Dyson Airblade spreads more germs than paper towels, according to new study

You’ve probably seen the Dyson Airblade in public toilets around the place, but it might not be the hygienic wonder we first thought.

According to the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK – which accredited the machine – the Airblade filters 99.9% of bacteria out of the air it ingests.

But now a new study has thrown some doubt on just hygienic the machine is.

In fact, it’s been found to spread 60 times more germs than standard air dryers, and 1,300 times more than standard paper towels, reports The Guardian.

Researchers at the University of Westminster devised an experiment to measure how far different drying methods spread an innocuous virus they put on their own wet hands.

Paper towel only spread the virus 25cm.

A standard air dryer spread it 75cm.

The Airblade spread it three metres!

A Dyson spokeswoman dismissed the findings as “scaremongering” and said the study was “conducted under artificial conditions”.

But this isn’t the first time a study has delivered bad news for air dryers.

In 2005 a study commissioned by the German Pulp and Paper Association found that using paper towel to dry your hands decreased bacteria on the skin by 24%, while using an air dryer actually increased it by 117%.

So which do you prefer to use – paper towel or an air dryer?

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