A Cleaner Finish: Why Paper Towels Deserve Another Look

In the post-pandemic world, many facility managers are balancing tighter budgets, increased expectations around cleanliness, and the pressure to streamline operations. Restrooms – often a focal point for occupant and visitor perception - remain one of the most critical spaces to get right. But there’s one restroom decision that deserves a closer look: electric hand dryers versus paper towels.

The Hidden Spread: What Happens After Hands Are “Dry”

Electric hand dryers are often selected for sustainability goals, reduced waste hauling, and lower long-term supply costs. On the surface, they appear efficient and modern.

However, research has consistently shown that wall contamination is often up to 78 times higher in restrooms using electric air dryers compared to those using paper towels. The reason is simple but significant: air dryers can aerosolize microbes from hands and surrounding surfaces, propelling them outward into the room.

Those microbes don’t just disappear. They can remain airborne for up to 30 minutes, and travel more than six feet away from an air dryer before settling on walls, floors, sinks, stall doors, and even on the next user’s clothing. In a high-traffic restroom such as office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, airports, or sports venues this creates a continuous cycle of microbial redistribution.

Every new user activates the dryer. Every activation potentially disperses more airborne contaminants. And in busy facilities, those cycles overlap throughout the day.

High Traffic = Compounded Risk

Now consider a restroom that sees hundreds or even thousands of users per day.

If microbes remain airborne for up to half an hour, peak-use periods mean the air may never actually clear before the next wave of occupants arrives. The result isn’t just theoretical contamination. It’s measurable environmental spread.

• This is not a minor operational detail for facility managers focused on reducing sick days, improving tenant satisfaction, protecting brand reputation and supporting infection prevention initiatives. It’s an exposure multiplier.

The Maintenance Blind Spot

There’s another issue that often goes overlooked.

Electric hand dryers are typically cleaned only on their exterior surfaces. Custodial teams wipe the visible casing—but what about inside the unit?

Internal components can accumulate moisture, dust, skin particles, and organic debris over time. That internal buildup of a “gunk” creates a warm, enclosed environment that can become an unseen microbial breeding ground. Because most maintenance programs don’t include internal disassembly and sanitization of dryers, contamination inside the unit may persist indefinitely. And every time the dryer turns on, air is pushed through that internal environment.

By contrast, a paper towel dispenser has no internal motor, heating element, or air propulsion system. There’s simply far less opportunity for internal microbial amplification.

A Simpler, Health-Forward Alternative

Paper towel dispensers provide a fundamentally different approach to hand drying:

• No aerosolization

• No forced air movement

• Physical removal of microbes from hands through friction

• Reduced environmental spread

Modern dispensers are also available in hands-free designs, minimizing touchpoints and aligning with today’s hygiene expectations. Advances in controlled dispensing technology reduce waste and over-use, addressing one of the historic concerns about paper towel systems. For facilities prioritizing wellness certifications, healthcare-adjacent environments, or simply higher sanitation standards, paper towels present a compelling case.

The Easy Issue to Ignore

It’s understandable how this issue can slip down the priority list.

The pandemic feels behind us. Budgets are tight. Air dryers seem like a “set it and forget it” solution. But restroom hygiene directly affects:

• Downtime from illness

• Worker productivity

• Customer perception

• Regulatory compliance in certain industries

• Overall building safety culture

Infection prevention doesn’t begin and end with major policy shifts, it often hinges on small operational decisions that compound over time. Hand drying method is one of them.

For facility managers who take pride in running clean, safe, and high-performing buildings, it may be time to pause and reconsider whether electric hand dryers are truly aligned with those goals. Because when it comes to restroom hygiene, what’s invisible can matter the most and the cleaner, healthier option may be simpler than you think.