A paper-towel dispenser is a wall-mounted device that dispenses

paper towel A paper towel is an absorbent, disposable towel made from paper. In Commonwealth English, paper towels for kitchen use are also known as kitchen rolls, kitchen paper, or kitchen towels. For home use, paper towels are usually sold in a roll of p ...

s in a

public toilet A public toilet, restroom, bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils or pris ...

so that hands can be dried after

hand washing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap, soap or handwash and water to remove viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, dirt, grease, and other harmful or unwanted substances stuck to th ...

. Some are operated by a handle, some by pulling the paper from the dispenser, and others by automatic dispensation in response to a

motion sensor A motion detector is an electrical device that utilizes a sensor to detect nearby motion (motion detection). Such a device is often integrated as a component of a system that automatically performs a task or alerts a user of motion in an area. T ...

, which is generally powered by an internal battery. Many dispensers also feature a lock-and-key mechanism to prevent paper theft. Such dispensers are common in North America and other

western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

. They are either used to replace

hand dryer A "hand dryer" is an electric machine which might make use of a heating element and an air blower to dry both the hands after hand washing. Since 1922, it is commonly used in public toilets around the world as a cost-effective alternative to p ...

s or used in tandem to offer users alternatives to drying their hands. Some areas opt not to use them as paper towels are more costly than hand dryers, create

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

, and are less

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

than alternatives. However, replacing hand dryers with paper towels is seen as a way to reduce the further dispersal of toilet aerosols in public washrooms known as

toilet plume A toilet plume is the invisible to the naked eye, cloud-like dispersal of potentially infectious sewage particles as a result of flushing a toilet. Flush particles rapidly rise out of the bowl and several feet into the air after flushing. These par ...

Paper

The paper found in dispensers is usually white or brown, depending on whether or not it has been bleached. In some machines, the paper comes on a cardboard roll similar to household paper towels and has

perforation A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

s allowing them to be easily ripped off, while other dispensers contain paper folded into stacked sheets, which are pulled out one at a time. These kinds of dispensers are sometimes combined with an integrated trash can, which is placed below the dispenser for easy disposal.The third kind of paper towel is torn by an integrated blade.

Hygiene

Research has shown that paper towels from a wall-mounted dispenser are generally more hygienic than electric hand dryers, which have been observed to dramatically increase the presence of bacteria on users’ hands following hand washing. Electric hand dryers also exacerbate the aerial circulation of germs, including fecal particles, found in most public restrooms, which is one of the many reasons most hospitals, clinics, and other areas in which cleanliness is an especially high priority generally prefer paper towel dispensers.

References

Dispensers Public toilets {{Tool-stub

Paper

Hygiene

See also

References