[Tigerotor77W]

It saddens me when people use more than one paper towel to dry their hands after washing them. Sometimes, sure, extras are nice, but for most washes it's entirely unnecessary.

(If there's any video that proves I'm really a 60 year old, this would be it.)

[33teeth]

How small are his hands? My wife hassles me sometimes for grabbing more than one when she's fine with one but my hands are pretty big and have have probably more than double the surface area of hers. No joke. Anyway, that guy kind of makes me want to go use three or four towels

[grannyhiker]

Some dispensers give you a really thin piece of paper towel about 4" x 6". With those, one piece just doesn't do the job!

[Yana]

How about a blow dryer instead of any paper towels? In places where they have both, my observation is that most people choose paper towels.

[Daryl]

or just don't wash your hands.

[Lono]

I am in and out of bathrooms at the UW Medical Center many days and don't really care if I use 1 or 2 or even 3 towels - the emphasis is on cleanliness of my hands and not touching my freshly washed hands to bacteria infested door handles leading out of the bathrooms. But as long as the paper towel is big enough I can get by with one or two towels, using one to open the door.

[LewisGoes]

Thanks for posting this! I am going to adopt the "shake and fold" and see if I can reduce my usage.

[Burke M]

I only use a single towel, then I get home and my mailbox is full of sh## junk mail and I realize how futile it is.

[iron]

i haven't used a paper towel in at least a decade. pretty sure hands dry off (somehow magically it appears) after a few swooshes through the air. IMO, people that use paper towels are: 1. brainwashed (by marketing and an overwhelming presence of products like it) into believing that you need to 2. impatient 3. not considering the impacts of things like this the list of WTF products could go on forever. the simple summary is: someone did a good job marketing it and now people believe they want/need to use this product. it's there, might as well use it.

[ArcDome]

[Burke M]

I agree with Iron, its totally pointless and unnecessary most of the time. Also checking out the dmachoice site, thanks!

[sarbar]

Pointless? Snort. Yeah...if you like opening dirty door handles with clean hands.... When you have 3 kids, 2 who are 2 and under...well paper towels become quite handy. So do napkins....my van is full of them for cleaning up the babies.......

[JennieEl]

It's also not exactly pointless in health care. Not only do I wash my hands multiple times a day, I really don't have time between patients to air-dry my hands most of the time. I have to hold paper in my hands at least briefly for most visits (all EMRs mean is that the amount of actual paper involved in a visit goes from a thick paper chart to copies of things for the patients, recently faxed notes from outside offices, etc.). I often greet patients (especially new patients) with a handshake, if they seem up for it (some people aren't), so soggy fingers would be pretty off-putting. And walking around with my clothes constantly blotchy-damp because I've blotted dry on them isn't exactly professional-looking. If one paper towel would do the trick, I'd use one. If 2 paper towels did the trick, I'd use 2. It usually takes 3 to ensure I'm really dry. Slightly thicker towels would probably reduce paper waste by being more absorbant. But I'm not in control of that. Air dryers take too long. And I'm not in control of the wiring, power bill increases, noise-control or ventilation to deal with all the hot air in the tiny little employee bathrooms we have here, either. Alcohol gel is a great invention, but not true substitution for hand-washing. I'd really like something better than paper towels. Among other things, they are tough on over-washed skin. But I work with what I have (literally). Patient safety comes first.

[Daryl]

There should be a law banning paper towels.

[33teeth]