Odd question...public toilets

[tigermeow]

If I use a public toilet, which is more environmentally friendly- the hand dryer or a few paper towels?
Please help me settle this long standing argument with DH.

Neither - wipe your hands on your jeans instead

paper towels

true, umlellala!

thought it was just me... dd wipes her hands on mine now, think it's about time she used her own!

New Dyson hand dryer.

They're futuretastic.

don't wash your hands at all, unless you pee all over them

you should ALWAYS wash your hands think what you;ve touched while youve been in there
you should take alcohol gel in ther with you TBH

Cover your hands in clean loo roll when you finish and touch the cubicle handle too. No ones washed their hands when they touch that!

what can you catch from public loos then?

fecking disgisting places
you ever been in the mens??

LOL- I tend to dry my hands on my jeans! DD is using my jeans to do the same!

oh how funny this is something I have wondered about for a long time (sad freak emoticon), I used to wonder about writing to one of those 'ethical living' newspaper columns about it...

i used to think paper towel were better but then i heard a bit more about the big carbon costs of paper (transport as well as manufacture) and now I'm not so sure. i go for the shake them hard and then wipe them on your clothes option, unless i know i'm going to be shaking a hand soon!

southeast I'm not sure what you can catch but I know if someones changed their tampon or wiped their pooey arse then touched the door handle I'd rather not touch it myself!

Littlefrog- I looked for the 'sad freak emoticon' too...sadly I couldn't find it!

This is something DH and I discuss...there must be some research somewhere?!

public toilets are repugnant places and if you use them you do so at your own risk
the mens are pits of hell and yes i have had to use them on occasion when the ladies queue has been round the corner
all i can say is that the ladies are maginally better but i've seen all sorts of shit in those places and vowed some years back to avoid them like the plague

oh and PAPER is best

i carry disposable kitchen towels with me for this purpose.

also my own handsoap.

i prefer finding a friendly bush, tbh.

you carry kitchen towels and soazp with you
do you have large pockets?

I'm also asking about toilets in restaurants, cafes etc.
Adding in another idea---what about using Nature Babies (or sim) wipes instead?

Tiger - I dont want to go into too much of a sales pitch on the virtues of the energy efficient dyson hand dryer...but here's my two pennies worth:

Paper towels are generally pretty bad environmentally. They cannot be recycled once used, so the two that you use will wither be incinerated or end up in landfill.

Regular warm air dryers aren't very hygienic (they heat up dirty bog room air) and can often be energy sappers.

So only solution is either the dyson airblade or your trousers!!

I can't believe how many people don't wash their hands AT ALL! Eughhhh! (And I'm sure they aren't all being environmentally friendly!)

I'm with you Brummie, the logic of some of the determined non-washers completely fails me ("The taps will be minging so I can't touch those, I'll just use a baby wipe instead" like that kills germs? "and it's okay since I use my elbows to open the door and therefore don't touch the door handle or God Forbid actually flush the loo better to leave my mess sitting there on view than have to touch the flush lever because all these surfaces are obviously going to be 60x worse than any part of my own precious bottom -- therefore I don't wash my hands").

Yick, yick.

Think about it... Public toilet surfaces are probably miles cleaner than any computer keyboard in a public area. At least someone is paid to wipe surfaces in the public conveniences.

Although admittedly, many public loos don't have hot water which does make it difficult to kill the germs.

I dry my hands on my jeans post wash, nice to hear I'm not the only one.

The observer magazine ethical column addressed this issue recently!

Can't remember now which she said was best, but she did say at the end that it was probably better to wipe hands on jeans instead.

I do this usually, though DD has developed a fondness for hand dryers (so DD, DS and I stick our hands underneath at the same time).

Then I try and open the main door without touching the handle!

Maybe dryer more environmentally friendly but paper towels more hygenic for you as they dry your hands better. Warm air leaves them humid and the warmth helps bacteria multiply.

I took DD to the toilet recently in restaurant, it was horrid in there. She witnessed me using some loo roll to put over the flusher so I didn't have to touch it.
I bet I have instilled that into her now. Lets hope she copies me by always washing her hands too.

Even if I haven't used to toilet (when I have just taken her), I still wash my hands as I don't know what I have touched! Nor do I want to know tbh

(and I dry my hands on my jeans!)

I love the new dyson hand dryers but are few and far between. Normal hand driers spawn germs. Use paper towels for less germs.