A public or workplace bathroom will typically have a tap, soap dispenser, hand dryer or a paper towel dispenser. In the past, we’ve had to touch or come into some sort of contact with the appliance in order to clean and dry our hands. However, in this new pandemic era of heightened awareness around hygiene safety, this isn’t exactly too necessary anymore. Especially when bathrooms carry a lot of germs!
So, this is where non-touch appliances come in. These are appliances that don’t require a person to come into any contact with it. These could be sensor taps, soap dispensers, hand dryers, paper towel dispensers, sensor toilet and urinal flushers. All these have the ability to make sure our bathrooms a safer environment for workers and the public to use without any added risks.
Sensor taps are starting to gain a lot more popularity recently, especially in modern bathrooms. They are taps that are also activated by the user using sensor technology. They are great for saving on water and energy, amongst other benefits.
But more importantly, they reduce the spread of germs around the bathroom and/or onto the individual. It means that when you wash your hands, they stay nice and clean, instead of having germs back onto your hands because you need to turn the tap off.
They’re a great alternative to your regular taps, and we could really see a rise in their popularity due to the current situation the world is now in.
There is an increasing range of designs, colours and functionality to meet every requirement for the individual bathrooms.
Much like the sensor taps, automatic sensor soap dispensers are becoming increasingly popular in upgraded/refurbished bathrooms.
If you are avoiding making contact through rinsing and drying your hands, why are we touching the soap dispenser to dispense the soap required to clean our hands?
Like many of the push button dispensers, we are continually pushing that button to get the suitable amount of soap required and in the end we just make do. With automatic soap dispensers the volume of soap is pre-set the required amount every time.
Sensor soap dispensers come in a range of styles, finishes, construction and mountings to suit the individuals bathroom. You can even purchase soap dispensers to match the look of your tap.
But aren’t all hand dryers non-touch?
The answer is mostly yes. However, you can still get those older hand dryers that require you to activate it yourself, usually through pushing a button. These are the older more traditional hand dryers, but they’re still out there, especially in some public bathrooms.
This of course raises some hygiene concerns. We don’t want to be coming into contact with a hand dryer in order to dry our hands. It sort of defeats the whole point. And even if bathrooms are regularly cleaned, these contact points would still get germs building up throughout the day, especially in high traffic areas.
And now that we’re all slowly going to start to be back in workplaces, this is even more true. We want to completely minimise the contact points in bathrooms to only what is absolutely necessary.
But sensor hand dryers are a lot more common now. These are hand dryers that are automatic and sensor activated instead of physically activated by the user. So, requires zero contact with the appliance.
Now, we’ve seen some of the myths floating around regarding the hygiene of hand dryers. But there is no conclusive evidence to show that hand dryers spread viruses any more than paper towels.
What about paper towel dispensers?
Have you ever been in a public bathroom and got into a game of tug and war with a paper towel dispenser, only to break off the paper into pieces onto the ground? Yes? Me too! These dispensers probably get more contact than those push-button hand dryers we mentioned before. They are more contact points, especially when they get stuck or remain empty.
Paper towel dispensers are an ideal drying method for bathrooms that don’t have an electric supply or for bathrooms that need a minimal noise drying method (for example – some schools, hospitals, etc). But minimal noise shouldn’t mean a compromise on hygiene.
So, what if we didn’t have to come into contact with the dispenser? Well, this is possible! And it’s possible because of automatic paper towel dispensers. These are also sensor activated by the user and run on batteries. But can also run-on mains power if an electric supply is present in the bathroom.
With non-touch paper towel dispensers, contact points can be reduced, which helps to reduce our risks to viruses.
Reducing the contact points in a bathroom has never been more vital than now.
If done properly, you could have a bathroom that had close to zero contact points. Something that the public may push for more and more as we all get back into the world and go back to work.
At Hands Free Hygiene, we offer a wide range of non-touch appliances that could improve and benefit your bathroom in a number of ways, but more importantly, by helping to minimise unnecessary hygiene and health risks.
