
When it comes to customer experience, every detail counts, and none more so than the state of your washroom facilities. It’s not just about cleanliness; it’s about signalling to your visitors and staff that their well-being matters. In a world where safety standards are broadening to include hand and surface hygiene, the way we dry our hands has gained newfound importance.
Among the arsenal of tools to achieve this, the choice between single-use paper towels and jet air dryers stands out as a pivotal decision. Despite the allure of modern technology, studies consistently reveal a clear preference for single-use paper towels. When faced with a choice of drying methods, 90% of people chose paper towels over jet air dryers in the washroom.1
Why do people prefer paper towels in the washroom?
One key factor often overlooked in the debate over hand-drying methods is how people behave. Despite experts recommending a 60-second drying time when using jet air dryers to ensure thorough drying, studies show that most individuals will only dry their hands for 30 seconds.
This reality is made worse during peak washroom traffic when people will rush the handwashing process or even abandon it altogether, increasing the risk of cross-contamination. This is wheresingle-use paper towels emerge as champions in the battle against time and hygiene. Here’s why people want to see paper towels in the washroom:
- Reduced Queuing: Paper towels speed up the hand-drying process, reducing congestion and ensuring a smoother flow of washroom traffic. By reducing queues, facilities can make better use of space and allocate staff resources more effectively.
- Decreased Noise Pollution: Selecting paper towels over jet air dryers offers a quieter and less disruptive solution. Jet air dryers typically produce noise levels around 85 dB, comparable to city traffic or a food blender. Opting for paper towels can help facilities reduce the negative impact of noisy hand dryers, creating a more positive washroom experience that prioritises user well-being without compromising efficiency.
- Cross-Contamination: Maintaining washroom hygiene is crucial for customer well-being. Choosing single-use paper towels over jet air dryers is key in achieving this as studies show jet air dryers disperse significantly more germ particles into the air compared to single-use paper towels.
Paper towels effectively remove bacteria and moisture, reducing illness transmission risk. Proper hand drying with paper towels can eliminate up to 77% of bacteria remaining on the hands after washing2. - Maintenance Simplicity: In facility management, simplicity often equals efficiency. Paper towels offer a straightforward solution that minimises the complexities associated with maintaining jet air dryers. Jet air dryers demand daily cleaning and servicing to prevent the spread of bacteria-laden air.
Touchless tech elevates paper towel hygiene
Using paper towels enables facility managers to streamline maintenance efforts, decrease operational costs and ensure a hassle-free washroom experience. With the advance of touchless technology, hand towel dispensing can bring more efficiency and hygiene demanded today for the washroom experience.
COVID-19 changed the way we all think about hygiene. Suddenly, people were more conscious than ever about the cleanliness (or otherwise) of work surfaces, handrails, door handles, knobs and buttons, even at home. Public health information made it loud and clear: germs can be spread simply by touching things. This becomes more important when using public washrooms.

To cater for increasingly hygiene-conscious washroom users, Kimberly-Clark Professional™ has continued to innovate. The Kimberly-Clark Professional™ ICON™ collection for use in offices, public buildings, healthcare settings, and other high traffic venues, provides a high-performing, touchless dispensing system for both hand towels and skincare, including soap and sanitiser. Its seamless design and hidden towel mode minimises contact points for a more hygienic experience, reducing the potential risks of cross-contamination. You only touch the towel you need.
For the hand towel dispenser, ICON’s dual sensor technology recognises partially torn sheets and presents a new sheet before any issues occur. The ICON™ range features four dispenser system solutions for hand towels, toilet tissue and skincare. The collection provides reliable and hygienic dispensing, ensuring paper towels, toilet tissue, soap and sanitiser are always available for end-users. Which is perfect for hygiene-aware users everywhere.
Managing efficiencies in costs and waste
In high-traffic venues, costs and waste are key washroom considerations. Changing to an automated touchless dispenser with controlled single sheet dispensing like the ICON™ can cut the amount of hand towels used by each visitor, providing efficient and quick hand drying while minimising waste.
The ICON hand towel rolled dispenser delivers 150,000-hand towels on one set of batteries, plus a 99.9% jam-free performance3. In addition, Kimberly-Clark Professional™ hand towels are made with Airflex™ compression Technology, offering superior absorbency and strength. This results in less waste as fewer towels are required per hand dry. The compression technology achieves an 18% reduction in storage and transportation. Kleenex® rolled hand towels designed for the ICON™ dispenser use up to 33% less paper fibre per hand dry than leading competitor’s standard folded hand towels4.
Adding a personal touch to the washroom
Kimberly-Clark Professional™ with its latest ICON™ dispenser collection has created a fully customisable option for organisations. Dispensing units for hand towels and skincare no longer need to be boring, plain white boxes on the wall.
The ICON™ dispenser collection comes with customisable and interchangeable faceplate technology offering a layer of personalisation rarely seen in washrooms. A range of six designer faceplates are offered to complement every environment to help elevate the washroom experience. Or you can create your own design, to feature company branding or communicate messages to engage with washroom visitors.
1 Enhancing Hygiene in the Healthcare Sector with Better Hand Drying. (2023, March 8). KC Professional. https://www.kcprofessional.com/en-gb/-/media/Global/Content%20Hub/Documents/202739504_pdf.pdf
2 Redway, K. (October 2010). Changes in the number of different types of bacteria on the hands before and after drying using paper towel, continuous cloth roller towel, warm air dryer and jet air dryer. University of Westminster. https://europeantissue.com/wp-content/uploads/WU-Study-2010-Report.pdf
3 Dispensing test conducted by Patmore Slades Horizons in September 2021.
4 Results of Hall Tests conducted by Sapio agency. July 2021.