New Study: Hand Dryers Equally Hygienic to Paper Towels

This article was originally published in 2020 around a University of Arizona review that was described at the time as a "new study."

Six years later, that framing no longer makes sense.

Instead, we've gone back to the original review, looked at what it actually concluded, considered research published afterward and updated this article around a more useful question:

What does the available research really tell us about hand dryers, paper towels and hygiene?

Most conversations about hand hygiene focus on washing, but drying is part of the process too.

Moisture left on the hands can affect how readily microorganisms transfer between hands and surfaces. That is one reason researchers have spent decades comparing paper towels, warm-air dryers and high-speed jet-air dryers.

But there is an important distinction that often gets lost in headlines.

That distinction becomes important when comparing the studies behind many "hand dryers spread germs" or "paper towels are more hygienic" claims.

The study behind the original version of this article was a University of Arizona review titled Comparison of Electric Hand Dryers and Paper Towels for Hand Hygiene: A Critical Review of the Literature.

It was published online in August 2020 and later appeared in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.

Rather than conducting one new experiment with dryers and towels, the researchers reviewed previously published research.

The authors described the evidence as conflicting and noted inconsistent study designs and statistical methods.

The review also found that the available data did not provide the information needed to make confident claims about comparative human infection risk.

Later research hasn't produced a universal verdict either. What it has done is add more data about aerosols, bacteria, viruses and surface transfer under different experimental conditions.

One of the biggest problems with the hand-dryer debate is that studies described as measuring "hygiene" may actually be measuring very different things.

Experimental setup matters too.

Hand-drying research has a long history of commercial involvement.

That does not automatically make research invalid. Manufacturers often fund research because they have a direct interest in understanding their products.

But readers should know about those relationships, particularly in a field where competing industries have strong commercial interests.

The available research does not support a universal answer.

Some studies have reported results that favor paper towels. Others have reported comparable performance, results favoring particular dryer technologies or findings that vary depending on the microorganism, sampling location or experimental conditions.

The University of Arizona review concluded that the literature was mixed and lacked important information needed to assess infection risk. Research published afterward has continued to demonstrate that both paper towels and modern jet-air dryers can produce acceptable hand-drying outcomes under the conditions tested.

Hand dryer technology has changed considerably since many of the older papers in this debate were published.

Today, some commercial hand dryers use HEPA filtration to filter intake air before it reaches the user's hands. Others offer HEPA filtration as an option, while many dryers do not use HEPA filtration at all.

That is useful product information, but a HEPA filter should not be turned into an unsupported health claim.

For most commercial facilities, hygiene is only one part of the paper-towel-versus-hand-dryer decision.

You also have to operate the restroom every day.

We've covered those broader considerations separately in our Hand Dryers vs. Paper Towels: Cost, Hygiene, and Sustainability Compared guide.

This article is intentionally narrower. Its job is to look at what the hygiene research does—and does not—show.

Are hand dryers less hygienic than paper towels?

Research does not establish that all hand dryers are less hygienic than paper towels. Results vary depending on dryer technology, study design, what is measured and the conditions under which testing occurs.

Do hand dryers spread bacteria through the air?

Some studies have detected bacteria or other microorganisms in the air during hand drying, while other studies have found comparable airborne bacterial levels between jet dryers and paper towels. Detecting airborne microorganisms also does not by itself establish increased human infection risk.

Are paper towels proven to prevent more infections than hand dryers?

The 2020 University of Arizona review found that the literature lacked key data needed to determine comparative human infection risk. That is different from saying the two methods are identical in every laboratory measurement.

Does HEPA filtration make a hand dryer hygienic?

HEPA filtration can filter intake air before it is directed toward the hands, and it is a feature available on a number of modern commercial dryers. It should not, however, be interpreted as proof that a particular dryer prevents disease transmission.

What is most important for good hand hygiene?

Proper handwashing followed by thorough drying. Regardless of the drying method, leaving hands wet can make microbial transfer easier.

About this article: This page was originally published in 2020 around a newly published University of Arizona review of hand-drying research. It was substantially updated in September 2026 to remove the outdated "new study" framing, clarify the review's conclusions and literature cutoff, add later published research, and provide funding disclosures and additional context around how hand-drying studies should be interpreted. Scientific research continues to evolve, and individual studies should be considered in the context of their methodology, limitations and disclosures.

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