Washing your hands is a vital activity that needs to be done by any human as often as possible. It promotes hygiene and in turn, helps improve the health of the people. How? Well, we use our hands for almost anything we need to do. It touches a lot of things from foreign materials to our own body. As we know, harmful bacteria and viruses thrive anywhere, but most especially in common items. Once they enter our system, their dangers can range from mildly annoying to terrifyingly deadly. Handwashing is not a cure, but it adds a sort of protection to our body.
However, there is one thing that is usually debated amongst the experts: the act of drying your hands. For most people, this is the last thing on their mind after washing their hands for some time. A towel would work just as well. Some even use their own clothes. Others would just shake their hands really vigorously. These techniques are mostly effective in just drying your hands. However, it is not as good because these are already used items (i.e. the towels or clothes). Shaking your hands still leaves them moist as well. There are two schools of thought for this situation. One is using paper towels or tissues. The other one is using an automatic hand dryer. Which one is better?
The War On Paper
Tissues or paper towels have been around for so long that they are a staple in every household. Almost every bathroom needs to have them, because it is usually for wiping yourself off after a “release”. However, there is a distinction between the two as paper towels are much bigger. They cover up more space, which is why they are perfect for wiping your hands after a nice thorough hand washing session. You do not need to use it again, which prevents the dispersal of virus. They are so much more convenient than the towels, as well since you do not need to wash them.
Unfortunately, they do have one problem: the use of paper towels increases your waste. Living in this world, we have to realize that trees are rather important in conserving our environment. These trees and other plants is the source of these tissues, and it can be harmful if we continue to harvest the plants. There are recyclable ones on the market, but these are comparably more affordable to manufacture. This is why they are so common as well. This page explains why this is the situation.
Due to this reason (among others), many would prefer to have a hand dryer in their homes. There was a time when this was only seen in establishments and businesses since it was quite expensive back then. Now, you can buy one and install it in your bathroom. Even though paper towels are easier to buy, these ones last for a longer period of time. You do not need to waste that much paper either. There are some controversies about these machines in the modern world, but it does not deny the fact that this is quite useful for drying our hands.
There is one problem with these as well: most of the older models are quite loud. They can be rather obnoxious to use since they will create this whirring sound that everyone in the vicinity can hear. It is disturbing as well and can rather be rambunctious at times. If you have a baby, this is not the machine that you need. Most people live in average-sized houses these days and they can hear that sound from rooms away. You would not have a moment of peace after washing your hands.
The Quietest Might Not Be Enough
If you are looking for a hand dryer, you may want to find the quieter ones. Manufacturers now tend to focus more on this one since the market demand for it. This was also a breakthrough since most of the older models were really noisy. However, it is to be noted that not all of them are totally silent. There are some with just minimal sounds, which you could not even hear in the next room. Once you try one of these, it is a life changed since you will have the power of an automatic hand dryer without the disturbance. Read more about it here: https://soundproofpros.com/best-quiet-hand-dryers/.
However, it is also important to check whether it can still do what is was supposed to: dry your hands efficiently. Some manufacturers will advertise that their product has the quietest working mode amongst the hand dryers. However, they need to decrease its power so that it will not make those sounds. Most of the automatic dryers use wind velocity and heat to dry your hands. Due to the creation of wind, this creates the sound that we associate with the dryers. By decreasing its production, the sounds would also decrease. However, this would also decrease its effectiveness and would make the drying part even longer.
If you are looking for the best, you also need to consider its size. There are some compact ones which would need to be installed, while others can be handheld. Most of the ones that needed to be installed are actually more powerful than the smaller ones. Some people even use it to dry their towels. On the other hand the smaller dryers use less energy so you can save on that. Also, installation might take a bit of effort, so you need to make sure that you know how to do it or hire someone to do it for you.
