Americans spend more than $3.6 billion each year on cold remedies , but neglect a simple action that could help ward off cold and flu in the first place. Washing and drying their hands. Hand washing is recognized as a good way to prevent cold and flu, but hand drying is just as important – damp hands can spread up to 1,000 times more bacteria than dry ones. Yet, over a third of Americans (39%) don’t always completely dry their hands after washing them and just 22% after coughing and sneezing.
Here’s why we’re not drying: #1Impatience
People aren’t willing to wait more than 15 seconds to dry their hands, making fast hand drying critical to prevent the spread of cold and flu. Traditional warm air dryers can take up to 43 seconds to thoroughly dry hands, and less than half of Americans are willing to wait that long. The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer, a hands-in dryer, completely dries them in 12 seconds.
“Holiday cheer might not be the only thing you’re spreading if you don’t dry your hands completely after washing. The problem is two-fold, people don’t know they need to dry their hands and they aren’t willing to wait more than 15 seconds to do so,” says Danielle Stevenson, who helped develop the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer as a Dyson microbiologist.
In addition to lack of time, more than 30% of people cite empty paper towel dispensers as the reason for not drying their hands. In high usage areas, stocks of clean paper towels can quickly run out making it more likely for people to leave the bathroom with damp hands. Paper towels can also become contaminated and pose a hygiene hazard if not disposed of properly.
#2 Confusion
People are more likely to completely dry their hands if the method of drying works quickly (73%), completely dries their hands (78%) and reduces bacteria (80%) – but misperceptions about hand drying methods may be contributing to the spread of germs, and cold and flu.
Nearly one-third believe that rubbing their hands together while drying helps get rid of any remaining bacteria. In reality, academic research has found that rubbing under a warm air dryer actually increases the bacteria on the surface of the skin.
Most hand dryers do not filter the air used to dry the hands, recycling dirty washroom air instead. Dyson Airblade™ technology eliminates the need to rub hands together and is the only hand dryer that uses a HEPA filter to capture 99.9 percent of bacteria from the air used to dry hands.
