I find there’s three types of hand dryers: the standard kind that blows really hot air to evaporate the water, the ones that blow strongly to push the water off the hands, and the ones that are supposed to do one of these but don’t. At my university almost all of the hand dryers fall into the third category.

Why are hand dryers like this, and am I somehow drying my hands wrong?

  • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 days ago

    They’re all heated. The high flow ones just feel cold because they’re evaporating the water faster than it can put heat into your hands. If you hang out an extra 10 seconds with good technique, it’ll be warm.

    Are any perfect? Probably not. I don’t have the patience for them and utilize my pants to finish the job. But, some basic understanding goes a long way.

    1. Drying starts at the sink. Give some good shakes there. You can use your hands to squeegee the other there as well.

    2. Rub your hands in the drier, vigorously and thoroughly. You need to spread the water thin to speed evaporation. Letting it stay pooled in droplets will only lead to the droplets re-wetting the dry parts as soon as they move. It also helps put your wetter parts on your drier parts, further maximizing your wet surface area.

    2a. For the high speed ones, move your hands so it works it’s way from your wrists to your fingertips. This will help fling water off your hands.

    1. I’m still gonna pat dry on my pants because I can’t waste the extra 10 seconds with all that white noise, but it’s a lot less than how it started. I could do a handshake by time I step out. I call it quits when the air doesn’t feel cold anymore.

    Low speed drivers still won’t be worth my time. Again, I promise, I’m wearing pants, and I’ll use them.