HAND DRYERS
What next for hand dryers? Hand dryers have changed beyond all recognition during their 100 years in existence. But what were the earliest models like? ECJ discovers the history of the hand dryer, finds out how far they have evolved – and asks what happens next.
MOST OF US THINK of the electric hand dryer as a relatively modern invention. But the first models were created more than a century ago on both sides of the Atlantic. And there is a degree of controversy over who came up with the idea first. According to Wikipedia, the earliest hand dryer was patented in 1921 by the Airdry Corporation of New York. Excel Dryer’s director of global sales Tammy Stone confirms this. “The company’s patent indicated that the model would work by ‘delivering a blast of heated air for drying the face, hands or hair of a person, or for drying jewellery, metal parts, glassware or other articles’,” she said. “Unfortunately the concept never really took off at the time.” A Chicago-based inventor named George Clemens then popularised the electric hand dryer in 1948, according to Stone. “The invention worked, but it was loud and inefficient and took nearly a minute to dry the hands,” she said. “So paper towels remained the prevailing hand drying method in the public sphere for the next five decades.” Business support manager for Everything Hand Dryers Kate Furniss adds to this that the first Airdry model was operated via a floor pedal. And she agrees with Stone that it gained little recognition among washroom users in the 1920s. “The market then changed in the early 1990s with the introduction of the first hands-in dryer from Mitsubishi,” she said. “This proved to be immensely popular in Japan, but it didn’t reach the
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European or North American markets until the early 2000s.” However Starmix – originally called Electrostar - has a different take on the earliest hand dryers. “We operated one of the first ever vacuum cleaner factories in southern Germany in the 1920s and our founder, Robert Schöttle, used the related technology to develop the first electric hand dryer,” said the company’s sanitary division leader Johannes Behrens. “This was seen as a breakthrough since it used warm air at relatively low noise levels to dry the hands. And it took a completely new approach to existing handdrying solutions.” But whether the hand dryer originated in Europe, the US or in both at the same time, it is generally agreed the market has evolved dramatically – and that most of the changes have taken place since the start of the new millennium. “In terms of energy consumption, efficiency, drying speed, design and noise, today’s models are in no way comparable to last century’s solutions,” says Behrens. He believes one of the most important changes to have been the switch from push-button to infra-red touchless operation. “Developments began to speed up when topics such as energy savings, carbon footprint and sustainability began to shape public opinion,” he said. “And this came hard on the heels of other developments concerning shorter drying times, lower noise levels and a userfriendly design.”
Stark contrast Excel Dryer’s Tammy Stone describes the difference between the earliest hand dryers and today’s high-speed, energy-efficient models as “like night and day”. And she believes that factors such as sustainability and hygiene requirements - plus the demand for an alternative solution to paper towels - have been the main drivers behind the hand dryer revolution. “Customers and visitors prefer touchless solutions, particularly in the light of the pandemic,” she said. “Sensor automa-
tion removes an unnecessary touchpoint from the hand hygiene process and reduces the risk of spreading germs and contaminating freshly-washed hands.” Among the company’s latest products is the D|13 Sink System featuring the XLERATORsync hand dryer. This allows the user to wash, rinse and dry the hands in one place while the XLERATORsync uses a high-speed airflow to blow the water away from the user and towards the bottom of the sink. “This keeps the water in the sink and off the floors to prevent dangerous and unhygienic situations for visitors,” says Stone.
Demand for hygiene Export area manager of Mediclinics Milagros Garde also believes there to be a clear “before” and “after” picture as far as hand dryers are concerned. “The world has become much more aware of the need for hygiene in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. “As a result, technologies such as particle filters, ionisers, antimicrobial additives and UV-C ultraviolet light with germicidal activity have been gaining more traction.” He believes the hand dryer market’s two main drivers have been a growing demand for higher levels of hygiene in public toilets and the technological developments that are making this possible. “New technologies such as high-speed motors have allowed us to manufacture hand dryers with lower energy consumption and shorter drying times than traditional dryers, thus saving twice as much energy,” he said. “And this offers greater satisfaction for the user as well because they can dry their hands more rapidly.” Other factors shaping the market include a growing focus on sustainability and the need to cut costs, according to Garde. “People are concerned about the climate emergency and are betting on environmentally-friendly products,” he said. “Hand dryers consume fewer natural resources than paper which means their impact on CO2 emissions is lower.” Business support manager for Every-