# Mild pittage - those "Airblade" hand dryers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 14, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300 "2011-09-14T16:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/41 "2011-09-20T13:30:55Z")
> [@Wash](#): > > Such as the restroom door as you leave… That’s what I hate about hand dryers in general - no paper towel to open the door with :(. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/42 "2011-09-20T14:04:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve never seen the Airblade gizmo, but I do like the Xlerator. > > For those who have used both, which do you prefer? > mmm I think I like the Xlerator ones better. I can combine the blast of air with rubbing my hands together to disperse the moisture better. With the airblade you’re relying on the air to do all the work. Also if you wash your hands up beyond the wrists you will have problems drying them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/43 "2011-09-20T14:25:06Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve never seen the Airblade gizmo, but I do like the Xlerator. > > For those who have used both, which do you prefer? > mmm Well, the Xlerator lets me know what it would be like to skydive or get really, really old. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/44 "2011-09-20T14:31:50Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve never seen the Airblade gizmo, but I do like the Xlerator. > > For those who have used both, which do you prefer? > mmm Airblade, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/45 "2011-09-20T14:36:25Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I think I like the Xlerator ones better. I can combine the blast of air with rubbing my hands together to disperse the moisture better. With the airblade you’re relying on the air to do all the work. Also if you wash your hands up beyond the wrists you will have problems drying them. How is the Xlerator different from a traditional air hand dryer? The thing I hate about the traditional ones is that apparently you’re supposed to stand there with your hands under the air flow until the water has all evaporated - which results in a hot restroom, and hot and still-damp hands. Maybe you’re supposed to rub the water off as well but that means a drippy puddle on the floor under the air vent. I hate that style of dryer and almost never use it. I found it interesting that the Xlerator’s page said 80% energy savings… but did not say compared to WHAT. Compared to producing paper towels? Compared to a traditional air dryer? Compared to driving a Sherman Tank from Maine to Florida on I-95 during rush hour? If you click on the link, it cites that there’s a lower carbon footprint compared with virgin paper production or older air dryers… but it doesn’t cite the 80% there. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/46 "2011-09-20T14:39:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I think that might be the one a local restaurant (that closed) had in their bathrooms. It just about knocked me over the first time. Seriously. > Like the other poster said, they are damn loud, I really didn’t like that people outside the bathroom (in the dining room) could hear it running. Or rather, I didn’t like hearing it running while I was eating. > [Feel The Power](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87h1mn6Xkn4) Huh - I can see where that would indeed remove all the water from your hands! Same nifty skin-rippling effect as with the air blade as well! Still the question is: what happens to the water? With the airblade, there seems to be a drain at the bottom of it. With the Xlerator, are you supposed to have a bucket down there? ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/47 "2011-09-20T14:59:48Z")
I have to agree with the OP, at least in heavily used restrooms. The airblade stays dry in a lightly used restroom, but a busy one turns the airblade into a sloppy wet mess with a puddle at the bottom. Plus I am impatient as hell. Drawing my hands slowly out of the airblade is just torture. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/48 "2011-09-20T15:06:27Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > … I clean my balls at least once a day. How often do you think they clean those things? I’ve never had a maintenance crew show up to clean my balls. If anyone is considering what to get me for my birthday… ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/49 "2011-09-20T15:48:25Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Still the question is: what happens to the water? The same thing that happens to a pumpkin when it gets hit by an RPG. It gets _pwned_! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300/50 "2011-09-20T16:45:40Z")
Seriously, I’m pretty sure the air gets more hydrogen in it when I use that thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-pittage-those-airblade-hand-dryers/596300.md?page=2)