Paper towels make for happier, healthier tenants

As a Facility Manager, tenants are your best assets so it only makes sense to take good care of them. One way to ensure customer satisfaction is to provide smarter, more sustainable office hand hygiene. While air dryers can eventually get your hands dry, they may not be the most hygienic. Find out how using a paper towel is a hygienic, sustainable and cost-effective way to practice safe hand drying, leading to happier tenants.

Paper towels vs. air dryers: the dirty truth

The obvious reason why we wash our hands is to get them clean and germ-free. However, the shocking truth is that using hot air dryers actually increases germ count by a whopping 254%!¹ Jet air dryers aren’t without blame either; a recent study showed that they had contamination levels 75 times higher than the average toilet seat.¹ Even more alarming, jet air dryers can blow bacteria up to 2 metres in the air, meaning that you may not have to even use one to come into contact with germs. The truth is, using air dryers can leave your hands much dirtier than using paper towels.

The case for paper towels

On the other hand, using a paper towel prevents germs and illnesses from spreading through the air, and the friction caused by paper towels helps remove germs. Dr. Rodney Lee Thompson from Mayo Clinic states, “Drying skin is essential to starving off bacteria, and that paper towels are superior to dryers: They’re more efficient, they don’t splatter germs, they won’t dry out hands and more people prefer them.”

Paper towels are also much faster. It takes a person 21.9 seconds to dry their hands using a jet air dryer, and just half that time if they were using a paper towel. This helps get people out of the washroom quicker and eases overcrowding, especially during peak times.

On top of providing a more sanitary, time-efficient hand hygiene solution, the annual cost of paper towels is barely more than an air dryer. A Kimberly-Clark Professional* Towel solution is about $575 per washroom, compared to $556 per washroom for air dryers. Is saving $19 a year really worth the risk of contamination?

While paper towels are highly effective, here’s a question often asked -

how do you use paper towels while remaining environmentally friendly?

The impact of paper towels on the environment

Fortunately, Kimberly-Clark Professional* towels are FSC® certified to guarantee the highest levels of environmental sustainability and most of the products made up of recycled fibers, thus reducing your carbon footprint.They also incorporate AIRFLEX® technology to maximize drying efficiency from a single sheet, cutting down on wastage. In fact, products are specifically designed to reduce consumption across the whole product lifecycle.

Making the switch to quality paper towels

Your tenants are the heart of your building. By providing a healthier environment, you’re not only keeping them happy and productive, you can help your building occupancy rate soar! Find out more about making the switch to paper towels by taking the online C.H.E.S.S. Test, and we can send a Kimberly-Clark Professional* representative to give you a FREE consultation.

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