Oct 3 2006
Today Dyson launches a new hand dryer, the Dyson Airblade™. It’s hygienic and more than twice as fast as conventional hand dryers.
James Dyson said: “Instead of painfully slow evaporation, the Dyson Airblade™ creates a high speed sheet of air, which gently squeegees your hands dry. It’s very quick and it’s very clean.”
Speed: Conventional hand dryers either don’t work or simply take too long. In fact most people give up waiting and wipe damp hands on clothes.
The Dyson Digital Motor (DDM) produces an air stream flowing at 400mph. This unheated air is channeled through a 0.3 millimetre gap, no thicker than an eyelash.
A sheet of air acts like an invisible windscreen wiper to wipe moisture from hands leaving them completely dry.
Hygiene: Electric hand dryers use 60 year old technology that relies on evaporation to dry hands. Washroom air, which contains fecal germs and is laden with bacteria, is heated and blown onto people’s shoes, clothes and… freshly washed hands.
People rub their hands together to speed up the lengthy drying process but research proves that this actually draws bacteria from deeper skin layers and fingernails. Most people get frustrated and leave with damp hands.
Damp hands are 1,000 times more likely to cross contaminate than dry hands. The Dyson Airblade™ dries hands completely in just ten seconds.
The Dyson Airblade™ removes bacteria and mould from the air using HEPA filtration. Waste water is passed through an iodine resin filter to disinfect it. And then Piezo crystal technology releases the sterilized water as a harmless invisible mist.
The Dyson Airblade™ has undergone extensive biological and scientific testing by Dyson’s in-house microbiologists, as well as research conducted by Leeds University and Bradford University.
Dyson’s skincare research is also supported by the British Skin Foundation and the Royal Institute of Public Health.
Anna Zilnyk, certification officer, the Royal Institute of Public Health, said: “The Royal Institute of Public Health has reviewed the testing protocols and in particular those from Bradford University. They consider that the hand dryer is a significant step forward in hygienic electrical hand dryer technology.”
Energy and cost of ownership: Conventional hand dryers consume a lot of energy and take an eternity to dry hands - if you bother to wait. The Dyson Airblade™ dries hands completely in just ten seconds.
It is powered by Dyson’s long-life, low energy Digital Motor and uses up to 83 per cent less energy compared with conventional hand dryers.
If a UK washroom uses 200 paper towels per day (most people use two at a time), that will cost £951 more to run each year than a washroom with the Dyson Airblade™. That’s a 99% saving per washroom per year. So it costs less and it’s better for the environment too.
Dyson Airblade™ has been trialed in hospitals, restaurants, petrol service stations and other public places. The response has been enthusiastic and the Dyson Airblade™ will be available to buy or lease in the UK and Ireland from November 2006.
Posted 3rd October 2006