You know the feeling. You’re in a public restroom, you’ve just washed your hands, but when you go to use the air dryer it can barely muster up a slight puff of air. So, you’re left standing there trying to dry your hands until, eventually, you give up and just shake your hands “dry.” Well, not only is this extremely annoying, but you can actually spread a lot more bacteria this way.

The Facts

Warm air dryers increase the germ count on fingertips by up to 194 per cent, and they can also blow bacteria throughout the restroom. This can quickly become a big problem for businesses during cold and flu season, as it makes your staff and other patrons susceptible to picking up harmful bacteria from your restrooms. Not to mention how it affects your customers’ perception of your business.

Practice Safe Drying

Keep your facility healthy this cold and flu season by stocking your restrooms with paper towels. Compared to air dryers, paper towels help reduce the cross-contamination of germs in public restrooms. Not only can you rely on them to effectively dry your hands, but drying with a paper towel can actually decrease the amount of bacteria on fingertips by up to 77 per cent.

Check out this infographic for more mind-blowing statistics on air dryer hygiene