https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-dirty-truth-about-hand-dryers/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-2018051113823

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/health/hand-dryer-petri-dish.html

Ah, OK. thx mdln. 😊 So it looks like your article and several others I checked make the case that the blowers spread the germs all over the place. Doesn’t sound good.

So I guess I should be looking in to paper towel dispensers. when I googled I found a few in the traditional public bathroom style. And then OXO has a highly recommended counter top kitchen paper towel dispenser that might work in the mud room.

Some enterprising young inventor should invent a stylish paper towel dispenser for home bathroom counters or walls.

Yes, good idea, a.p.o., We do have a rather large basket of single use finger tip towels in the powder room (and a basket for used ones) and fancy paper towels there too. In the past I’ve had single use terry towels in our mud room and utility bathrooms; that said, lately the used towels are piling up rather rapidly for the laundry so my fall back now is getting some good looking paper towel holders to put around the bathrooms and sinks. Anyway, lots cheaper than an electric hand dryer too.😊 And my observation is that our contractors, installers and household helpers who are around a lot are actually shy about using our cloth hand towels and would would prefer paper. I see them wiping their hands on their jeans....

I use diposible hand towels in my powder room all the time so I guess that was a good idea.BTW Dyson uses a hep filter to filter the air before it gets to your hands

Paper hand towels are very wasteful. I understand the logic if you're having guests but for household members? Use a hand towel. I feel the same way about paper towels -- if it weren't for DH insistence on having a roll of paper towel in the kitchen I probably wouldn't have any.

I couldn't handle the noise of the electric dryer, that would make it a no-go for me.

Yeahbut there are other sources of germs in a bathroom. Toilets spew atomized water into the air when flushed (closing the lid when flushing helps). I suppose hands not properly washed and dried under a blower can be a source.

I avoid paper towels when possible due to the waste-factor, although they are the best choice for some clean-up chores.

Not driven by the virus at all, but I actually got a stack of a dozen or so washcloths for my kitchen in an effort to reduce my paper towel use. It's helping.

Hrmmph. I live in Australia, and you can't buy paper towels at all here right now unless you're at the supermarket door at opening time. That's less a concern, frankly, than the same problem with toilet paper. You can always substitute for paper towels, but t.p., not so much :-(

@jmm Much of the world uses water and survives.... ;)

With the Covid 19 going around, paper towels for drying hands seems pretty sensible. Even if you assign a separate hand towel to each person who uses a sink, recommendations are they should not be used more than one time. I bought a package of twenty-five white hand towels at Costco several weeks ago to build up my stash and I’m going though loads of water and detergent trying to keep up with the washing. 😊

Btw, I just ordered three of those OXO paper towel holders for the sinks.

acm - true. I've spent time in India, so I know I can survive the toilet paper shortage. What I'm not sure I can survive is the mentality that has created it.