Paper Towels

Paper Towel Choices

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Why poor hand washers need better paper

Single-use paper toweling is a critical component in professional handwashing, whether in restaurants, schools, the workplace or hospitals and nursing homes. The choice of drying method and materials is first driven by user habits and the risks resulting from potential failures in the hand cleansing process. Hand hygiene breakdowns are measured by some in illness outbreaks and by others in absenteeism rates.

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Air Dryers Fail Critical Hand Hygiene Tests

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Hand drying is a misnomer. The friction added by using a paper towel is a significant part of the "handwash". Using air dryers of any type, can leave a high level of suspended contaminants in place. The shorter the scrub step, the more important it is to use paper towels. This is especially true in restrooms where the Splash 'n Dash is the standard and residues are naturally nasty.

New research documents multiple shortcomings

Research from the University of Westminster in London England gives yet another reason to stay away from air dryers in kitchens and restrooms. They are well known for being slow and even the new air blade technology does not offer the friction factor needed in this final cleansing step. Users strongly prefer paper towels and the mere presence of air dryers may discourage handwashing all together.

Now comes this news showing pathogen breeding and having bacteria blown around the room, deposited on surfaces up to 6 feet away. This is especially troubling as we learn more about the lengthy survival times of the highly infectous norovirus on restroom surfaces, documented in Emory University research here or below.