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Study Claims Dyson Airblade Dryers Spread 1,300x More Germs Than Paper Towels

Trending News: Maybe Don't Use This Hand Dryer If You Want Truly Clean Hands

Why Is This Important?

Because sometimes you have to read more than just the headline.

Long Story Short

A controversial new study found that the high-tech Dyson Airblade hand dryer spreads 60x more germs than conventional dryers. The most sanitary option, according to them? Paper towels. But Dyson has some major issues with the study.

Long Story

Everyone has their own relationship with germs. Some people have no qualms about leaving pizza out overnight and eating it in the morning, daring mother nature to do her worst. On the other end of the spectrum are the true germaphobes, who bathe in hand sanitizer and refuse to touch with their own skin any surface that another human may have touched at some point in history.

Unfortunately, science has bad news for those people: A new study finds that the Dyson Airblade hand dryer, lauded for its efficiency and touchless technology, actually spreads 60x more germs than conventional hand dryers.

In theory, the Dyson should be one of the cleanest things around. Because it requires no touching to activate, there should be no opportunity to come into contact with germs. Similarly, because it works so well (usually just a pass or two will suffice), that's less time spent in an unsanitary bathroom. But because the Dyson blows air so forcibly, and in odd directions (it shoots two bursts of air laterally, instead of straight down), it can spray matter all over the bathroom — as far as 3 meters, versus a standard dryer's 75 cm.

The problem with the study (and a similar one in 2014) is its methodology. The participants first dipped their hands in liquid contaminated with a harmless virus, then immediately dried their hands using either the Dyson, a standard dryer or a paper towel. As Dyson explained in this video from last year, that's not how things work in the real world.

In that example (the 2014 study), they were measuring the bacterial content before and after drying their hands. But the point is the same: Between getting dirty and drying off, people usually wash their hands. This, more than any high-tech hand dryer or fancy hand sanitizer, is the best way to clean your hands. Sure, the Dyson can sling droplets and bacteria all over the room, but that's less of an issue when your hands are clean to begin with.

Dyson claims the studies are commissioned and promoted by the paper towel industry, and cites unreported studies that found when people actually wash their hands, all drying methods are equally sanitary.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Does it matter at all how I dry my hands?

Disrupt Your Feed

I don't care if they're cleaner or not, I'm a sucker for cool tech like this.

Drop This Fact

The Dyson Airblade blasts air at an astounding 430 mph.

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