Things That Annoy Me: Part 98 613 257 - Electric Hand Dryers

Has there ever been such a shit invention as the electric hand dryer? I can just imagine slimy salesmen up and down the country, back when they were invented, promoting their hygienic benefits and lack of laundry bills. And of course this is true. Who wants to rub their hands on a much-used towel in a public place? Not me.

So they're hygienic. True. They save paper. This is also true. They save on laundry bills if you happen to use traditional towels in a public place. This, it has to be said, is true.

However, they seem to fall down when it comes to one basic fucking thing, i.e. that they don't ever, ever not fucking never, dry your hands. And if failing at what is their essential function wasn't bad enough, they take longer to do it.

There is no simple answer. Paper towels are costly and wasteful. Traditional towels are unhygienic and need laundering, and electric 'hand-dryers' are a waste of fucking time and electricity.

We may feel like live in an age when we have invented every electrical convenience, but there is a huge gap in the market for someone who can invent an efficient system for drying hands that isn't wasteful, unhygienic AND that actually works.

Come on budding inventors - over to you!