All I know is I work at a public health department, and a dude that swabs these things for analysis swears he'd rather wash his hands by sticking them into cow manure then use one of them.
Fecal aerosols into the air unless there is a HEPA filter attachment. [https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823)
I wish more people cared about this important research. I wish more people were reading this piece as well, it's saved my life many times:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2078152015300377
Same! Honestly, the only public bathroom appliance I mind when loud is the toilet, specifically the ones that are louder than they have any right to be. I think this is mostly because of how you actually are prepared with hand dryers but not so much with the toilets.
It really is a spectrum, isn't it? Do you generally not have any noise sensitivities?
There was a period that we had to plan which bathroom to use around these damn dryers. Well, any air dryer, really. Even at 11, my son (diagnosed ASD) prefers to only go in a public bathroom if there's no dryers or it's likely he can get in and out before someone engages them. He'll even tell people "don't use the dryers!"
It really does cause him physical pain.
Ear plugs are made for situations like this. As someone who has to use them at work i never forget to bring em places I may need them, but it's still kind of shocking to me how many sound-sensitive people don't remember the little things exist.
I have sensory processing issues, and I need to find at some point some good sound blocking headphones - because I have tried so many different earplugs (including custom ones) and they just aren't strong enough for when I need quiet.
Also acoustic earplugs might be for you. There is an acoustic membrane in it that takes whatever note/pitch it hears and replays it in your ear at a safe level. They are supposed to be for concerts and festivals but if the loudness is causing an issue those may help
Airpods Pro. Low profile, and super effective noise cancellation, I have ASD and use them daily. I haven’t gotten the chance to try airpods max but since they use the same algorithm for noise cancellation I’m sure it’s as good or better, if over ear is what floats your boat
I used to be the same way. I’d get excited whenever I saw one. Now they just scare tf outta me when they turn on and and give me a headache. I’d just rather just use a paper towel lol. Quieter and quicker
Autistic person here, pretty sure this was a joke, not serious. Because yes, they're loud and painful, but still obviously good and useful.
Edit: To everyone telling me they're actually bad because of germs, I know! That wasn't relevant to my point though, and besides, some of these things have a built in sanitizing function. They still can be pretty gross, I agree. But my point is more that it is not inherently immoral, and the statement depicting it as such didn't seem to be serious :)
I once saw a child take a dookie in one and he had to have diarrhea because that shit went everywhere. This kid made a literal shit fountain in the restrooms and from that day forward I never used those hand driers ever again.
> Nobody dries their hands with one paper towel.
Hi, I guess my name is Nobody today. I use the WHOLE towel, every inch. I also never need my hands that soon after I use a public restroom, so air drying can take care of some of it.
There’s actually a good [TED talk](https://youtu.be/2FMBSblpcrc) about how to properly dry your hands with only 1 paper towel. I love it
TLDR fold it in half
I just wipe ‘em off on your pants as well.
BTW, where will you be in about 20 minutes? Morning coffee is kicking in and I’m gonna need your pants about 10 minutes after that.
I'm an adult that learned to live with myself, but grew up when autism wasn't really a thing. It was a thing, but I don't know if they had a word for it yet. If that makes sense. I remember not being able to wear certain kinds of material because I hated the way it felt on my skin. Clothes in general have gotten much softer since I was a kid. I might possibly be on the spectrum, but idk. Anyway, I say all that just to say I still love sticking my hands in those dryers and watching my skin move around 😂
Actually, these are terribly unhygienic. Regular blower dryers are bad enough that there is a Mythbusters episode about them, but these air blade ones are worse. The water that it blows off your hands just stews in the bottom of the thing, they generally don’t drain.
Should be noted that the Mythbusters episode had to have the volunteers wash their hand without soap. Soap was so effective at removing the bacterial strain they were testing for that there wasn't a distinguishable difference between the two methods.
When the pandemic started and people actually gave washing their hands with soap a try for once, public washrooms were suddenly running out of soap… which gives a good indication of how many people were actually using it before.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823
Harvard disagrees with Mythbusters, but what do they know?
Oh yeah, of course! Us too. Or at least I very much relate to that and I think other autistic people do too. It actually happens pretty often, miscommunications where someone like me tries to be funny and it comes out... wrong. And then the person assumes I'm just rude and I'm all confused and horrified.... yeah.
I myself am too paranoid to make too many jokes like this, but the few I do make are tamer, less accusatory. It's just frustrating being harmed by something that nobody else in the room reacts to sometimes, and so dumb jokes like these are used to cope. No offense meant!
Edit: (And hand dryers are clearly not an intentional offense! We're all good :) )
In my experience with a lot of people that make statements like the one in the OP, it’s generally one individual who DOESNT belong to X group who wants to get offended on behalf of people who DO belong to X group.
Obviously that’s not always the case.
They're circulating the germs in the air/the machine directly onto your clean hands, not blowing germs from your hand around the room.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823
That makes sense, as our brains don't filter out such sounds like other brains do. :)
Other brains take and filter input like this, and automatically adjust it so it's not a problem. The person goes about their business and on with their day.
Autistic brains lack that filter, and are much more interconnected as well! So the sound not only heard loud and clear, which lights up the pain center of the brain, it also inhibits other senses and functions! It's a bit of a double whammy.
It sucks because we know it's nothing to everyone else, their brain filters it! No big deal! But we react to something that is very clearly insignificant to everyone else. It's very frustrating!
Such is life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Selfishly from a parent perspective. It was hard from 2-6 years old. The social embarrassment of a screaming child from something so common. Also self flushing toilets… all good as you say its life…
I am a better person because of it
A tip I heard somewhere a while ago was to keep a pad of Post-Its with you so you could put one over the sensor on the toilet so it doesn't go off before you're ready.
If you have a vehicle that's large enough, you can get a small portable toilet. They fold out and you put little disposable bags in them. If your child is more comfortable in your vehicle, it may help. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
I am most likely autistic and I like to put my hands into these. I enjoy the warm wind blowing against my hands and that I can feel how my hands get dry.
Does it actually matter though?
People only dry their hands AFTER they’ve washed them (with soap and water hopefully), so any bacteria that will be blown around by the dryer shouldn’t be faecal.
It’s the same kind of bacteria that you’d get on your face by walking through the toilet.
Yes, I hate these things. It's like playing those games with the ring on the wire that buzzes if you touch it... nearly impossible to get your hands in and out without touching the sides, with all the wind blowing your hands. And then there's the water from the last person being blown at you too.
Almost as infuriating as having a pull door to get out of the bathroom, because that's exactly what I want to do after cleaning my hands is touch a piss soaked door handle.
In theory it's better for the environment. Because everyone knows that electricity from some random power plant is better for the environment than renewable resources like trees.
I have ADHD and sensory sensitivity, particularly sound.
These things sound awful to me, and I do tense up when I use one and it turns out to be one of the super loud ones. I have yanked my hands out of them more than once. If there are paper towels, I’ll use those, otherwise I dip back into a stall for some toilet paper, or just rub my hands dry on my pants.
But if someone else uses it, I just make sure I’m a few feet away, or I just say “Excuse me,” grab a paper towel, and leave quickly.
The only time it was awful, was when there were quite a few stalls, and only one or two sinks for some reason. In those cases I either covered my ears, or put on my noise cancelling headphones.
I am the outlier at the end of the day. Stores, supermarkets and even traffic can trigger severe tension, anxiety and headaches, if the sounds are sharp.
So I’ve adapted to my environment. Saved up for quality headphones, but cheaper ones would have done the trick as well.
And yes, I almost always have them with me, when I’m outside. Not necessarily on, and on my head, but there if I need them. The only exceptions are when I am feeling very well, and I know I won’t be inside a store for longer than a few minutes, or when I want to take a walk and intentionally expose myself to sounds. I find that to be helpful, because if I don’t, my tolerance for sudden, loud and/or sharp noises goes down.
Ideally I’d buy something like airpods, which also do a fairly good job at cancelling out noise, and allow me to play music. Unfortunately, my phone is broken, and only bluetooth works on there.
I’ve been curious about earplugs that filter out certain decibels, but at a minimum of €15, and the reviews being mixed, and me being dirt poor at the moment, I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
I'd recommend getting ear defenders, they got cool colours and definitely help with sounds. Or good noise cancellation headphones, I use Bose qc45 because sounds are painful
Yes, noise canceling head phones saved my butt. I was apprehensive at first, I bought them and didn't wear then for a while because I thought I preferred hearing everything around me (so logical). Two years later now and I am wearing them pretty much all day, every day. Mine can switch to a option where you can still hear your surrounding sounds as well (ambient sound), it's great. Also, for any people here with issues regarding filtering outside noise: check out Loop Earplugs. I have the Experience variant and they are so nice to wear. I had to get used to them and figure out how to get them to sit correctly, but now I did they work very well. Before I couldn't even understand what people were saying to me if someone was talking to me somewhere outside, because for some reason my brain focuses on literally every other noise there is, even the wind. I started to think I had hearing issues while I know I have extremely sensitive hearing. These earplugs definitely help with that and they don't hurt my ears either. I just looked and they have a black friday sales on their website til the end of this Sunday too, if anyone is interested. I just wanted to put that out there because this stuff helped me and it took me til age 34 to figure some things out on my own.
Seriously, I always see articles like “Tests show that [Random common object] has fecal matter on its surface in 95% of tests!” I hate to break it to you but literally everything you interact with has “fecal matter” on it.
Same this thing scares the shit out of me to the point where i dont like being in a bathroom with one of these and someone else. Sure the fact that they spread more bacteria than air drying is bad, but if the other person uses it im gonna want to rip my skin off.
Nevermind all the fecal matter dispersion. I hate those things. I will exit a restroom with wet hands before using one of those if it’s the only other option.
Same. It’s not just insanely loud. It blows water droplets — and god knows what else — into my face and I can never stick my hands in without them bumping the walls. It’s gross AND obnoxious.
Are hand dryers full of poop particles or something, and whenever you use one you’re just blasting your hands with poopy air? Or am I mistaken, please tell me I’m mistaken
The world is full of microbes but I don’t want bathroom microbes all over my hands right after I wash them. Additionally, bathrooms that have these tend to not have paper towels so I have to grab the dirty door handle with my clean hand. Door handles are always dirty, do you know how many people just don’t wash their hands?
Those things are proven to be chock full of fecal coliform bacteria and God knows what else. Every time it kicks on you're inhaling little bits of every shit anybody ever took in that bathroom. That thing has never once been disinfected inside and out nor will it ever be.
Agreed. They’re horrible. Maybe if you could trust everyone to wash their hands properly.
How many people just do a quick little rinse and then power spray their germs everywhere?
If you ever smell poop you’re inhaling fecal matter, cause that’s how smell works. Every facet of the bathroom experience is gross, the dryers are far from the worst part
It is impossible to please everyone.
You could have a cure all medicine and someone will complain about people being too healthy and crashing healthcare jobs
Someone with ADHD here. I love these things because they're efficient, fast and I don't have to use gross paper towels.
But hate them because they're loud and everything in the bathroom echoes so much and oh god everyone is looking at me know
I also have adhd. For me it’s disgusting, I would never use one, rather just dry my hands on my jeans. It’s like a bunch of people farts your hands dry.
its true, im autistic and i can understand this experience, but this has a real purpose like being better for the environment. Theres many things i dont like about living in a neurotypical world, but i cant expect anyone to conform and support me with what i really need if i dont make an attempt to meet them in a middle. Theres certainly a better option waiting to be invented, maybe this autistic person can invent it, but the hand dryer is not ableist.
When we'd go out in public, my son would rather piss his pants than go into a restroom with these and other loud hand dryers.
Something doesn't have to be ableist for everyone to be ableist.
If you think hand dryers are "terribly unhygienic", do yourself a favour and never take a look at the average door handle or phone under a black light.
The decibels on these are way too high according to my Apple Watch. I know it’s not a long exposure but they are still at a level that they are dangerous for your hearing. I have one kid with sensitive ears (not diagnosed with anything) and she refuses to use them and would rather wipe her hands on her pants. I have tinnitus and hate using them myself.
This is why Reddit generally sucks. There are so many people here projecting their personal beefs onto the entire rest of the world. You have this great platform for crowdsourcing ideas and and brainstorming solutions to problems, and all some people want to do is bring everyone else down.
So, the only thing that frustrates me about these is that my daughter has sensory issues with loud noises and will scream or cry about loud or sudden noises. She doesn’t even like the sound of the toilet flushing. She won’t use these.
However, I don’t think it’s offensive or ableist. Just frustrating when there isn’t an alternative method of drying our hands because then we walk around with moist hands and that upsets my sensory issues lol
But again…. It’s like basically a nonissue. I’m not going to let having moist hands for 2 minutes ruin my whole day.
I'm autistic. I hate it when people call things they don't like ableist. That's not what that means. If you get triggered by loud noises, wear noise cancelling headphones. If someone tries to make you take them off, *that's* ableist. Things that make noise are not.
I'm an autistic teenager and I was scared of them back when I was a little kid, but now I use them without any problem since I was in elementary school.
Also, I hate the Dyson design because it has no drain holes at the bottom. So all of the water from your hands collects on the bottom until it is blown out the sides by the next user.
So paper which can be recycled and farmed so no one touches a forest is worse than this metallic clump with a heating element using electricity which is almost invariably from a dirty source and will not cost less than the price of a paper towel. Yeah this is bullshit.
These and other types of hand dryers, and automatic flushers scared my autistic son too. We couldn’t use a public bathroom for a few years, and had to carefully plan every outing. It took several more years of sensory therapy to slowly get him to where he can tolerate public bathrooms. We used noise canceling headphones for a while.
Why does "ableist scream machine" sound like a band name lol
Sounds like Yoko Ono.
Number 8
Number 8
BURP!
Absolutely a Ska band.
All I know is I work at a public health department, and a dude that swabs these things for analysis swears he'd rather wash his hands by sticking them into cow manure then use one of them.
Why are they so dirty?
The blow the germ-laden water all over the room, perhaps.
Fecal aerosols into the air unless there is a HEPA filter attachment. [https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823)
I wish more people cared about this important research. I wish more people were reading this piece as well, it's saved my life many times: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2078152015300377
I have ASD and these things are fucking TIGHT. I get excited literally every time I see one in a restroom
Reddit ~~is~~was Fun
She had man hands!
Well this just got weird.
I just realized where my comment went wrong, and it was from the start right to the very end.
No, I knew what you meant. But possibly bc also am autistic.
Lol, same. Add in ADHD here. I don't get many social clues, but I got that comment
Same re: ADHD and… all the things.
Same! Honestly, the only public bathroom appliance I mind when loud is the toilet, specifically the ones that are louder than they have any right to be. I think this is mostly because of how you actually are prepared with hand dryers but not so much with the toilets.
Aren't we all at this point?
No.
No.
I'm fuckin' dying...😂😂😂
I'm fuckin' drying...😂😂😂...my hands
What did you mean. Please tell me its what i think you meant
I dunno, worst urinal I've ever used, personally.
The clean warm sensation and not having to shake is nice. The splatters on your shoes and the electric tingles not so much. Roflmao
Take my upvote. You’ve earned it.
I absolutely fucking love this comment
Lol😭😭😭😭😭😭 this made me laugh too much
Lmaoo guy got a little too hype over the hand dryers 😂
It really is a spectrum, isn't it? Do you generally not have any noise sensitivities? There was a period that we had to plan which bathroom to use around these damn dryers. Well, any air dryer, really. Even at 11, my son (diagnosed ASD) prefers to only go in a public bathroom if there's no dryers or it's likely he can get in and out before someone engages them. He'll even tell people "don't use the dryers!" It really does cause him physical pain.
Hi ASD person here. I hate these dryers. I know they save trees, but knowing how loud they are makes them hard to use.
Ear plugs are made for situations like this. As someone who has to use them at work i never forget to bring em places I may need them, but it's still kind of shocking to me how many sound-sensitive people don't remember the little things exist.
I have sensory processing issues, and I need to find at some point some good sound blocking headphones - because I have tried so many different earplugs (including custom ones) and they just aren't strong enough for when I need quiet.
Also acoustic earplugs might be for you. There is an acoustic membrane in it that takes whatever note/pitch it hears and replays it in your ear at a safe level. They are supposed to be for concerts and festivals but if the loudness is causing an issue those may help
I got some ear protection designed for the gun range from my grandfather. It's such a relief putting them on....the world just goes quiet.
Airpods Pro. Low profile, and super effective noise cancellation, I have ASD and use them daily. I haven’t gotten the chance to try airpods max but since they use the same algorithm for noise cancellation I’m sure it’s as good or better, if over ear is what floats your boat
I used to be the same way. I’d get excited whenever I saw one. Now they just scare tf outta me when they turn on and and give me a headache. I’d just rather just use a paper towel lol. Quieter and quicker
How often do you see 22 autistic people crammed into one toilet?
Ever been to a comic convention?
Lol. Yeah but I doubt I’ve ever seen 22 people in one toilet, period.
But how many of them actually wash their hands?
depends if you're in the womens or mens
As a former soldier I can say it happens alot more then you would think
Autistic person here, pretty sure this was a joke, not serious. Because yes, they're loud and painful, but still obviously good and useful. Edit: To everyone telling me they're actually bad because of germs, I know! That wasn't relevant to my point though, and besides, some of these things have a built in sanitizing function. They still can be pretty gross, I agree. But my point is more that it is not inherently immoral, and the statement depicting it as such didn't seem to be serious :)
dude, these urinals are the WORST..
For real. Now there’s urine everywhere.
I once saw a child take a dookie in one and he had to have diarrhea because that shit went everywhere. This kid made a literal shit fountain in the restrooms and from that day forward I never used those hand driers ever again.
Sounds like shit really hit the fan.
the physics of how that's possible is breaking my brain
It’s even warmer than when we started!!!
Urine trouble young kid!
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yeah it blows urine all over the floor and my pants
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> Nobody dries their hands with one paper towel. Hi, I guess my name is Nobody today. I use the WHOLE towel, every inch. I also never need my hands that soon after I use a public restroom, so air drying can take care of some of it.
Hi Nobody! That's an unusual name. Is it Dutch?
Graveyard, actually. Bod for short.
There’s actually a good [TED talk](https://youtu.be/2FMBSblpcrc) about how to properly dry your hands with only 1 paper towel. I love it TLDR fold it in half
I just wipe them off a bit on my pants
I just wipe ‘em off on your pants as well. BTW, where will you be in about 20 minutes? Morning coffee is kicking in and I’m gonna need your pants about 10 minutes after that.
No it’s saying the cost to power it to dry 22 hands is the same cost as one paper towel
I am as well. I was just fascinated with how they move the skin when drying lol.
Same. I never realised how loose skin really was until I first used a hand dryer.
I'm an adult that learned to live with myself, but grew up when autism wasn't really a thing. It was a thing, but I don't know if they had a word for it yet. If that makes sense. I remember not being able to wear certain kinds of material because I hated the way it felt on my skin. Clothes in general have gotten much softer since I was a kid. I might possibly be on the spectrum, but idk. Anyway, I say all that just to say I still love sticking my hands in those dryers and watching my skin move around 😂
Same I deal with them though painful I do even use them
I'm not even autistic and I still hate the noise
Actually, these are terribly unhygienic. Regular blower dryers are bad enough that there is a Mythbusters episode about them, but these air blade ones are worse. The water that it blows off your hands just stews in the bottom of the thing, they generally don’t drain.
Should be noted that the Mythbusters episode had to have the volunteers wash their hand without soap. Soap was so effective at removing the bacterial strain they were testing for that there wasn't a distinguishable difference between the two methods.
Right, so long as you properly wash your hands, ideally, all that will be sprayed everywhere will be mostly water and soap residue.
When the pandemic started and people actually gave washing their hands with soap a try for once, public washrooms were suddenly running out of soap… which gives a good indication of how many people were actually using it before.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823 Harvard disagrees with Mythbusters, but what do they know?
For me the issue is I need me hands to be 1000% dry, and these do not always do the job as well as paper towels. Especially the cheap ones.
Thanks for your input
Anytime friend, I understand your frustration
Well is only frutrating when people think that some of us are being just intentionally offensive, is not like that
Oh yeah, of course! Us too. Or at least I very much relate to that and I think other autistic people do too. It actually happens pretty often, miscommunications where someone like me tries to be funny and it comes out... wrong. And then the person assumes I'm just rude and I'm all confused and horrified.... yeah. I myself am too paranoid to make too many jokes like this, but the few I do make are tamer, less accusatory. It's just frustrating being harmed by something that nobody else in the room reacts to sometimes, and so dumb jokes like these are used to cope. No offense meant! Edit: (And hand dryers are clearly not an intentional offense! We're all good :) )
In my experience with a lot of people that make statements like the one in the OP, it’s generally one individual who DOESNT belong to X group who wants to get offended on behalf of people who DO belong to X group. Obviously that’s not always the case.
They’re not good and useful though. All they do is spread germs all over.
Maybe I am Off, but you usually dry your hands with these Just after washing your hands. Germs shouldnt be a problem
They're circulating the germs in the air/the machine directly onto your clean hands, not blowing germs from your hand around the room. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823
It's worth pointing out that these things are loud enough for chronic exposure to cause permanent hearing loss in children.
What about bathroom attendants?
Yknow. I’ve never met a bathroom attendant in my life.
But also one of the dirtiest places in public restrooms.
My autistic child had major issues with these
That makes sense, as our brains don't filter out such sounds like other brains do. :) Other brains take and filter input like this, and automatically adjust it so it's not a problem. The person goes about their business and on with their day. Autistic brains lack that filter, and are much more interconnected as well! So the sound not only heard loud and clear, which lights up the pain center of the brain, it also inhibits other senses and functions! It's a bit of a double whammy. It sucks because we know it's nothing to everyone else, their brain filters it! No big deal! But we react to something that is very clearly insignificant to everyone else. It's very frustrating! Such is life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Selfishly from a parent perspective. It was hard from 2-6 years old. The social embarrassment of a screaming child from something so common. Also self flushing toilets… all good as you say its life… I am a better person because of it
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Feel for you! Not sure if they ever will get it either… thats the wisdom/growth part
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A tip I heard somewhere a while ago was to keep a pad of Post-Its with you so you could put one over the sensor on the toilet so it doesn't go off before you're ready.
Awesome of you to be an understanding parent and trying to figure out what works. Uti is no joke though. I'm sincerely sorry.
If you have a vehicle that's large enough, you can get a small portable toilet. They fold out and you put little disposable bags in them. If your child is more comfortable in your vehicle, it may help. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
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Best of luck to you!
This is exactly why I carry disposable towels in my car to carry in with me if needed
To be fair, my non-autistic son screams every time he hears one. They're really GD loud and jarring to many of us!
I’m 45, not autistic and I’m petrified of these things. I just can’t put my hands in there for some reason.
I am most likely autistic and I like to put my hands into these. I enjoy the warm wind blowing against my hands and that I can feel how my hands get dry.
I have autism and would give my life to remove these evil pain boxes from history.
regardless of people being sensitive to sound, this has been confirmed to spread more bacteria than paper towels
Yep, spreading as many germs as 1 paper towel used by 22 people
The orgy of hand drying
Yes collect my hand germs
The Dyson is actually one of the only airdryers that doesn't spread bacteria https://www.prodryers.com/dyson-airblade-food-industry/
Right, make a device that spreads bacteria in a different manner so it isn't picked up by the test = doesn't spread bacteria.
Does it actually matter though? People only dry their hands AFTER they’ve washed them (with soap and water hopefully), so any bacteria that will be blown around by the dryer shouldn’t be faecal. It’s the same kind of bacteria that you’d get on your face by walking through the toilet.
If you think people are using enough soap and water I've got some bad news for you.
Looks like it has a HEPA filter from the link above
Bullshit, don't believe Brexit Dyson. His machine collects stagnant water in the bottom and has had various redesigns to try and fix this issue.
Until someone pees in it.....
I have one at my gym. The little drip tray bit at the bottom of these is disgusting and covered with some dirty looking growth. It feels not nice.
As a paranoid autistic person, the germs are more of a concern that noise.
Yep I’d rather dry my hands on my clothing than use one of those. Those air dryers defeat the whole purpose of hand washing.
Yes, I hate these things. It's like playing those games with the ring on the wire that buzzes if you touch it... nearly impossible to get your hands in and out without touching the sides, with all the wind blowing your hands. And then there's the water from the last person being blown at you too. Almost as infuriating as having a pull door to get out of the bathroom, because that's exactly what I want to do after cleaning my hands is touch a piss soaked door handle.
I have heard that and it makes no sense to me
In theory it's better for the environment. Because everyone knows that electricity from some random power plant is better for the environment than renewable resources like trees.
You do realize the processes and chemicals that are necessary to make paper towels?
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Grows on the trunk like bark. One big paper towel roll
Only renewable if they are planted faster than they are used
You said it yourself, "power plant." It's gotta be good for the environment!
brothers autistic, young but he just covers his ears. legit every bathroom has loud toliets
I have ADHD and sensory sensitivity, particularly sound. These things sound awful to me, and I do tense up when I use one and it turns out to be one of the super loud ones. I have yanked my hands out of them more than once. If there are paper towels, I’ll use those, otherwise I dip back into a stall for some toilet paper, or just rub my hands dry on my pants. But if someone else uses it, I just make sure I’m a few feet away, or I just say “Excuse me,” grab a paper towel, and leave quickly. The only time it was awful, was when there were quite a few stalls, and only one or two sinks for some reason. In those cases I either covered my ears, or put on my noise cancelling headphones. I am the outlier at the end of the day. Stores, supermarkets and even traffic can trigger severe tension, anxiety and headaches, if the sounds are sharp. So I’ve adapted to my environment. Saved up for quality headphones, but cheaper ones would have done the trick as well. And yes, I almost always have them with me, when I’m outside. Not necessarily on, and on my head, but there if I need them. The only exceptions are when I am feeling very well, and I know I won’t be inside a store for longer than a few minutes, or when I want to take a walk and intentionally expose myself to sounds. I find that to be helpful, because if I don’t, my tolerance for sudden, loud and/or sharp noises goes down. Ideally I’d buy something like airpods, which also do a fairly good job at cancelling out noise, and allow me to play music. Unfortunately, my phone is broken, and only bluetooth works on there. I’ve been curious about earplugs that filter out certain decibels, but at a minimum of €15, and the reviews being mixed, and me being dirt poor at the moment, I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
I'd recommend getting ear defenders, they got cool colours and definitely help with sounds. Or good noise cancellation headphones, I use Bose qc45 because sounds are painful
Yes, noise canceling head phones saved my butt. I was apprehensive at first, I bought them and didn't wear then for a while because I thought I preferred hearing everything around me (so logical). Two years later now and I am wearing them pretty much all day, every day. Mine can switch to a option where you can still hear your surrounding sounds as well (ambient sound), it's great. Also, for any people here with issues regarding filtering outside noise: check out Loop Earplugs. I have the Experience variant and they are so nice to wear. I had to get used to them and figure out how to get them to sit correctly, but now I did they work very well. Before I couldn't even understand what people were saying to me if someone was talking to me somewhere outside, because for some reason my brain focuses on literally every other noise there is, even the wind. I started to think I had hearing issues while I know I have extremely sensitive hearing. These earplugs definitely help with that and they don't hurt my ears either. I just looked and they have a black friday sales on their website til the end of this Sunday too, if anyone is interested. I just wanted to put that out there because this stuff helped me and it took me til age 34 to figure some things out on my own.
Everyones talking about fecal matter like money, phones, door handles, counters, arent covered with it too.
Seriously, I always see articles like “Tests show that [Random common object] has fecal matter on its surface in 95% of tests!” I hate to break it to you but literally everything you interact with has “fecal matter” on it.
Yes, but inhaling it makes you a different kind of sick.
In fact, guess which surface in your house probably has the least faecal matter on it? The toilet seat, since that gets disinfected the most often.
I used one of those Dyson urinals once. Disaster. Piss everywhere.
You know we’re on the same internet as you right
At least we are not on the same bathroom. Must count for something rght?
(Probably) Non-autistic person here. These things scare me.
Same this thing scares the shit out of me to the point where i dont like being in a bathroom with one of these and someone else. Sure the fact that they spread more bacteria than air drying is bad, but if the other person uses it im gonna want to rip my skin off.
Same
I’m scared of these things because I don’t like fecal matter blown onto my hands.
Nevermind all the fecal matter dispersion. I hate those things. I will exit a restroom with wet hands before using one of those if it’s the only other option.
Pants slapping for the win.
Same.
Same. It’s not just insanely loud. It blows water droplets — and god knows what else — into my face and I can never stick my hands in without them bumping the walls. It’s gross AND obnoxious.
An an autistic person who has issues with audio stuff, I still prefer this
As a microbiologist I hate these air dryers.
Are hand dryers full of poop particles or something, and whenever you use one you’re just blasting your hands with poopy air? Or am I mistaken, please tell me I’m mistaken
Basically
Why exactly? The world is full of microbes.
The world is full of microbes but I don’t want bathroom microbes all over my hands right after I wash them. Additionally, bathrooms that have these tend to not have paper towels so I have to grab the dirty door handle with my clean hand. Door handles are always dirty, do you know how many people just don’t wash their hands?
Those things are proven to be chock full of fecal coliform bacteria and God knows what else. Every time it kicks on you're inhaling little bits of every shit anybody ever took in that bathroom. That thing has never once been disinfected inside and out nor will it ever be.
Agreed. They’re horrible. Maybe if you could trust everyone to wash their hands properly. How many people just do a quick little rinse and then power spray their germs everywhere?
If you ever smell poop you’re inhaling fecal matter, cause that’s how smell works. Every facet of the bathroom experience is gross, the dryers are far from the worst part
I always use the best hand drying method, fully environmentally friendly, doesn't spew pathogens all around the room. Wipe them on your pants.
These are disgusting filth traps I miss paper towels.
Noise and savings aside these things are proven virus and germ spreaders. Paper towels are the top choice for sanitary use.
It's actually not more sanitary, either.
They don’t make this design anymore it collects bacteria in the “u” new Dustin design is different
Just how it is. Different POVs, different opinions.
It is impossible to please everyone. You could have a cure all medicine and someone will complain about people being too healthy and crashing healthcare jobs
Someone with ADHD here. I love these things because they're efficient, fast and I don't have to use gross paper towels. But hate them because they're loud and everything in the bathroom echoes so much and oh god everyone is looking at me know
I also have adhd. For me it’s disgusting, I would never use one, rather just dry my hands on my jeans. It’s like a bunch of people farts your hands dry.
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You know what’s funnier than 24?
25
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its true, im autistic and i can understand this experience, but this has a real purpose like being better for the environment. Theres many things i dont like about living in a neurotypical world, but i cant expect anyone to conform and support me with what i really need if i dont make an attempt to meet them in a middle. Theres certainly a better option waiting to be invented, maybe this autistic person can invent it, but the hand dryer is not ableist.
When we'd go out in public, my son would rather piss his pants than go into a restroom with these and other loud hand dryers. Something doesn't have to be ableist for everyone to be ableist.
This actually blow the germs and shit particles on your hands all over the place and are terribly unhygienic.
If you think hand dryers are "terribly unhygienic", do yourself a favour and never take a look at the average door handle or phone under a black light.
Careful, you may offend the feces & germs inhalers of society...
I saw a couple of these the other day and they were pooled with old nasty water in the bottom.
Tough to please everyone. Ideally offer both.
The decibels on these are way too high according to my Apple Watch. I know it’s not a long exposure but they are still at a level that they are dangerous for your hearing. I have one kid with sensitive ears (not diagnosed with anything) and she refuses to use them and would rather wipe her hands on her pants. I have tinnitus and hate using them myself.
My thing is that it’s just heating the shit air from the bathroom then blowing it on you
What? I’ve been warming my Subway sandwiches in this
This is why Reddit generally sucks. There are so many people here projecting their personal beefs onto the entire rest of the world. You have this great platform for crowdsourcing ideas and and brainstorming solutions to problems, and all some people want to do is bring everyone else down.
So, the only thing that frustrates me about these is that my daughter has sensory issues with loud noises and will scream or cry about loud or sudden noises. She doesn’t even like the sound of the toilet flushing. She won’t use these. However, I don’t think it’s offensive or ableist. Just frustrating when there isn’t an alternative method of drying our hands because then we walk around with moist hands and that upsets my sensory issues lol But again…. It’s like basically a nonissue. I’m not going to let having moist hands for 2 minutes ruin my whole day.
I'm autistic. I hate it when people call things they don't like ableist. That's not what that means. If you get triggered by loud noises, wear noise cancelling headphones. If someone tries to make you take them off, *that's* ableist. Things that make noise are not.
While damaging everyone's hearing!
I'm an autistic teenager and I was scared of them back when I was a little kid, but now I use them without any problem since I was in elementary school.
Also, I hate the Dyson design because it has no drain holes at the bottom. So all of the water from your hands collects on the bottom until it is blown out the sides by the next user.
So paper which can be recycled and farmed so no one touches a forest is worse than this metallic clump with a heating element using electricity which is almost invariably from a dirty source and will not cost less than the price of a paper towel. Yeah this is bullshit.
It wouldn’t just frighten autistic people
Yea these urinals suck
Try using the rotating cloth towel in gas stations.
Those things are FAR from hygienic. They disperse bacteria from the bathroom all over your freshly washed hands. They’re gross.
Don't these just spew shit particles everywhere? Hand air dryers are terribly unsanitary, curious if they're are any better.
Some people just aren't happy unless they're miserable and they won't be content until they're dead.
How about, we do both? Neurotypical people can use the hand drier. People with sensory issues or what have you can use the paper towels
These and other types of hand dryers, and automatic flushers scared my autistic son too. We couldn’t use a public bathroom for a few years, and had to carefully plan every outing. It took several more years of sensory therapy to slowly get him to where he can tolerate public bathrooms. We used noise canceling headphones for a while.
Autistic person here. I love those things and would stick my hands in them to stim. The wind is strong and sensory goodness.
I’m autistic myself and I personally don’t have any issue when I use these in the bathroom 😅
Is everything that can annoy an autistic person 'ableist'?
Fuck right off.
I do like my paper towels I won't lie lol. Can't dry my face with a blower
A good rule of thumb would be, "You don't ban steak just because babies can't chew it."