{"id":1561,"date":"2021-09-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cos.p10.sol1.net\/uncategorized\/why-hand-towels-are-more-sanitary-than-hand-dryers\/"},"modified":"2024-11-26T17:57:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T17:57:32","slug":"hand-towels-more-sanitary-than-hand-dryers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/cospedia\/hand-towels-more-sanitary-than-hand-dryers","title":{"rendered":"Why Hand Towels are More Sanitary than Hand Dryers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that around 80% of diseases are transferable via touch?<\/p>\n<p>According to the World Health Organisation, washing your hands properly with soap and drying with hand towels is one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of pathogens. As we all have learned well during the pandemic, washing your hands with warm soapy water is the first line of defence against infectious diseases.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But what you probably didn\u2019t know is that these dangerous pathogens can remain on your hands even after you wash them. In fact, one study from Michigan State University found that nearly 95% of adults do not wash thoroughly enough to remove bacteria and viruses from their skin.<\/p>\n<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 05-08-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style>\n<h2>Hand Towels vs. Hand Dryers<\/h2>\n<p>Damp hands spread germs up to 1000 times more than dry hands, so a quick shake-off after washing isn\u2019t enough to keep you or your colleagues safe. Most modern bathrooms have hand dryers or hand towels available to dry your hands after washing \u2013 but which option is more sanitary?<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, hot air actually increases the spread of germs significantly. In fact, the heat from air dryers encourages bacteria to multiply by up to 254%. Air dryers also spread micro-organisms around, blowing them up to 30cm away from the source. To add, jet dryers are even more powerful, blasting those germs up to 2m. Now imagine someone hasn\u2019t washed their hands properly and dries off at one of those hot-air germ distributors!<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Hand towels\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/cleaning-supplies\/hand-towels-and-dispensers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hand towels<\/a>, on the other hand, reduce bacteria by up to 77%. Hand towels don\u2019t spread pathogens through the air \u2013 they capture the germs to be deposited into the nearest paper recycling bin. What\u2019s more, paper towels dry your skin faster than air dryers, and they can be used to turn off faucets and open doors so that your skin doesn\u2019t come into contact with these high-touch areas.<\/p>\n<h2>Hand Towels are the Way to Go<\/h2>\n<p>Rubbing your hands dry with a paper towel is an effective way to kill and remove the remaining germs and bacteria from your skin, causing less contamination and spread of diseases throughout the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>When surveyed by the University of Queensland, the majority of people said they preferred using paper towels. 65% of people like to use paper towels \u2013 while just 28% prefer dryers.<\/p>\n<p>The spread of disease impacts greatly on the wellbeing of staff and the overall success of the business, so it\u2019s definitely worth considering switching to paper towels.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce your environmental impact, make sure to only use 1-2 sheets of paper to dry your hands, and always recycle them after use. Standard hand dryers and paper towels produce the same greenhouse gas emissions per use, so choosing paper towels for your workplace bathroom really is a no-brainer!<\/p>\n<div class='watch-action'><div class='watch-position align-left'><div class='action-like'><a class='lbg-style3 like-1561 jlk' href='javascript:void(0)' data-task='like' data-post_id='1561' data-nonce='3c6d52cef8' rel='nofollow'><img class='wti-pixel' src='https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-content\/plugins\/wti-like-post\/images\/pixel.gif' title='Did you find this useful?' \/><span class='lc-1561 lc'>0<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class='action-unlike'><a class='unlbg-style3 unlike-1561 jlk' href='javascript:void(0)' data-task='unlike' data-post_id='1561' data-nonce='3c6d52cef8' rel='nofollow'><img class='wti-pixel' src='https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-content\/plugins\/wti-like-post\/images\/pixel.gif' title='' \/><span class='unlc-1561 unlc'>0<\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <div class='status-1561 status align-left'><\/div><\/div><div class='wti-clear'><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most modern bathrooms have hand dryers or hand towels available to dry your hands after washing &#8211; but which option is more sanitary?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,31],"tags":[1384,37,47,1291,1226,1385,522,1386,52,1387,1388,1389,1390,45,1391,1195,1392,452],"class_list":["post-1561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cospedia","category-health-wellbeing","tag-employees-wellbeing","tag-germs","tag-hand-towels","tag-health-and-wellness","tag-healthy-environment","tag-healthy-workplace","tag-hygiene","tag-less-contamination","tag-paper-towels","tag-recycling-bins","tag-sanitary","tag-sir-dryer","tag-stay-healthy","tag-virus","tag-wash-your-hands","tag-wellbeing","tag-workplace-hygiene","tag-workplace-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47186,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions\/47186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cos.net.au\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}