No, it doesn't take 20 seconds, even a 2 (two!) second wipe job does a better job at drying than 30s of air. Apart from that, air driers are incredibly unsanitary, spreading stuff everywhere.

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20141121/restroom-h...

Also see this episode of mythbusters, which goes into much more depth than the synopsis on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2013_season)#Epis...

And the high-end ones, which are only marginally better, are very, very loud. Loud enough to trigger tinnitus in myself, for example.

Paper towels don't "waste" paper, they use paper (of which there's no shortage of, in the world) very efficiently. Plus in Germany and Portugal (at least) they have these reusable cloth towels that move between two spools.

If I don't have towels of any kind, I just wipe my hands on my clothes. It's not great but it sure beats the damn useless contraption.

> And the high-end ones, which are only marginally better, are very, very loud. Loud enough to trigger tinnitus in myself, for example.

I basically don't use air dryers any more due to the infernal noise of the new ones. I'd rather go with wet hands.

Or carry a kerchief in your pocket.

This.

A side benefit of the paper towel is that in-swinging doors can be pulled with the paper, not your hand. Imagine how many people _didn't_ wash their hands then pulled that door.

Trivially fixable by a little foot hook on the bottom of the door intended to be used to open the door after you're done.

What if you have no foot? Or the foot hook isn't there? Or you have to turn a knob?

Plus pipelining.

You answered your own question. "The high end ones" all others take anywhere from 30 seconds to infinity. I can probably dry my hands on a paper towel in about 4 or 5 seconds max. I don't feel strongly enough about the subject to argue either way, just adding some more data points to your view on the matter.

Paper towels are much more sanitary. Big part of washing hands is wiping the bacteria and viruses along with water into something. Drying just gets the water, leaves everything else.

No. It's a nice idea, but doesn't hold up. (Gustafson, Vetter, et al. 2000)

I rather trust a fairly recent review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538484/

Only one person can use it at a time, and it wastes energy. Paper is recyclable, and more need for paper means more trees. Paper is low tech and works, and is more hygenic.

I hate it when there are only air dryers in a restroom. Towels can dry anything. Dryers are special built for hands. (sometimes i like to wash my face)

also, the level of noise pollution they create is toxic. Especially the high end/high speed ones.

the problem is that you are actively doing something with the paper towel, while you passively wait for the air dryer.