400 mph air stream dry hands in 10 seconds

The Dyson ‘Airblade’ uses a high speed sheet of air issuing from a gap only 0.3mm wide to dry hands properly in just ten seconds and greatly improve hygiene. When people rub their hands together using the current generation of hand dryers, research shows that this draws bacteria from deeper skin layers and fingernails. Most people are in such a hurry that they leave with damp hands that are about 1,000 times more likely to cross contaminate. The Airblade, on the other hand, removes bacteria and mould from the air using HEPA filtration. Waste water is passed through an iodine resin filter to disinfect it. Piezoelectric crystal technology is then used to release the sterilised water as a harmless, invisible mist. The product will be sold in the UK for £549 excluding VAT from November 2006. Machines can also be leased direct from Dyson. It uses up to 83 per cent less energy than conventional heated air hand dryers. More information from Dyson