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Dyson Airblades 'Spread Germs 1,300 Times More Than Paper Towels' (telegraph.co.uk)

Posted by BeauHD on from the achoo-cough-cough dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Journal of Applied Microbiology published a report claiming Dyson Airblade hand-driers spread 60 times more germs than standard air dryers, and 1,300 times more than standard paper towels. The researchers from University of Westminster conducted their research by dipping their hands in water containing a harmless virus. Then, they dried their hands with either a Dyson Airblade, a standard hot-air dryer, or a paper towel. Their research shows the Dyson drier's 430mph blasts of air are capable of spreading viruses up to 3 meters across a bathroom. Typical driers spread viruses up to 75cm (about 2.5ft), and the hand towels 25cm (less than 1ft).

2 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Useless and biased study by Vapula · · Score: -1, Redundant

    When you use these, it's AFTER CLEANING THE HANDS... so most germs are already killed.

    The point in using airblades instead of standard "warm air" driers is that the "warm air drier" make the remaining germs multiply thank to the heat...

    The most hygienic system is the one use paper towel, no warm air => no germ multiplication and no "wind" to spead them... But they bring up other problems : paper (need to create it which requires wood and water) and waste (used paper).

    Dyson air blades usually perform better than other thanks to very powerful blades which allow to dry your hand quickly without bringing to much air and making bacteries multiply.

    So, basically, they wanted to prove that air blades were a bad idea and created some stupid process far away from the reality (dipping hands in germs without cleaning them)

  2. This is not how the world works by pesho · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Experimental setup:

    1. 1. Dip your hands in solution containing the virus.
    2. 2. Use either blower or hand towel to dry your hands.
    3. 3. See how far from your current position you can find the virus. Not surprisingly the powerful blower spread the virus more.

    Real world equivalent of the experimental setup:

    1. 1. Shit on your hands
    2. 2. Use towel or blower to "clean" you hands.

    Actual bathroom operation:

    1. 1. Wash your hands with soap and water to remove germs.
    2. 2. Dry your clean hands with either towel or a blower.

    Does anyone spot the little problem with what their experiment tests and what conclusions the draw?