400 mph hand dryers now at LAX

They say there’s nowhere less sanitary than a cramped airplane. Strange people from different parts of the world sneezing and coughing their foreign germs all over you, recycled air blowing those bugs every which way, and an insufficient and uncomfortable place to wash your hands.

But the scary fact of the matter is there is one place even more potentially hazardous to your good health: the airport bathroom — a glorified convention hall of international filth. Some cultures don’t fret over toilet seat covers, some don’t sweat the use of scalding hot water to wash one’s hands, some don’t pay attention to dirty faucets and instead use their “clean hands” to turn off the spigots and then spread that bacteria to the handle and edges of the paper towel dispensers. Sadly, some of those cultures are American.

Travelers to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), however, have the benefit of freshening up germ-free, thanks in part to some recently installed hand dryers (or is it “driers”?) that are quick, easy and hands-free.

[Ed.: What's your favorite hidden airport gem? I love SEA's talking, bubbling fountains.]

The Dyson Airblade is a godsend for hand hygiene in that it uses an ingenious blast of 400 mile-per-hour air to dry your hands. Since the air is not heated it will not burn, and because the blast is so strong, one only needs to dip the drippy hands in for about 10 seconds, and voila, dry hands.

At a retail cost of about $1,000, get ready to see the Airblades in bathrooms everywhere because, since no paper is being used, no one has to refill a dispenser, order more paper, or dispose overflowing garbage bags. Plus it’s green!

The only complaint I had using the Airblade at LAX was that the gap where you put your hands is relatively small and the last thing I wanted to do was touch where other wet hands had touched. Other than that it was a pleasant, comfortable, whimsical experience and I look forward to seeing these hand driers in my favorite public restrooms soon.

— Tony Pierce, Los Angeles Times Blog Editor
[Photo: Dyson Airblade]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 9:54 pm by Tony Pierce and is filed under Eco-Travel, Frequent Flier, Healthy Traveler, Los Angeles, News, Tips & Advice, Travel Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.