Jet Towel wins hands down

A new hand dryer that has revolutionised washroom hygiene throughout Japan and Asia is now available in Europe, through inventors Mitsubishi Electric.

Rather than trying to evaporate moisture, Jet Towel blasts water from hands with two high speed wafer thin airflows that atomises the water and collects, drying the hands in only 10 seconds. This compares to the 20-30 seconds of a conventional dryer.

Mitsubishi’s first Jet Towel was launched in 1993 and the version now being made available in Europe is the seventh generation.

In use, just washed hands are placed into a slot on the Jet Towel’s upper side and sensors automatically start the 180mph airflow. Air is heated to 35C using a low power storage heating system. Moisture is blown downwards on both sides of the hands to the drain, and when the dried hands are retracted airflow stops. The completely non-contact operation saves energy as the airflow does not continue after the user has departed.