spending a lot of time at the moment visiting my baby daughter) has installed them, and they’re just disgusting.
Huh, I love those things. I’ve never had a problem with water shooting back up at me. In fact, I’m having a hard time picturing how that would even happen. And maybe I have tiny little hands, but I’ve never had a problem with the slot being too narrow… my hands fit fine without touching the sides. They definitely dry my hands faster than traditional hand dryers.
I can’t speak to the hygiene of them, but I’m always happy when I see them. Of course, it doesn’t take much to make me happy.
I used one only once, but I loved it. My hands were dry in .0000023 seconds.
One that I had to use at work all last fall was… let me demonstrate: Pucker up and blow on your hands as if you’re blowing on a candle but trying not to blow it out.
I like 'em - they dried my hands really fast. I didn’t notice any crud or grime, and my hands did not touch the unit, I don’t recall getting any water in my face. Other hand dryers leave me so frustrated with how long they take, that I generally give up and walk out with damp hands.
Actually, to be fair to Mr Dyson, the ones I’m particularly bitching about (at the hospital) are not Airblades but some generic knock-off (the slot is rectangular, not shaped like the Dyson).
But all of them have the same flaw - dirty water pools in the bottom, and the water sprays in your face.
I’m not the only one to notice this. Aside from the link in my OP, there’s this (NSFW language, but this is the pit, right?), this (see post #5), this (see point 6), this, … found in a moment’s Googling.
Edit: I see from Googling that I’ve also complained about these pieces of crap on here before!
I never noticed the pooling at the bottom but what I hate is that if the airstream is fast enough to save any time in drying your hands, then it is fast enough to bump your hands against the sides and thus not save anything hygienically.
The actual Dyson Airblades, not sure what the OP is using, have open sides. What I normally do is put my hands in from the side and draw them up. Instead of putting my hands in and activating the airflow while there is water on parts of my hand above the air stream, which does indeed cause it to kick up in some circumstances, putting all my hand in from the side and drawing it out keeps all the water down. Given how well the Dyson products I’ve worked with were designed I’m sure the puddling and bacterial growth on the ones people have seen are a maintenance issue. Really no different from puddles of water on the countertop next to the sink or against the backsplash and growing mold/mildew there.
They need to be maintained and cleaned regularly to maintain hygiene standards. But for what the average person can do, try putting your hands in on the sides and drawing them out instead of putting them down into the slot and then back up.
I have to wonder how unhygienic they can be. Presumably they’ve been touched by nothing but fresly washed hands. Unless Rhythmdvl’s been there, of course.
tdn, I was just about to post the same thing… but then you have to realize that people have dismally bad hand-washing habbits. Experts recommend at least 20-30 seconds of warm soapy lathering scrubbing action, and most people will literally spend no more than 5 seconds of (sometimes) water alone, then go straight to the dryer.
Then, as for the Rhythmdvls of the world, well, we are all fucked.
Maybe they can install them inside the stalls in japanese women’s restrooms so that they can turn them on and pee under the WHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRR noise, so that they won’t be constantly flushing the toilets.
The OP can just do what I do after washing my hands: rub them on my cock until my hands are dry.
It’s more hygenic than any of the air systems. I clean my balls at least once a day. How often do you think they clean those things?
So you’re the guy I saw standing at the sink with his hands down his pants! I thought you were jacking off in the bathroom, but I’m going to sleep soundly tonight knowing you were just doing your part to be hygenic!
I’m about as far from a germophobe as you can get (do a search on these boards for posts by me containing the word “germs” and you’ll see I’ve had plenty of rants about the modern-day germophobic culture). But I do dislike having water spraying needlessly up in my face when I’m trying to dry my hands, and I also think that in a hospital of all places it’s reasonable not to have to stick your hands in a pool of other people’s hand-washings.
+1 on the Xcelerator dryers, though. Those things rock (but do sound like a jet taking off).