Warm air dryers have become very popular in places frequented by the public such as restaurants, clubs, pubs, sports centres, offices, and hospitals because they avoid the problem of cross contamination at an economic cost. Old fashioned towels can become contaminated fairly rapidly and need to be regularly laundered at considerable expense. Paper towels can avoid the cross infection problem but are still very costly, as well as being environmentally unfriendly in terms of using up world resources unnecessarily.
The warm air dryer is quick and pleasant to use, and the time may have come where we begin to see enlightened people installing them in their bathrooms at home. A low-wattage, high speed hand dryer could economically replace towels and cut down on the home laundry bill too.
Direct hand dryers can be bought relatively inexpensively, (from about £49), and once installed are virtually maintenance free and economical to run. When they were first introduced, warm air hand dryers would take from 30-45 seconds to dry one's hands but the newer type manage it in under 15 seconds.
The US Green Building Council has marked out the necessary criteria for these hand dryers to be adequately effective yet environmentally friendly, so it is worth checking for the GreenSpec badge when purchasing. Because you don't need to store paper towels in bulk, or dispose of soiled ones, a warm air dryer saves you more than you might think.
Most of these modern hand dryers are light in weight (about 15-25 pounds), made from heavy duty, die-cast zinc alloy, in a chrome, stainless steel, or epoxy type painted finish, and safely house a powerful heating element and blower. The function is automatic, triggered by an infrared optical sensor and is virtually foolproof.
There is a wide choice of makes and sizes on the market and it is easy to compare prices and specifications online. Look for reputable manufacturer's names like Dyson, Redring, Hyco, Heatrae, Vortice, and Xlerator.
The days of drying one's hands on dirty towels or having to put up with bins of soiled paper towels are over thanks to the invention of an environmentally protective solution that is faster, cleaner, and more comfortable for most people.