Do you remember that as a kid the worst thing you could get was someone else’s germs wiped on you? Well, even as adults that mentality is still there — no one wants someone else’s germs, especially the ones found in public restrooms. Distributors know that touch-free washroom products and equipment are hot sellers and that it’s easy to take advantage of that opportunity to sell them to more facilities.
Many distributors help educate end users on the benefits of touch-free washroom equipment, including its cost-effectiveness, its ability to eliminate germs, how it can reduce waste, and more.
Nothing to Fear But Germs Themselves Nearly 30 percent of Americans avoid public restrooms out of fear of germs, according to a recent poll conducted by Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta. Many of the common illnesses transmitted in public restrooms include colds and flu, skin infections, intestinal illnesses and also potentially fatal illnesses, such as those caused by salmonella bacteria, E. coli and hepatitis.
Thus, many patrons are frightened. Distributors can show customers how touch-free systems help reduce the risk of cross contamination in restrooms.
Mother Knows Best Good personal hygiene and proper hand-washing techniques (using soap and hot water for at least 30 seconds) prevent the majority of germ transmissions, according to such health experts as the National Health Information Center, Washington.
The risk of cross contamination drastically decreases when touch-free products and equipment is installed and used in public restrooms.
Touch-free products and equipment can also greatly reduce the amount of bacteria transmitted. Distributors can sell end users on the health benefit of prevention that these products offer.
Mike Johns, sales manager at DSR Co., a distributor located in Anaheim, Calif., agrees that end users are looking for reassurance from distributors before they make purchases. They want to be educated on the product’s performance. “Buyers are usually most concerned with safety, mainly that surfaces will be clear of germs,” he says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists
infectious disease as the No. 3 killer of Americans
Bacteria is Only Skin Deep Surfaces are and should be a big concern to facility managers and owners. Of all the surfaces within washrooms, paper towel dispensers and hand dryers hold the greatest risk of cross-contamination from food-spoil bacteria, fecal coliform, s. aureus and E. coli, according to Dr. Michael Pierson, a researcher at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va.
Savvy distributors have learned to sell touch-free equipment on its many merits. The products allow patrons to grab a new towel without having to touch the actual dispenser; automatic hand dryers are sensor-activated and also allow for a touch-free experience.
“Many portion control towel dispensers and hand dryers feature no buttons, cranks or levers that can serve as germ reservoirs,” adds Pierson.
Germ School 101 Many customers are taught that touch-free products, such as towel dispensers or sensor-activated hand dryers help to greatly eliminate the transfer of germs.
“We focus our education on what touch-free products help to reduce in washrooms. For example, the reduction of the spreading of germs and bacteria,” says Johns.
Many times restroom patrons will go to great lengths to avoid touching anything in public restrooms, thus causing more problems such as overflowing soap dispensers or clogged and/or unflushed toilets.
“Forty percent of those who do use public restrooms, such as those in gas stations, flush with their feet as opposed to their hands,” according to the Georgia-Pacific poll.
Another 20 percent use towels to shield their hands from the objects and a full 60 percent of respondents said they don’t touch a thing in a public bathroom — they squat over toilets instead of sit and simply don’t flush the toilet.
The growing fear of germs combined with the risk of cross contamination is enough to sell any facility manager or owner on the benefits of touch-free accessories. Besides merely selling, distributors also need to provide education with each sale.
“The point is not to make people germ-paranoid, but germ-wise,” says Dr. Charles Gerba Ph.D., professor of environmental microbiology, University of Arizona-Tucson. Every time you touch a surface, if there is a germ there, you may or may not get ill, he explains.
However, distributors can also educate facility owners and managers on how to properly clean and disinfect all washroom surfaces.
Hand dryers play an important role in public washrooms, by helping reduce waste and aiding in killing bacteria found on patrons’ hands.
And soon, Excel Dryer Corp. hopes to speed up the hand-drying process. The East Longmeadow, Mass.-based manufacturer says it recently developed a patented technology that makes its newest hand dryer three times faster, drying hands completely in only 10 to 15 seconds, compared to 30 to 45 seconds, according to a company spokesperson.
Regardless of speed, the health and conservation benefits are obvious.
“Most newly constructed buildings already know the benefits and want to buy touch-free items,” says Johns. “There isn’t too much training for those types of sales, but rather reinforcing what they already know.”
The degree of cleanliness of a restroom
affects a patron’s perception of the business,
cites the Georgia-Pacific poll
Virtual Tour of Benefits Besides helping to eliminate germs, touch-free equipment offers other benefits to end users and facility owners and managers. Because these products work with less interaction, the washroom becomes a cleaner environment. From entering the restroom to exiting, these products and accessories provide patrons with a more sanitary environment.
Touch-free toilets are equipped with infrared devices that sense a patron’s movement and automatically flush. This eliminates the end user from having to touch the toilet and cuts down on clogged toilets from those who refuse to touch the handle. Automatic flushers help eliminate odor that unflushed toilets can create. It also discourages patrons from flushing the toilet with their feet, which can place additional germs on the toilet. Overall, touch-free toilets help create a cleaner washroom.
“Many times rest stops and hospitals are the kind of facilities that want touch-free equipment,” observes Johns.
Oftentimes the toilets will be equipped with urinal cakes as well, helping to keep the environment odor-free.
Since rest stops are high-traffic areas and often someone is not there to clean messes up immediately, these buildings want sensor-activated toilets to help them stay cleaner, Johns adds.
Once at the sink, there are also faucets that operate by sensor. With a quick wave of the hand water will begin to run and automatically shut off when the end user steps away.
With no buttons to push or cranks to turn, touch-free hand dryers and paper towel dispensers offer end users improved sanitation. Hand dryers (activated by built-in sensors) automatically turn on when hands are placed under the device and shut off when they’re removed; this provides electrical cost savings to the building owner, as well.
With energy costs skyrocketing, conservation is important in today’s markets. The Excel spokesperson claims its new product uses 80 percent less energy than other dryers and is a great source reduction alternative, delivering a 90 percent cost savings over paper towels.
Paper towel dispensers allow end users to only have to touch a clean paper towel and as they pull, the next towel lowers for the next patron.
Both products are durable and vandalism resistant, according to another jan/san manufacturer that SM spoke to.
“In an average-traffic washroom, it’s good to install one dryer and/or paper towel dispenser per two washbasins; in a heavy-traffic washroom, it’s necessary to install one dryer and/or paper towel dispenser per every washbasin,” the same manufacturer recommends.
“Automatic hand dryers are used everywhere, especially in higher turnover areas like restaurants and movie theaters where many people come through on any given day,” says Johns.
Hand dryers or towels should be placed to create a traffic flow from sink to dryer/towel to trash receptacle to exit, according to touch-free equipment manufacturers. This creates a cleaner, more sanitary washroom.
Four out of five respondents
are concerned about germs in public bathrooms,
according to the Georgia-Pacific poll
The Down and Dirty on Cleaning in Virus Season
Industry Report Reveals Burnout Prevalence Among Cleaning Professionals
How Surfactant Use is Expanding in Commercial Cleaning
Clean Buildings Conference
Cleaning: Green Cleaning & Sustainability