A hand dryer in the suitcase

I still remember the experience I had that day as one of the most unpleasant and surreal moments possible during a journey. On top of everything else, I should mention that this was a trip for leisure and relaxation, a journey that marked the beginning of my summer holidays in 2021.

It all started when I got off the plane and was walking along the airbridge into the Marrakech Airport in Morocco. It was one of those moments when your bladder tightens and you don't want to waste any time. Just like a Ferrari overtaking on a racetrack, I accelerated forward without looking back towards the first public bathroom I could find.  However, I was going so fast that I slipped on some steps and, as I put my hands on the floor to catch myself, one of them unluckily landed directly in an ice cream cone that had been left on the ground by some careless individual. Great! Now I had a double job to do: (1) clean my hands and (2) once and for all get to a bathroom with a toilet.

After walking for 10 minutes through endless corridors, my nightmare began again, as I was forced to stop at a COVID Checkpoint and fill out the usual tourist travel form. I think that day, my handwriting looked just like a GP's prescription.  After the 5 or 10 minutes it took me to get through this checkpoint, my luck finally seemed to be on the up. I looked ahead and saw a sign 50 metres away showing the way to a public bathroom. Then the Ferrari suddenly turned into an F18 fighter jet swooping to safety. This safety quickly turned back into condemnation when I realised that the public bathroom was closed for cleaning and maintenance.  One of the attendants standing by the "No Entry" sign kindly pointed out to me where I could find the nearest public bathroom. 

After running for two minutes and arriving more out of breath than a camel after crossing the desert, I finally made it. Then, to my dismay, instead of a public bathroom, I found what looked like the entrance to the premiere of Steven Spielberg's latest film.  The enormous queue of people was almost 30 metres long. The Ferrari and the F18 jet suddenly became John Travolta dancing in "Saturday Night Fever": Just to be clear, it was a matter of survival!

After another 10 minutes, when I finally managed to get to the bathroom door, I realised that maybe I should have brought my rubber dingy because there were so many puddles to be crossed to reach the toilet.  Once in front of the toilet, I was astonished to see that there was no paper, so I had no choice but to wipe the ice-cream stain on my trousers beforehand. Well, I thought, when I'm done I can wash my hands properly.

Silly me, because when I left the toilet area and headed for the sinks, my eyes widened in amazement to see that another mini queue for washing and drying hands had formed.

It was then that I spotted a few things resembling "mummies" in front of me. I say "mummies" because of the large amount of paper that had been left on the ground as the bins were overflowing, which people were stepping on again and again trying not to trip over.

Suddenly, with all that paper on the floor, when I looked up at the hand dryer area, I understood it all. I realised that there were two electric hand dryers that were unplugged and a third one that was the cause of the large puddles of water that I had crossed earlier.

Moreover, after finally being able to wash my hands and head towards the only working hand dryer, without first having to dodge three or four people to get to it (as if I had returned to the "Saturday Night Fever" dance floor, but this time with a choreographed routine), I realised that I might have been better drying my hands with the handheld fan in my suitcase: There was very little air coming out of this hand dryer, it was freezing and took about a minute to get my hands dry.

Just as I was walking out the door of the public bathroom to resume my journey, I overheard two people commenting on why they thought the hand dryers were unplugged: They had heard that electric hand dryers helped to spread germs. Hearing this, I had no choice but to kindly interject and explain the arguments to them that hand dryers do not help the spread of viruses and bacteria and that they are just as hygienic and safe a method of drying hands as paper towels. At least when they are manufactured by Mediclinics, I also stressed to them.

Later, when I arrived at the hotel and was able to rest for a little while, I thought about the possible solutions I would offer to the people in charge of managing the public bathroom facilities at Marrakech Airport. I describe these below, along with the possible solutions:

- Puddles of water caused by the hand drying process:

If the automatic hand dryer does not have a water collection tank or a direct connection to the drain that collects and channels any water that falls when drying hands, this can cause unsightly and dangerous puddles. Recommendation: Eco-High Speed Duaflow Plus hand dryer with drain connection kit.

- Lack of paper in dispensers and paper also accumulates on the floor:

If hand dryers do not work or are unplugged, users will use more paper to dry their hands. When they run out, they will even attempt to dry their hands with toilet paper rolls. This intensive use of paper causes waste paper bins to overflow and paper to fall on the floor. This causes an enormous hygiene and cleanliness issue, as well as giving the airport a poor image. Recommendation: Any of our Eco-High Speed hand dryers.

- Hand dryer that emits cold air and takes a long time to dry hands:

This uncomfortable feeling is very common with many hand dryers.  It is important to choose hand dryers that have a heating element to ensure that the air emanating from the dryer is warm and that it can dry hands quickly in less than 10 seconds. Recommendation: Mediclinics Speedflow Plus Eco-Fast Hand Dryers.

- A lot of time and space is dedicated to the process of washing and drying hands by users:

In order to avoid those uncomfortable visits that users often have to make to wash and dry their hands and to optimise the time they spend on it, it is advisable to have equipment that allows them to wash and dry their hands in the same washbasin without having to move. Recommendation: Mediclinics All-in-One hand washing and drying station.

- Bathrooms closed very often for maintenance and cleaning: "No entry".

Apart from the inconvenience this causes to users, I would advise them to fit bathroom equipment and accessories that would help them to optimise the material and economic resources devoted to maintaining and cleaning their public bathrooms. Recommendation: In terms of hand drying, I would recommend our Machflow Plus Brushless Eco-High Speed hand dryer, which, thanks to the fact that they are brushless, require no maintenance and have an excellent level of performance with thousands of hours of use.

In addition to this, there are other Mediclinics hand dryers and equipment which we could recommend in order for you to achieve this. I would definitely advise you to read these two posts from Mediclinics, in which we include valuable tips:

How to keep a public bathroom clean while reducing cleaning costs

How to reduce maintenance costs in a public bathroom

 - Unplugged hand dryers. Possible cause: Not functioning.

In a high traffic place, such as an airport public bathroom, in addition to the high drying speed that the hand dryer must have in order to avoid long waiting times for users, it is essential that they offer excellent performance, resistance and durability over time. All of this, of course, with little or no maintenance.  Recommendation: Dualflow Plus Brushless or Machflow Plus Brushless.

- Unplugged hand dryers. Possible cause: Managers think "Hand dryers contribute to the proliferation of germs, viruses and bacteria".

As we have already mentioned above, numerous scientific studies and prestigious international health organisations, such as the WHO, attest that automatic hand dryers are just as hygienic and effective a method of hand drying as paper towels.  Furthermore, our new generation hand dryers are equipped with HEPA filter media and ionizers, which eliminate the effects of viruses and bacteria. Recommendation: Mediclinics Eco-Fast hand dryers with HEPA filter media and ionizer or All-in-One hand washing and drying station.

- Unplugged hand dryers. Possible cause: Saving on maintenance costs

 There are some facility managers who mistakenly think that the maintenance cost of hand dryers is higher than that of paper towels. For them, I would just have to show them this post from the Mediclinics blog, in which we demonstrate how and how much money they could save thanks to Mediclinics' eco-fast hand dryers: Why you have to pick up a calculator to dry your hands in a public bathroom.

These are just some of the solutions I would suggest to the managers of the public bathrooms at the airport where I had this unforgettable experience.  What is clear is that, after this experience, I have to admit that the idea of packing an automatic hand dryer in my suitcase for next time has crossed my mind many times. Of course, it would always have to be from Mediclinics.

Enrique González
Online Marketing Manager
Mediclinics S,A