Paper towel or turbo hand dryer for customers

[Jedi]

Seeing what peoples opinions are on paper towel or turbo dryers in customer washrooms.

Paper towel is messy, overflowing garbage bin, etc.

But if you ever look at the walls under the turbo dryers, they can get looking pretty gross from waiter stains. Also you can see the water and soap over time eat/discolour the wall.

Install paper wins hands down for cost and simplicity (bad pun).

Maintenance is higher with paper towel, as it needs to be monitored and replaces.

But the turbo dryers are expensive and require to be hardwired for further initial costs.

Opinions with your establishments?

[ptrain]

From a future cost point, powered dryers win out down the line. Assuming that they do not break. Contrary to popular belief, they are not more sanitary.

As for the trash issue of overflowing and filling when they run out, this should not be an issue. Employees should be checking restrooms regularly to ensure it is stocked for customers. I use to run front of house before brewing and I am a stickler on having a staff member check the restroom every hour to two hours, and stocking it at the beginning and end of shift. May sound like overkill, until you are the one will no toilet paper.

To save money on paper goods(and other things), find a good supplier, or utilize Amazon Prime if applicable. Ask about quantity discounts, as you will need toilet paper and paper towels for the life of your business, assuming you have the storage area available.

[jbrewer]

paper

As someone who is kinda OCD about public restrooms, I can tell you I HATE blowers. I am one of those people who like to dry my hands, then use the paper towel to open the door to get out the bathroom. Touching bathroom doorknobs makes my skin crawl. As such, I always like seeing a waste basket positioned near the door so i can open the door and drop the paper in the trash can. I don't think I am the only one who does this - have you ever seen the pile of used paper towels thrown near doors that don't have a trash can? So, my advice is paper with good trash cans. And if code allows it, doors that push out from the bathroom and a metal kick plate on the door near the bottom so you don't even have to touch the door after washing your hands.

Yes, more maintenance, and you have to stay on top of the restrooms through the day. But, to me, a nicer experience in the pub.

Just one crazy man's opinion...

[TGTimm]

We recently switched our 3 bathrooms from paper towels/endless loop towels to air-dryers--one of the blow-down style, two air-knife.

I hate them. Loud, electricity-hungry, and they do a lousy job of drying hands--and only hands. I like to rinse my face after a hot, sweaty day, and how do I fit my head in that thing?

The only advantage is when you're waiting for the bathroom to clear--the sound of the jet-engine going tells you that it's almost vacant.

Give me back my towels!

[Jedi]

This is great feedback. It's funny cause most places where Im from have the dryers.

[ChesterBrew]

We have a hand dryer. It's really loud. I do like having to have less paper products to have to stock, but if I had known it would be so noisy in our bathroom, I probably would have gone with paper towels.

[TGTimm]

Yeah, they're getting pretty common. Our electrician gave us a very hard sell and convinced the bosses they were the way to go. That doesn't change the fact that they suck--or, er, uh, blow.

What's next? Bidet in the bathroom to save TP?

Mexican restaurant down the road has a non-contact paper towel dispenser. I like that. It doles the towels out in pieces just big enough to do the job, so helps reduce waste.