6 ms·
The public bathroom air blades drive me crazy. It keeps splashing the water back and forth, the air speed is too high and my hands inadvertently touch the sides
by raiyu 6y ago
The public bathroom air blades drive me crazy. It keeps splashing the water back and forth, the air speed is too high and my hands inadvertently touch the sides and probably there are a bunch of germs circulating inside, as not everyone washes their hands thoroughly.
The old school super blowers that just do hot air down, or whichever direction you turn, probably consume more power, but certainly dry my hands faster and I don't have to worry about touching anything that isn't clean in the process.
- LegitShady 6y agoI prefer the Excel XLERATOR hand dryers, and usually spec them over most other models. Hands dry in ~10 seconds, not spashing onto a lower surface, etc.
- bluGill 6y agoI hate them because they are too loud. Sure they work fast, but I need to put air plugs in before using them, and those are never provided.
- unwind 6y ago*Ear plugs, hopefully. :)
- SethMurphy 6y agoThe noise is a feature. It is a social signal that you are clean for everyone in the establishment, or at least for everyone who can see the entrance to the restroom.
- LegitShady 6y agoits 10 seconds, I prefer loud and fast to mediocre in both respects.
- wu_187 6y agoDitto. They dry my hands much faster than the Dyson and I don't have to touch a germ infested surface.
- adamscybot 6y agoYeh, those are good. Though they seem to have appeared shortly after the Dyson blade dryers. Dyson seem to have shaken the market a bit into realising you actually need power in these things for them to be useful.
- LegitShady 6y agoNo, the XLERATORS predate the dyson airblade by ~4-5 years. The dyson just made people realize that they were more expensive than the garbage units people used before, but not that expensive.
- LegitShady 6y agoI checked and I spec'd an XLERATOR in 2004, and I think they became available the year before. The dyson took another 2-3 years to reach market, so 4-5 years is probably overstating it. Either way Excel were the innovators. Dyson just made it look cool. The apple-style marketers who charged 2x as much so could afford some stupid overengineering.
- jandrese 6y agoI thought those were considered to be a bad idea because they blasted all of the germs from your hands all over the room? Also, my kids won't use them because they're too loud.
- LegitShady 6y agowhat do you think has more germs, your recently washed hands or the bathroom around you? Also, the dyson's do the same thing.
- jandrese 6y agoThe Dyson ones were also considered bad.
- mattgreenrocks 6y agoReminds me of newer appliances (such as washing machines/toilets) that brag about water efficiency yet don't do nearly as good a job, requiring a second cycle, thus using more water.
- ghaff 6y agoIn at least some cases, the greater nominal efficiency may be required by regulations.
- soylentcola 6y agoI did recently buy a HE washer to replace the junker that came with the house. It may just be that I live a (mostly) white collar lifestyle, but I do make a mess of clothes I wear for renovation and yard work or for camping. So far, the new washer hasn't given me any issues with getting things clean. The only adjustment I had to make was learning to use much less detergent than I was used to. There are also just two people in the house and no kids, so perhaps it's more of an issue with larger loads or more grass stains, etc.
- colejohnson66 6y agoHE washing machines seems to be one of the few things where less water is still ok. They make up for it by running longer. A water efficient toilet just ends up not working as well because it’s using less water and not reusing it (like washing machines).
- rootusrootus 6y agoWashers seem to be an exception. My gut feeling is that the real HE improvement was switching everyone from top loaders to front loaders. Front loaders do a great job cleaning and use a whole lot less water in the process.
- mattgreenrocks 6y agoFront loaders have bad mold issues with the liner though. We switched away from an old one. No regrets.
- reaperducer 6y agoProtip: If you're in a public rest room and there are two hand dryers next to each other, use them both at the same time. One for each hand. Much faster.
- lurquer 6y agoFurther Protip: Wipe your hands on your jeans.
- reaperducer 6y agoUnless I'm at the library or a Starbucks, I generally don't wear the kind of clothes in public that one wipes hands on.
- BoorishBears 6y agoI had to read this comment like 3 times to parse it... and I'm still not sure I get it Wiping your hands on your pants when there's towels or something is kind of silly, but how on earth does the article of clothing define if you can wipe your hands on it? Are you wearing vinyl pants or something?
- cat199 6y agothink the point is here that things would stain / be too expensive.. jeans don't really "show" if you wipe your hands on them, and if they do, oh well, just part of that 'worn jeans' look
- lurquer 6y agoIt’s a very intriguing post. I, too, have been trying to work out its logical ramifications. I feel, perhaps, that the poster may, at any given time, be in possession of two sets of clothing.
- jshevek 6y agoI interpreted it as: Generally the clothes they wear are either too nice or too nasty for wiping clean wet hands. At the library and Starbucks they wear clothes appropriate for wiping hands. Too nasty makes sense to me, if you work landscaping, construction, maintenance, auto repair, possibly even in food service. The too nice viewpoint is less relatable, but could be from fastidiousness or OCD applied to the clothes themselves, rather than being concerned about your hands.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jnurmine 6y agoNot only are airblades gimmicky nonsense, they are very loud. Anything that blows air around will also blow viruses and the like into the air. People do not wash hands in a "standardized manner" and some people do not even use soap. After their hands are wet, they just stick their hands to the airblade, sometimes touching the sides and shaking the rest of the water all over because they are in a hurry and can't wait that 10 seconds or whatever it takes. I hate airblades and I don't like hot air dryers. Paper towels are the best.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- qwertay 6y agoThey released a new version that fits the form factor of traditional dryers where you only put your hands under it without having to dangle them between 2 pieces. They work pretty well although they do make the table/floor wet since they are blowing the water off your hands rather than evaporating it. I always found the traditional hot air ones to be useless and I would walk away with wet hands after using one.