 | |
| Inception | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Dyson |
| Available | Yes |
| Website | http://www.dysonairblade.com  |
Dyson Airblade is an electric hand dryer made by the Singapore-based company Dyson, found in public bathrooms across the United Kingdom. [1] It was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2006 and in the United States in late 2007. In 2013 the Airblade Tap was launched, which incorporates Airblade technology into a bathroom faucet enabling washing and drying in a single unit.
Instead of using a wide jet of heated air, Dyson Airblade uses a thin layer of unheated air travelling at around 400 mph (180 m/s; 640 km/h) as a squeegee to remove water, rather than using heat to evaporate the water. [2] The Dyson Airblade is claimed by its manufacturer to dry hands in 10 seconds and to use less electricity than conventional hand dryers. [1]
The first commercially available high-speed, horizontal-wiping air dryer was the Mitsubishi Jet Towel, developed since 1991 and introduced in 1993. [3] It has been available in the United States since 2005. [4] There are several technical differences among electric hand dryers, such as airspeed, water containment, energy efficiency, use of heat, type of filter, motor lifespan, and power usage. [5]
The same technology is used by Dyson in the Air Multiplier fan to create a cooling air stream for personal comfort.
The Dyson Airblade is 69% more energy-efficient than conventional hand-dryers and 97% more cost effective than paper towels. [6] The Airblade is cheaper to operate because it does not require hot air which greatly increases electricity consumption. The Airblade is also cheaper to operate due to decreased drying times. The Airblade V can dry off hands in 12 seconds, versus 25 for a traditional hand dryer. [7]
A comparative test found that both paper towels and the Airblade dried hands quickly, achieving around 90% dryness in about ten seconds, supporting Dyson's claim of approximately ten seconds of drying time. [8] A conventional warm air dryer took about forty-seven seconds.
In the United States, Dyson worked with the NSF to become the only certified hand dryer under Protocol P335 for Hygienic Commercial Hand Dryers. [9] [10] The Royal Society of Public Health has given the Dyson Airblade hand dryer its first hygiene accreditation. [11]
A paper was presented at the 17th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Munich, Germany in 2007 by the University of Bradford and Dyson showing that for a set drying time of 10 seconds, the Airblade led to significantly less bacterial transfer than with the other driers (p < 0.05). When the latter were used for longer (30–35 s) the trend was for the Airblade to still perform better; however, these results did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). In addition, the study showed that rubbing hands whilst using the driers counteracted the reduction in overall bacterial numbers at all anatomical sites. [12]
Hygiene associated with the product has been questioned in research by the University of Westminster Trade Group, London and sponsored by the paper towel industry the European Tissue Symposium, which suggests that use increases the amount of bacteria on the fingertips by about 42%; paper towels reduced the number of bacteria by 50 to 75%, while warm air dryers increased bacteria by 194%. The report found that "the manufacturer’s claim that the tested JAD [Airblade] is 'the most hygienic hand dryer' is confirmed ... assuming that the term 'hand dryer' refers to electric devices only because its performance in terms of the numbers of all types of bacteria remaining on the hands of users compared to paper towels was significantly worse." [8]
In early 2013, three new models of the Dyson Airblade were introduced: the Airblade Mk. 2, the Airblade V, and the Airblade Tap. The Mk. 2 uses a similar design as the original model, but has increased jet air speed from 400–430 mph (180–190 m/s; 640–690 km/h), and new soundproofing makes the new model quieter than the old one. The Airblade V is a hands-under hand dryer that complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The Airblade Tap is a non-contact bathroom tap that both washes and dries hands. It eliminates the need to move to a separate area to dry hands, and therefore eliminates any water dripped on the floor. [13] [14] All three hand dryers use a new Digital Slim Motor, the Dyson V4.
| Model | Year | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Airblade 20777 | 2006 | 400 mph (180 m/s; 640 km/h) airspeed; discontinued |
| Airblade AB03 | 2006 | 400 mph (180 m/s; 640 km/h) airspeed; discontinued |
| Airblade Mk2 AB06/AB07/AB14 | 2013 | 430 mph (190 m/s; 690 km/h) airspeed [15] |
| Airblade V AB08/HU02 | 2013 | "hands-under" design; 430 mph (190 m/s; 690 km/h) airspeed |
| Airblade Tap AB09, AB10, AB11 | 2013 | automatic non-contact faucet with integrated hand dryer. Now known as Wash+Dry. |
| Airblade 9kJ HU03 | 2019 | Curved Edge design and has Eco and Max Feature |
On 5 December 2012, a lawsuit by competitor Excel Dryer was filed against Dyson, claiming that Dyson's advertising comparing the Airblade to the Excel Dryer Xlerator were deceptive. [16] Dyson's advertisements stated the Xlerator produces twice as much carbon dioxide, is worse for the environment, and costs more to operate than the Airblade. Excel Dryer charged that Dyson was falsifying its comparisons by submitting a 20-second dry time for the Xlerator to the Materials Systems Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rather than Excel Dryer's tested 12-second dry time, thus inflating energy consumption figures in the Airblade's favor.
In 2014, a paper was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection (2014;88:199-206), showing that high-speed hand dryers such as the Dyson Airblade can spread large numbers of a harmless test bacteria through the air in the vicinity. The Dyson company challenged the study with its own criticism of the methods and conclusions. [17]
Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness. Hygiene activities can be grouped into the following: home and everyday hygiene, personal hygiene, medical hygiene, sleep hygiene, and food hygiene. Home and every day hygiene includes hand washing, respiratory hygiene, food hygiene at home, hygiene in the kitchen, hygiene in the bathroom, laundry hygiene, and medical hygiene at home.
A towel is a piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact.
A bidet is a bowl or receptacle designed to be sat upon in order to wash a person's genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. The modern variety has a plumbed-in water supply and a drainage opening, and is thus a plumbing fixture subject to local hygiene regulations. The bidet is designed to promote personal hygiene and is used after defecation, and before and after sexual intercourse. It can also be used to wash feet, with or without filling it up with water. In several European countries, a bidet is now required by law to be present in every bathroom containing a toilet bowl. It was originally located in the bedroom, near the chamber-pot and the marital bed, but in modern times is located near the toilet bowl in the bathroom. Fixtures that combine a toilet seat with a washing facility include the electronic bidet.
Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands. Drying of the washed hands is part of the process as wet and moist hands are more easily recontaminated. If soap and water are unavailable, hand sanitizer that is at least 60% (v/v) alcohol in water can be used as long as hands are not visibly excessively dirty or greasy. Hand hygiene is central to preventing the spread of infectious diseases in home and everyday life settings.
A paper machine is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machine, which uses a moving woven mesh to create a continuous paper web by filtering out the fibres held in a paper stock and producing a continuously moving wet mat of fibre. This is dried in the machine to produce a strong paper web.
A paper towel is an absorbent, disposable towel made from paper. In Britain, paper towels for kitchen use are also known as kitchen rolls, kitchen paper, or kitchen towels. For home use, paper towels are usually sold in a roll of perforated sheets, but some are sold in stacks of pre-cut and pre-folded layers for use in paper-towel dispensers. Unlike cloth towels, paper towels are disposable and intended to be used only once. Paper towels absorb water because they are loosely woven, which enables water to travel between the fibers, even against gravity. They have similar purposes to conventional towels, such as drying hands, wiping windows and other surfaces, dusting, and cleaning up spills. Paper towel dispensers are commonly used in toilet facilities shared by many people, as they are often considered more hygienic than hot-air hand dryers or shared cloth towels.
Toilets in Japan are sometimes designed more elaborately than toilets commonly seen in other developed nations. European toilets occasionally have a separate bidet whilst Japan combines an electronic bidet with the toilet. The current state of the art for Western-style toilets in Japan is the bidet toilet, which as of March 2016 is installed in 81% of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and they may include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The basic feature set commonly found on washlets consists of anal hygiene, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization.
Staphylococcal enteritis is an inflammation that is usually caused by eating or drinking substances contaminated with staph enterotoxin. The toxin, not the bacterium, settles in the small intestine and causes inflammation and swelling. This in turn can cause abdominal pain, cramping, dehydration, diarrhea and fever.
Tissue paper or simply tissue is a lightweight paper or, light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made from recycled paper pulp on a paper machine.
Infection prevention and control is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infections; a practical rather than academic sub-discipline of epidemiology. In Northern Europe, infection prevention and control is expanded from healthcare into a component in public health, known as "infection protection". It is an essential part of the infrastructure of health care. Infection control and hospital epidemiology are akin to public health practice, practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole.
A hand dryer is an electric machine which might make use of a heating element and an air blower to dry the hands after hand washing. It is commonly used in public toilets as a cost-effective alternative to paper towels.
A paper-towel dispenser is a wall-mounted device that dispenses paper towels in a public toilet so that hands can be dried after hand washing. Some are operated by a handle, some by pulling the paper from the dispenser, and others by automatic dispensation in response to a motion sensor, which is generally powered by an internal battery. Many dispensers also feature a lock-and-key mechanism to prevent paper theft.
World Dryer Corporation is a Berkeley, Illinois based manufacturer of hand dryers and related products. Established in 1950 with the Model A, it was a subsidiary of Beatrice Foods, has been a subsidiary of Carrier Corporation, and in 2017 joined the Zurn Industries brand of Rexnord Corp.
Anal hygiene or anal cleansing refers to the practices that are performed on a person's anus to maintain hygiene, usually in the aftermath of defecation. Post-defecation cleansing is rarely discussed academically, partly due to the social taboo surrounding it. The scientific objective of post-defecation cleansing is to prevent exposure to pathogens. The process of post-defecation cleansing involves either washing the anus and inner part of the buttocks with water or wiping the area with dry materials such as toilet paper. Water-based cleansing typically involves either the use of running water from a handheld vessel and a hand for washing or the use of pressurized water through a jet device, such as a bidet. In either method, subsequent hand sanitization is essential to achieve the ultimate objectives of post-defecation cleansing.
Personal care products are consumer products which are applied on various external parts of the body such as skin, hair, nails, lips, external genital and anal areas, as well as teeth and mucous membrane of the oral cavity, in order to make them clean, protect them from harmful germs and keep them in good condition. They promote personal hygiene and overall health, well-being and appearance of those body parts. Toiletries form a narrower category of personal care products which are used for basic hygiene and cleanliness as a part of a daily routine. Cosmetic products, in contrast, are used for personal grooming and beautification. Pharmaceutical products are not considered personal care products.
A food dehydrator is a device that removes moisture from food to aid in its preservation. Food drying is a method of preserving fruit, vegetables and meats that has been practiced since antiquity.
A bidet shower—also known as a handheld bidet, commode shower, toilet shower, health faucet, bum shower, jet spray, Muslim shower, shatafa or bum gun—is a hand-held triggered nozzle that is placed near the toilet and delivers a spray of water used for anal cleansing and cleaning of the genitals after using the toilet for defecation and urination, popularised by Arab nations where the bidet shower is a common bathroom accessory. The device is similar to that of a kitchen sink sprayer.
A towel rails radiator or a heated towel rail is a feature designed to heat towels before using them. For many years, European hotels have used them as combined towel- dryers/racks. The towel warmer is a bathroom heater suitable for both drying and heating towels and the environment. There are two versions: traditional ones that are plumbed like a radiator with water heated from a central boiler, and electric ones where an electrical resistance heats water or oil contained in the unit.
Excel Dryer is an American manufacturer of hand dryers, based in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
