It has been fairly well documented that small children (under the age of 5) can find loud noises disturbing. As soon as they hear this noise they quickly cover their ears, sometimes scream as loud as the noise its self and may even shed a tear or two.
The new wave of dryers that have appeared over the last 5 to 10 years have, on the whole, ignored this and instead focussed on maximum performance rather than user experience and making them inclusive. This is quite a problem when drying hands is one of the most important aspects of hand hygiene after actually washing the hands correctly.
However, there are some great choices as well when you need to cater for children.
The best children’s hand dryers to buy include:
- Dryflow Connect Hand Dryer
- Turboforce® Junior PLUS Hand Dryer
- Dryflow® EcoWave Hand Dryer
- EcoForce Hand Dryer
- Dryflow® Elite Hand Dryer
- Dryflow® Elite MK 2 Hand Dryer
- Dryflow® EcoSlim Hand Dryer
- Biobot Hand Dryer
- Bamboo Bobbi Hand Dryer
- Mitsubishi Jet Towel Smart Hand Dryer
- Mitsubishi Jet Towel Unheated Hand Dryer
- D-Flow Eco Hand Dryer
The above have been recommended as they are considered reasonably quiet, yet still do the job they were intended to do; dry the hands quickly. This is with small children in mind.
As all children and locations differ, please do not hesitate to contact us with your enquiry and we will be happy to assist you in finding the right solution. We are the experts and can even send you samples to try before you make a decision.
To find out how to identify the right hand dryer for children please read on.
Our online hand dryer selector gives you suggestions based on your own unique requirements
What factors need to be considered when choosing a hand dryer with small children in mind?
Other than providing suitably low noise hand dryers for small children, using it needs to be an enjoyable experience. Without enjoyment, small children will not dry their hands properly.
It is therefore important that the hand dryer remains fast and efficient, whilst maintaining the little ones attention for the required time. Small touches like UV activation lights and attractive designs for children on the outside can aid participation. Biobot Hand Dryer is a good example of a hand dryer that considers the needs of small children. This hand dryer or something along these lines should be commonplace in washrooms that cater for small children such as in shopping centres etc. They are visually appealing to the child, have a quiet operation, but at the same time do not take ages to dry the hands.
Hygiene is particularly important for models used by small children as they tend to be more susceptible to cross infection. Therefore touch-less operation is a must and highly effective drying performance is vital, as residual damp carries pathogens and are breeding grounds for bacteria.
Added measures like HEPA filters, anti-bacterial surface protection, ambient airflow temperature and internal UV filter sterilisation are also important.
It’s also important to have an appropriate dryer sited at an appropriate height for children . Dryers need to be lowered for use by young children. As such we make very particular recommendations for nurseries, primary schools and public attractions/locations frequented by children. It is important always to have a children’s dryer available at a lower height with some distance from the other dryers in any multi-age use washroom.
What about paper towels, they are quiet aren’t they?
Paper towels have a large carbon footprint attached. Each paper towel is responsible for more grams of C02 per dry than hand dryers according to Dyson’s research. The emissions relate to manufacturing, transporting, recycling fibres that are not easy to break down and the constant cycle of replenishment.
It is vitally important that we educate Children about creating a greener and more sustainable future. Low energy units are a great way of providing a visual educational message. As such we can also provide printed back plates with environmental messages to reaffirm the benefits.
Kids are even more likely than adults to grab lots of hand towels and not care about putting them in bins, so washrooms for children that have them are likely to be messy places. Common problems in school washrooms include blockages and overflow issues, when they get pushed down plug holes and toilet basins.
For more information or for help in finding your ideal hand dryer, please contact us on 0114 3540047, use our contact page.
In the trade? Don’t forget we can set you up with a trade account for your purchases.
We have wholesaler, contractor, public sector and charity discounts available, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
