The drying game
Washroom users are accustomed to a choice of methods for drying their wet hands — paper towels, fabric towels, hot-air blowers and the new high-speed dryers. But which is best?
by Maureen Moody
Washrooms are a breeding ground for germs and diseases which can be transferred by hand-to-hand contact, claims Mike Burton, managing director of Albany Washroom Services. “Yet only three out of 100 people wash their hands effectively with soap and water after visiting the toilet.”
Sounds horrific — and it is. Most of us would claim to wash our hands after visiting the loo. But we’ve all been guilty of the quick rinse under the tap without soap, and leaving with wet hands. However that, it seems, is almost as bad. “Damp hands are a very efficient carrier of bacteria,” points out Jens Helstrup , head of marketing at Initial Washroom Solutions, “so to avoid cross contamination the most important consideration is to provide a means of hand-drying which effectively dries hands.”
Hygiene
So is hygiene the overriding factor when looking at hand-drying? It’s certainly the driver for some sectors, says Andrew Johnston, marketing manager at PHS Washrooms.
“Single use paper towels remain the method of choice in healthcare and the food industry, since each user dries with a fresh and uncontaminated towel.” Tim Chaple, head of property and facilities at Bedfordshire County Council, says we should also look at washroom design. “Having to touch surfaces after you’ve dried your hands increases the risk of spreading viruses like the noroviruses. So the fewer surfaces you touch the better. I would like to see some way of avoiding touching door handles and other surfaces when leaving the washroom.”
Sector preference
In most public sector organisations however, Johnston finds washroom choices are based mainly on energy consumption, driven by statutory requirements.
“From October last year public authorities and organisations providing public services have had to publicise their buildings’ energy consumption via display energy certificates (DECs). Consequently we’re finding that the most popular choice in these organisations is a low-energy high-speed hand dryer.”
Initial’s Helstrup agrees that energy efficiency has climbed up the list of priorities. “This is particularly true in the public sector and among the larger customers with CSR policies. Here, both roller towels and the new generation high speed dryers are the preferred choice, as roller towels are re-usable and the dryers deliver demonstrable energy savings when compared with traditional dryers.”
Cost
In some of the private sector, Helstrup says cost is the main driver. “At the small to medium end of the market, which is feeling the effect of the credit crunch more than most, cost in use is extremely important. So roller towels which have a very low cost per dry and traditional warm air dryers which need no maintenance are popular among these clients.
“A packet of paper hand towels at 0.5p per towel may seem attractive. However when you consider that each user is likely to use two towels, and that it may cost the same again to dispose of the associated waste, you may question that paper represents good value for money. The high speed dryers may appear to be expensive to purchase outright,” he adds. “But many are available on rental packages which alleviate the need to pay the capital cost of the equipment, and maintenance is included. Furthermore the electricity consumption is reduced. Dyson claims that its dryer uses some 80 per cent less energy than a standard warm air dryer.”
Johnston makes similar claims for PHS’ high-speed, low-energy Airforce dryer. Compared to paper and roller towel systems he says this gives a 90 per cent ongoing total cost reduction since it doesn’t incorporate a heater, and uses the least energy of all dryers in its class — just 1.1 kW.
Environmental impact
And it’s not just energy consumption in use that makes high speed dryers environmentally attractive. Dyson says its latest version features plastic rather than aluminium for the outer casing, achieving a 60 per cent lower manufacturing carbon footprint than the aluminium version.
It was a persuasive argument for EDF Energy, one of Dyson’s biggest customers, since for its purchases they look at the cradle to grave footprint which includes manufacturing and disposal.
How do towels stack up environmentally? Helstrup at Initial says a single roller towel offers many hand-dryings and can be used up to 200 times. Laundering has also improved. “The large laundries have been under pressure to reduce their energy consumption and effluent. And the Initial processing plants use 30 per cent less steam and 45 per cent less gas per kg than conventional methods.”
With paper towels there is the landfill issue, and here mixed messages are emerging. As Helstrup says, “Paper towels create the most negative impact on the environment. Even paper from a sustainable source has to be land-filled and costs the client money for a waste carrier to remove from site.”
But Kruger Tissue has just launched a Green Handprint programme to persuade customers and employees about the sustainability of paper towels. Kruger customers who buy 100 per cent recycled hand towels, roller towels and toilet tissue are given Green Handprint stickers telling users how green-aware the products are.
Personal preference
So much for what the FM has to consider; what do the punters want? When the European Tissue Symposium commissioned a survey it found, unsurprisingly that paper towels came out top. It’s about perceptions of hygiene, says the Symposium, and 96 per cent of respondents believed paper hand towels gave the highest level of hygiene. Secondly, people are usually in a hurry, so speed of drying is important, and respondents across Britain, Sweden, Germany and France reckoned that paper hand towels dried their hands three times faster than pull down textile towels, and five times faster than hot air dryers.
Ask around, however, and comments about paper hand towels will almost certainly include complaints about insufficient restocking, dispensers jam-packed with C-fold towels which come out six at a time, and the mess that used towels cause when bins are not emptied. The punters may want the comfort and hygiene of hand towels, but they also expect a clean and tidy washroom.
Soap opera
FMs have a wide choice of washroom soap dispensers. Wall mounted units come in a variety of styles in brushed or polished steel, white metal or white plastic casings, with push-button operation. A recent addition to the market is the automatic model with an infrared motion sensor. Many units are lockable and have level indicator windows and you can also get models which recess into the wall. Perfumed and pearlised soap refills are available, and for health care and catering locations antibacterial soap is popular. For easy fill choose a bag or cartridge design, from around 300 ml to 1 ltr, otherwise opt for bulk refill. Becoming more popular is foam soap which results in cost savings.
Popular for prestige locations such as directors’ washrooms are small free-standing dispensers which can be refilled with standard soap, or branded free-standing soap and hand cream dispensers from upmarket suppliers such as Molton Brown. Vanity models which are installed into the countertop or basin give a sleek, modern appearance. Their 5 litre reservoirs can be filled either from the top or below the counter.
Then finally, in sectors where hygiene is a crucial issue there are now alcohol based hand sanitiser gel dispensers such as those supplied by PHS Washrooms.
Maureen Moody is a freelance journalist
