Swinging open the doors of the men's room, I always start by cocking a cynic's eyebrow in the direction of the sinks.
What I hope to see is a reflective aluminum cylinder of paper towels, and this always makes me feel guilty: drying one's hands against the skin of a tree is so uncivilized, something a caveman would do after wiping his ass with a large lump of quartz. But the alternatives are worse: there is the circled spool of reusable cotton towels, which consumes and then eventually regurgitates the oozings of a thousand men's room's strangers on a new generation of clean hands. And then there's the ordinary hair dryer, which is fine, but takes so damn long it's like waiting for a spastic to huff on them.
If the Dyson airblade works the way it says it does, then, it could be impressive. It says that it harnesses "windscreep wiper" technology (mind = blown) and will dry your hands in under 10 seconds, blasting air at around 400mpb on your hands. And while I'm not familiar with the mpb system of volume, preliminary googling indicates that 300mpb was what blew the flesh off the faces of the Nazis when Indiana Jones flung off the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
And it's just as expensive as the Lost Ark to boot: it'll set you back $833.
Dyson Airblade drys your hands in 10 seconds without roasting them [New Launches]
They have these at Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport in London, they’re awesome!
I used an airblade once. It was perfect, and the knowledge that I was experiencing a technological advance that represented a quantum leap from the previous tools (here, use this bit of paper!) made me tingle. I haven’t seen another one in the wild since then – how disappointing.
It works perfectly. There is a lot of these around in bars over here in Oslo(, Norway). The only snag, though, is that the slit where you are supposed to put your hands in, seems to narrow as the night progresses. 🙂
they work really well… though are incredibly noisy
they design has been used n japan for years, lots of people make this style.
it’s eery using a hand dryer and finding your hands actually dry at the end
They already have these in upmarket restaurants and some airports in Korea, and they are totally badass – helped by flashing blue LEDs of course.
yeah, one of the things I missed when returning from japan was these awesome dryers. hopefully they’ll become more common here too- they dry your hands perfectly, without roasting or dehydrating your skin.
I can second that, they do work really well.
A tip for your first use though is trust that it work and don’t move your hands too slowly or else it will stop and you’ll still have wet fingertips. Not the worlds biggest calamity though I suppose :o)
Had these in the UK for a while, that chap Dyson is after all a Brit.
They are hyper efficient, and after many years of being conditioned to expect less, as MrAlistair says it is rather disconcerting to find your hands dry after using a device specially designed for the task in a men’s room.
For your reference JB, the mpb measure you mention is a British Standard measurement: Mega Pinkie Blows, 1 mpb is enough to dry a single little finger with absolute certainty. As you mention this device is capable of 400 mpb, a Boeing 777 under full takeoff thrust from all engines produces approximately 36mpb.
For this reason security screws are used in the manufacture of this device, as terrorists getting hold of one of these puppies can do a lot of damage should they manage to divert the jets from pointing at each other and thus cancelling each other out.
I’ve seen these in quite a few gents’ in London – from memory they’re in Whiteleys Shopping Centre (in Bayswater) and Waterloo station. They’re good! They work well and make you feel a bit futuristic. Though it says you should remove your hands in ten seconds, so I’m always unsure if I’m withdrawing at the correct pace.
The stickers on it seem say “Not safe for hands”.
You can tell the quality of a conference centre by checking whether or not they have these installed in the toilets 🙂
Does what it says on the tin. I peel carrots and cut crystal with mine. Cleans up tarnished silverwork nicely. My cat hated it, rest his soul.
I first encountered one of these earlier this year on a trip to Leipzig (in Faust’s Keller). At first I mistook it for a wastebin-ish sort of thing and was desperately looking for the towels. After I figured it out, I was really impressed: normally you’d have to waggle your hands under a conventional airdryer for like 30-50 seconds to get them dry (or something near dry). WIth this, it really took just a couple of seconds.
Yep. amazing experience. Took a scab off my hand one time. Blood everywhere
Dyson seems to have got a contract with Northern Rail as the toilets in Leeds railway station have these, which is a strange contrast to the tcubicles with spyholes in the doors.
You can also find these in the upper-class British chain “John Lewis”.
there’s one of these in the john at “founding fathers” which is, i believe, the first leed-certified restaurant in dc. it really does work. sounds like a plane taking off and it’s up to you to use it correctly (you have to drag your hands through it) but, yeah, it’s good.
They have these at the Cambridgeside Galleria, a mall in Cambridge, MA. As others have said, they’re loud but work very well. They also make your hands look like the cheeks of an astronaut at takeoff.
I loved these hand dryers on my trips to Japan. I’m surprised restrooms in the US don’t use them. Instead, be get self-feeding paper towel dispensers and their associated waste to deal with.
One reason, in this example, is probably the “Dyson Tax.” This device is little more than a blower, heater, and stylish plastic. The unit manufacturing cost cannot be more than $30.
The Dyson Airblade works exactly as adverstised. They have them at Abt Electronics in suburban Chicago and I was gobsmacked by their efficacy.
They’re in some of the toilets at Logan Airport in Boston, as well.
At the risk of sparking another video review starring a dripping-wet boinger, there are several places with these dotted around London.
I don’t normally make detailed diary notes about toilet facilities (a shameful lapse, I’m sure) so I’ll have to stretch my memory a bit. Definately in the Business Design Centre (conference centre near Angel, generally easy to talk your way in to events… I’m told) and, I think, in the Wellcome Collection. I was amazed how quickly and efficiently they work.
In addition to futuristic hand dryers, I hope you’ll indulge my quick plug for the Wellcome Collection. Started off as.. er.. a collection owned by a chap called Wellcome, it’s an ecelctic mix of scientific and natural curios from around the world: lab equipment aincient and very modern, centuries-old anatomical models for the day’s medical students, old surgical tools etc. My favourites are Charles Darwin’s walking cane (complete with a grinning ivory skull at the top) and an actual shrunken human head, but there’s plenty of more modern scientific equipment and curios displayed and explained if you want to know what biologists actually get up to these days. They tend to have good art installations there too, on a medical/scientific theme. Free entry and just across the road from Euston train station. I’m not affilited at all, I just like the place and am constantly surprised by how few people have popped in for a look.
They have these set up at Logan airport, and they’re about as effective as Dyson claims they are.
As you can tell by the comments, they’re all over and I’m surprised you haven’t seen one yet. They’re awesome.
Air + water + hands = germ festival.
Paper towel mightn’t be sexy but it’s far less dirty. Sometimes the old ways are best.
Er, not just “all over” in the sense of the UK and upscale conference centers. The bathrooms in the student center at UA (in good ol’ Tuscaloosa, Alabama–yep, the town that makes most of its revenue in the fall thanks to filthy, slobbering football fans!) have had these for about a year now.
Oddly enough–maybe it’s just my backwards barbeque upbringing–but I didn’t find these thing to work quite as well as expected or described, but that’s not to say they aren’t incredibly superior in regards to hygiene, efficiency, and coolness.
im always worried i’ll get the air dryer’s evil twin and rather than a blast of air i’ll get a blast of gamma rays or something. goodbye hands!
These things are fantastic! You can find them at Seven Springs in Pennsylvania, in the US. They’re wonderful technology, and it is the first type of hand drier I have preferred over paper towels.
They have (had?) these at Science and Industry in Chicago in at least one of the restrooms (at the east entrance). I wonder what reliability is like since my wife was denied the thrill of using one them as it was out of order.
They have one in Larry Craig’s favorite airport rest room in Minneapolis. It works really well.
Indiana was tied up, it was the Nazis that opened the ark! Sheesh
They have (had?) these at Science and Industry in Chicago in at least one of the restrooms (at the east entrance). I wonder what reliability is like since my wife was denied the thrill of using one them as it was out of order.
We have one of these in our bathroom at work. I find it tough to get my fingertips dry, but if you curl your fingers it seems to get them okay.
I’ve used a version by another company, (at a Science Museum? I forget) and it worked fine. I did think the gap was a bit narrow, prompting worries about touching something that someone else has touched (!).
I used the Mitsubishi Jet Towel, which is a great name:
http://mitsubishijettowel.com/
“the ordinary hair dryer, which is fine, but takes so damn long it’s like waiting for a spastic to huff on them”
That’s nasty! I always found them to be more akin to the relentless breathless moaning of an AIDs victim.
But anyway, I need to pass on my opinion about this Dyson Airblade thing. I’ve used one in a hospital, it was rubbish. The air jet was so strong that my hands were flung all over the place. The plastic body is too small and resulted in my hands hitting the sides in a battle with the air. Slowly I won the battle, forcing my drying hands into the jet stream – then thwack – the jet throws my hands against the other side. Result > both sides of my hands contact the silly plastic body, getting dirty germs all over them.
No wonder Noro virus spreads like wildfire in that hospital. The Airblades and toilet facilities are probably smeared in a layer of vaporised faeces.
You’ll have a chance to get a hands-off test of these at CES, as the Venetian has them in the toilets!
“They have one in Larry Craig’s favorite airport rest room in Minneapolis. It works really well.”
Coming soon, the Dyson Wide Stance.
bah to the naysayers! they have these in the V&A, and they’re great. and they gently exfoliate, to boot!
these are the only things in the UCLA bathrooms (in their store)… absolutely no paper towels at all. which is nice and green. unless you need a towel.
How do you use these without contaminating your hands by touching the sides?
And how do you exit the bathroom without contaminating your hands on the door handle?
I don’t like wasting paper, but one place I want paper is in public bathrooms, where I can use the paper to turn the water off and open the door.
Maybe, if the soap, faucet, and door are all hands-free I would consider using an air dryer to be sanitary. But my first question stands.
They have these at the new California Academy of Science in San Francisco. I was dubious at first as well, but they actually worked REALLY well. It’s basically the same effect you get when you put your thumb over a garden hose. I was satisfied with my AirBlade experience.
They have these in some places in Toronto. They work, and they feel damn good. I actually look forward to using one again. Is that bad?
Yup, Minneapolis Airport, near the Chili’s Too. Sometimes I think I spend half my life in that airport.
@25, Anonymous & 41, katkins, Re: germiness of air hand driers.
Actually, several studies have shows that blow driers may be *more*, not less, hygienic than towels, because the hands dehydrate much more and further into crevasses than for a paper towel, which just sops it up even though you feel rather dry.
The dehydration is killer for any microorganisms.
Article cited in Wikipedia:
Doctors at the University of Ottawa claim that “the blowing of warm air may lead to an accelerated dehydration of the skin surface, thereby affecting the viability” of the microorganisms, and that the warm air may “penetrate all the crevices in the skin, whereas absorbent towels may not reach such areas, even though the skin appears dryer”. Article location
Used on of these earlier this month at the Red Stag in Minneapolis (upscale bar / restaraunt with heavy nods towards energy efficiency and recycled materials for the building) Worked great and was a neat novelty at the time. We ended up daring one of our road crew to test it by putting other parts of his anatomy in it – there was squealing.
I first used one back in July at a rest stop in Florida.
I have large hands had no problems getting them dried.
I now see them in theaters in San Antonio, TX & these dryers work beautifully, within seconds your hands are dry.
You’ve essentially turned the act of drying hands into a game of Operation. I can see these becoming a problem for obsessive compulsives.
“Don’t touch the sides, don’t touch the-DAMN. Go back, wash hands hands again. Ok, don’t touch the sides, don’t the sides, don’t-DAMN!!”
Not only do these suckers work, they’re also totally fun. If they’re mounted low enough, you can see the jets of air rippling the skin on the back of your hands! It’s totally great.
The first one I saw was at the Providence Place Mall in RI, but now pretty much every rest stop between RI and NYC on 95 has them.
It works well, but you have to watch out because otherwise your hands touch the sides and you die of plague.
I have seen a few similar dryers recently. Not the same brand, or fancy design, but a dryer that blows so hard it makes your hands look like a skydiver’s face.
Just to jump on the sighting list, the Columbus Circle mall in NYC has this as well. Works pretty well, although your hands still feel wet for the first few seconds after you remove them.
Live in Seattle and want to try one?
We’ve got them at Pacific Science Center, but only in one set of our restrooms. I don’t know for sure, but I’ll bet they were donated.
(if you do come, ask for directions to the “Building 5” bathrooms).
Ooh! I can actually contribute some sightings!
They’vet had these at the AMC 25 in midtown Manhattan on 42nd, just off Times Square for maybe a year. Very enjoyable. That was my first experience.
Since, I’ve been living in Paris, and have seen them in the Centre Pompidou, where they are both functional and appropriate decor. I would, of course, enjoy a Deschamps prefab scramble of dyson, but maybe that’ll come with time.
There’s also a Dyson store in Paris itself, so you can enjoy all of their wares. Best!
I’m still trying to figure out the details of Dyson’s claim to have invented them. From their web site:
“The idea for Dyson Airbladeâ„¢ came from a Dyson engineer studying the properties of airflow. he noticed that when he put his wet hands in front of a gust of unheated air, the water was removed in just a few seconds.”
According to the signs next to the ones in the Minneapolis airport, they’re being tested or evaluated in the US. But the first time I went to Singapore a few years ago, there was a similar, but obviously old and well-used version in the airport restrooms there. I couldn’t tell what make they were, but it was a generic-looking white restroom appliance that was the same technology – put your hands in, pull them out slowly, and a “blade” of unheated air essentially squeegeed your hands dry.
Maybe Dyson’s invention extends to making it yellow and gray and technogeeky-looking. Or maybe, Dyson’s engineer made his miraculous discovery whilst using a restroom in Singapore!
#55 zenbeatnik
Dyson invented the cyclone vacuum cleaner by visiting a factory which had a large cyclone air extractor.
Eureka! Small cyclone air extractor.
To the Hughesian germophobics above, try taking apart a conventional hand dryer; you’ll never use one again. Every available crevice is full of crud and suspicious looking hairs.
Well, knob-free sinks (of the sensor variety) solve part of that problem by flustering all attempts to actually wash your hands, I think the Airblade here is designed to be used without touching its surfaces… now we just need automated Star Trek doors on the bathrooms and you’ll be able to keep your hands perfectly sanitary.
Either that or you’ll wind up having a horrific experience when you eventually visit a bathroom in which all three things are malfunctioning.
#56 Me
Air extractor as in dust extractor.
I saw one of these yesterday at Oakland International. My first thought was, “wow, I can’t believe I haven’t seen this on boingboing yet. So I took a picture: http://flickr.com/photos/albeitbriefly/3120823848/
#57 AirPillo ‘knob-free sinks’ if #46 Lizardman is to be believed another hygienic nightmare is knob-contaminated airblades.
They had these last season at the SF Giants ballpark (I refuse to call it by its sponsored name). They are absolutely fantastic. Every restroom should have them. I made everyone go try them while we were at the game.
How do you use these without contaminating your hands by touching the sides?
You don’t – the first blast of air is strong enough to bash your hands against the sides of the (quite small) aperture in the top, so you might as well just dry your hands by wiping them on some piss-stained plastic.
We have the Xlerator hand dryers – made by Excel. (Get it? Xlerator – Excel? Ha!)
http://www.exceldryer.com/products/xlerator.asp
They’re similar in concept but very different in execution. A very powerful jet of air blows out of the bottom and you move your hands around in it. It blows the water off your hands. It does heat the air, for comfort.
They have them at Union Station in Chicago. Also at the very excellent ZED451 restaurant on Clark Street.
These are absolutely fantastic. I went to a holiday party at ZED451 and we were just as impressed with these hand driers are we were with the food/drinks. They totally dry your hands in less than 10 seconds.
I used one of these at LAX. I like the way it blows your skin around.
They have them at LAX? Where? I had to dry my hands with towels at the terminal last month.
San Francisco International has added these, at least in the International terminal. They’re quite spiffy.
They have one in the Cafe washroom at the Drake Hotel in Toronto
#62 Dculberson
I’m glad you mentioned the XCELERATOR. It’s honestly the first dryer I’ve seen that actually works. I was impressed enough to remember the name, and that’s unusual.
#41 katkins,
I appreciate bathrooms that have a big s-shaped corridor instead of a door. But, I once saw a kind of no-touch door handle in a buffet restaurant. It had a tall “L” shaped bracket that you pulled open with your wrist. Even had a little icon showing you how to use it.
[A little searching…]
Yeah, kind of like this but you hold your arm vertically.
Not as complicated as This patent, though!
#19 dacker,
Totally agree on the Dyson Tax. I think their Batpod-inspired vacuum is nifty, but not that nifty.
Ran accross these many times in Japan, though not necessarily by the same company. Thought they were the most awsome hand drying mechanism ever. Virtually instant.
seen them in the washrooms of a couple of movie theaters in Amsterdam.
Used one in the Ahoy conference centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
And I pile on to say that, yeah, unlike other kinds of blowdryers, this actually works.
20 years ago, in a McDonald’s in Ottawa (?!) I used a stainless steel box in lieu of a sink that upon my cupped hands (pictured) cutting the beam, dispensed dash of water, drop of liquid soap, pause, more water, pause, rinse water, pause, hot air (better than average dryers but not like this thing) and left my hands just a smidge damp (not uncomfortably so)
It was brilliant!
A year later in britain I experienced a pay roadside toilet that had a sink with no drain and a floor grate that sterilized *completely* after every use — outside it looked like a spaceship.
Such is the life of the toilet tourist. 😉
found one in dampkring coffeeshop in amsterdam. fun stuff.
They have these in T.F. Greene airport, in Providence, RI. They are the only dryer I have ever come across that actually dried my hands well and quickly.
I’m also confused at all the reports that people had their hands blown in to the plastic housing. My hands didn’t even come close.
I also think they’re better than the Xcelerators, which I’ve used before. Xcelerators are better than regular dryers, but they still don’t get my hands dry very quickly – or completely.
I ran into one of these in an Australian-themed pub in Vienna. It was super neat.
relatedly, why can we not get some goddamn foot pedals for sinks?
Roll over the bar with your wheelchair, step on it with your foot, get water.
Go away from bar, no more water.
Simple, no electricity, fewer moving bits. And no reason to touch the knobs after you’ve washed your hands.
It was mentioned by #35, but the Mitsubishi Jet Towel predates the Dyson by years at least, and has been in Asia for ages. Also, it’s got to be way cheaper than $833 by now. It’s just another one of those fields that the West has been slow on the uptake on (much like cellphones and related tech) and makes old tech seem new.
Saw one about a year ago in the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre toilets in Dublin, Ireland.
Saw another somwhere else in Dublin. I think the Longstone Pub was the place. Or the UGC Cinema.
They’re pretty awesome.
There’s loads of them around Dublin actually- Mcdonalds even has them! And a bunch of the more touristy pubs. Looks like a dyson salesman had a good day.
We’ve been using Exair Air Knives for years on packaging lines.
http://www.exair.com/en-US/Primary%20Navigation/Products/Air%20Knives/Pages/Air%20Knives%20Home.aspx
Yeah, it’s a nuclear blast! You can actually feel your hands being wiped by a super thin air, leaving your hands dry in seconds!
At first I don’t really recognize it as the bathroom’s hand dryer because it doesn’t look like one. So feeling like a total idiot, I waited for someone who’ll enter the bathroom and look for a hand dryer. It did not take some time, someone inserted her hands in that machine in the wall!LOL
After that, I search for reviews about this awesome product online. Stumbled it’s official site: Dyson Airblade and this Dyson Airblade Review shed some light too.
Dyson Airblade is truly an awesome hand drying machine! Try it if you got the money, but I’m sure you’ll like it!