TOMORROW’S CLEANING MAY 10

Multipurpose drying User feedback shows washrooms drying is not just about hands but also the face, clothing etc

Child friendly Can the child reach the dryer and strong enough to access the towel(s)?

The importance of these factors depend on the setting and it ultimately comes down to personal choice, which is why we make all options available from Rentokil Initial

What we do know is that hand drying availability is crucial to encourage good hand hygiene – men especially are more likely to wash their hands if they can see paper or towels available, and men prefer towels to women. (Public Washrooms, Workplace Washrooms: Hidden and Public Behaviour – University of Surrey 2005)

Whatever the choice make it easy for washroom users to dry their hands, or think twice before you shake hands next!

www.initial.co.uk

He went on to explain that key issues rarely considered are the need for regular servicing of warm air dryers so that retained dust and soil do not breed infection within them, and the fact that, as unmaintained electric dryers grow old, their energy efficiency decreases. Therefore, he believes, all electric dryers should be fitted with a filter and preventively serviced at least once a year. There are also concerns about the environmental issues of sending paper towels to landfill.

www.albanyfacilities.com

leaving the facility. Did you also know that the process is so thorough that it is even capable of killing high risk viruses?

In addition to the stringent washing procedures that towels have to undergo, the natural properties of cotton also complement hand hygiene. The cotton towel provides sufficient friction to help remove bacteria and dead skin cells still on the hands after washing and rinsing. It also has a superior capacity for absorption – it is critical to remove water from the hands lest a wet, warm environment creates the perfect breeding ground for germs to develop. But it’s not all down to the consumable, the latest towel cabinets have been designed to ensure ultimate hygiene. Kennedy’s Tekna for example is a mechanical retractable cabinet which isolates clean towel and positions it above used towel. After hand drying, each used towel portion automatically retracts back into a separate chamber within the cabinet which means used towel is out of reach providing a highly hygienic solution.

Albany Hygiene Facilities

Mike Burton, Managing Director of Albany

Hygiene Facilities,is emphatic that the choice of hand drying technology should always be made for each company’s washrooms on the basis of their needs.

“Entrenched viewpoints in favour of a particular approach or technology really do not benefit the customer or serve their needs” he said. “Through Dr Ron Cutler, an eminent microbiologist at Queen Mary, University of London, we have been conducting extensive scientific research within controlled environments to ascertain the hygiene effectiveness of different drying technologies and how their efficacy can be enhanced or impaired by different systems. We will be publishing this data later this year.”

Cotton Party

Kennedy Hygiene Products Limited

Olivier Bizard, general manager of Kennedy Hygiene Products Limited

Are you aware of the stringent controlled washing procedures that cotton towels undergo in modern industrial laundries? This is something often overlooked but is I feel somewhat crucial to your debate. The procedure ensures that towels are both visibly and microbiologically clean. Typically, industrial laundries wash towels at 80ºC with professional washing agents, during the final rinse cycle they are treated with anti- bactericidal and anti-fungicidal agents that help protect them when in service, and they are ironed at a bacteria killing 180ºC before

The second key benefit of cotton towel cabinets is their excellent environmental performance. A study

commissioned by ETSA (the European Textile Service Association) and undertaken by the Öko-Institut in Germany proved that throughout its lifecycle, the continuous cotton roll towel generates the lowest environmental impact when compared with paper towel alternatives. The cotton roll towel system uses up to 63% less energy, generates up to 48% less greenhouse gases and 79% less waste. I rest my case.

www.kennedy-hygiene.co.uk

The future of our cleaning industry | TOMORROW’S CLEANING | 35

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