Built to Last: Why Durability Tops the List of Must-haves When It Comes to Hand Dryers

If you’re in the market for a hand dryer (and I hope you are) you probably have a list of things to look for, such as hygiene, energy efficiency or ADA compliance. One feature that is just as important—that many buyers might overlook—is durability. For business owners that operate restroom facilities with heavy traffic, that oversight can be costly. Maintenance of public restrooms can cost over $10,000 per year when you factor in labor and supplies. A single incident of vandalism can bring that cost even higher, depending on severity. With potential expenses like these, durability should definitely be on your checklist of things to look for in a hand dryer.

If you’re installing hand dryers in a public facility, chances are you’re going to attract a steady stream of people. With heavy use, less durable hand dryers can break or malfunction. Opting for paper towels comes with a host of other problems, not the least of which is clogging sinks and toilets.  From our experience, issues like these can lead to expensive repairs and loss of business due to customer dissatisfaction. In fact, lack of supplies and complaints about unsanitary bathrooms littered with paper towels top customer grievances when it comes to public restrooms.

Heavy use isn’t the only challenge you have in maintaining your restrooms. Good quality, strongly-built hand dryers will go a long way toward preventing vandalism. The durability and vandal-resistance of World Dryer hand dryers are established with a combination of material choices and vandal-resistant features. Tamper-resistant cover screws require a specific tool that is included with each dryer package to remove or secure the hand dryer’s cover.  This ensures only authorized personnel has access to the hand dryer’s internal components. Nearly all of our hand dryer covers are made of metal rather than plastic like some competitive models on the market. Metal covers provide a protected enclosure that minimizes the risk of vandals damaging internal components.

We incorporate vandal-resistant features in our electronic controls as well. The intelligent controls monitor use of the hand dryer to detect signs of vandalism. If the automatic dryer is activated continuously for longer than its specified maximum activation period, the dryer will automatically stop and block further operation as long as it detects the presence of an object in its sensing zone. This ensures the hand dryer can’t be vandalized by placing gum, tape or other foreign objects on the sensor. 

One more consideration that adds to a hand dryer’s durability is motor life. World Dryer’s VERDEdri and SMARTdri automatic hand dryers are built with motors that last two to three times longer than competitive models of their type. They are a great choice in situations where long, uninterrupted service life is important.

Every industry faces specific challenges we address within the engineering of our hand dryers, whether it’s sanitation, sound level or durability. For schools, the challenge is definitely wear and tear. With their aluminum or stainless steel construction, these models are built to last—and I have a great story to prove it! One school district’s facility manager was experiencing pains with a competitor’s model not standing up to school vandalism. So, we let him test our vandal-resistant VERDEdri with a few lead-footed stomps. Needless to say, he was quickly convinced of its durability, and I was kicking myself for not recording it! (I can’t say my job isn’t fun!)

Here is the bottom line: Hand dryers in public facilities and high traffic areas must be built for high usage and long life. Models like VERDEdri and SMARTdri are designed, engineered and built to be durable, reliable and vandal-resistant. If you’re shopping for a hand drying solution, make sure you check all these boxes—with durability topping your list of must-haves.