In article ,
"John of Aix" writes:
Sam Nelson wrote:
In article ,
Adam Funk writes:
-- Another researcher, comparing bacterial residue on hands
-- after drying with the warm air device, paper towels or a
-- continuous cotton towel, found that the towels were
-- significantly better in removing micro-organisms. While the
-- electric devices increased bacteria on the hands by 162
-- percent, paper towels decreased bacteria levels by 29
-- percent.

Your hands can, presumably, never be cleaner than the water with
which you rinse them.

Not really true and no doubt the reason for hand dryers*. Water, even
'clean' cotains and is a good host for many bacteria.

Certainly. But I'm under the impression that, under normal circumstances,
the cleanest thing in any ordinary building is its cold water supply.

The object
therefore of such a dryer is to eliminate the host, the water

I always thought the point of a dryer was to cut down the number of things
you have to touch. One-push taps and motion sensors controlling taps are
there with similar intentions.

and, I
suppose, supply sufficient heat to kill any nasties that remain.

Er, I think not. The temperature of the air would surely have to be
hotter than it is to achieve that.

While
personal I'd rather have (paper) towels any time, logically I think that
if you're a hygiene nut, then a dryer is probably better.

My general practice is to wash my hands, rinse them well, touch as little as
possible in order to leave the room, and let my hands dry by evaporation in
the open air. Does that make me weird?
--
SAm.