Design Story
An interesting discovery
The idea for the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer came from a Dyson engineer studying the properties of airflow. He noticed that when he put his wet hands in front of a gust of unheated air, the water was removed in just a few seconds. The finding posed an immediate question: why didn't washroom hand dryers work this effectively?
Hygiene testing
Dyson scientists worked with leading hygiene academics from the University of Bradford to evaluate the hygiene performance of the Dyson Airblade™ and other hand dryers.
Their tests were conclusive and demonstrated that the Dyson Airblade™ is hygienically superior to other hand dryers. They also confirmed it has the potential to greatly improve hand drying compliance and reduce the spread of infection.
Performance and durability testing
Hundreds of hours of performance tests were carried out to refine the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer.
One of the tests was measuring drying times using the Dyson Airblade™ compared with other hand dryers. They confirmed that the Dyson Airblade™ dries hands faster than any other hand dryer.
Other tests included experimenting with the angle and width of the gap through which air is blown out to achieve optimum drying time, measuring and tuning noise levels, perfecting air pressure for effective drying and motor life testing.
Durability testing
The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer was put through its paces time and time again to make sure it was up to the job: It was bashed repeatedly, had cigarettes stubbed out all over it, stood on, sprayed with chemicals, covered in urine (well, you never know) and then exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations.
Dyson Airblade™ skincare research
Frequent hand dryer users repeatedly expose their hands to the hot, dirty air other hand dryers release.
Dyson scientists wanted to test whether the unheated air released by the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer would be less damaging. They worked with leading academics from the University of Leeds Skin Research Centre and discovered that, after 40 consecutive washing and drying cycles using the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer, no detectable threat to natural moisture levels, skin cells or circulation was measured in users' hands.
Their findings are supported by the British Skin Foundation, making the Dyson Airblade™ the first hand dryer to receive such an endorsement.
