Much mis-information is in circulation since (and before) the coronavirus pandemic. One such piece of mis-information is in relation to the use of hand dryers.
To help clear this up, lets see what the expert say : (or read our blog posts on the subject "Are Hand Dryers Hygienic?")
How hygienic are you?
Newsflash : If you don't wash your hands, they wont be clean!
All advice (especially in light of the COVID pandemic) is to wash your hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before drying them, either with hand towels or a hand dryer.
Your hands must be completely clean before your dry, and completely dry after drying or you will be transferring germs, no matter which method you use.
Paper towel manufacturers have famously carried out tests on the spread of germs when using hand dryers, but some of these tests have been carried out on artificially and unfeasibly dirty hands which are obviously going to shed bacteria.
What makes a hand dryer
hygienic?
HEPA-filtered Hand Dryers
The level of filtration in a hand dryer is crucial, we only consider
hand dryers with at least Hospital-grade HEPA 13 filtration to
be hygienic. HEPA-13 will capture 99.95% of particles
Sterilising hand dryers use a UVC and/or plasma generator to sterilise not only the air passing through the hand dryer, but also emit an active oxygen mix which sterilises the air and surfaces within the washroom.
With this type of technology, the sterilising effect is carried throughout the room, past the user's hands and helps maintain an all-round clean air environment sterilising all surfaces - in the same way as the OXIZONE Air Steriliser
Many hand dryer manufacturers use an antibacterial additive in the covers of their hand dryers, including IONPURE™, Microban™, Steritouch™ and BioCote™ to name a few.
These additives include silver and/or copper ions impregnated within the surface coating. These silver/copper ions react with the UV light from the sun or artificial light or moisture in the air and maintain a sterile surface on the hand dryer.
