'I never use a hand dryer in a public bathroom - it's disgusting and you shouldn't either'

Scientist Ruth explained why she doesn't use hand dryers (stock photo)
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)


We learn from a young age that after going to the bathroom we have to wash our hands, and despite the vast majority of us sticking to these hygiene rules, a lot of people still break them.

In fact, new research into the bathroom habits of Brits from Faith In Nature found men in the UK are almost twice as likely as women to not wash their hands after a poo (18% vs 10%).

Simply entering a bathroom guarantees you’re going to get germs on your hands, so when you don’t wash your hands, you risk contaminating everything you touch afterwards. However, what if the tools you’re using to clean your hands aren’t as sanitary as you initially thought?

READ MORE: 'I lost unborn baby after catching virus my daughter got at nursery'

A recent experiment featured on TikTok has shown just how much your hands could be contaminated by a simple action. Ruth, a scientist and the brains behind Devon Science, an educational program for kids and adults, revealed all in a disgustingly informative clip.

In the experiment she took an agar plate, which is a thin layer of nutrient gel in a Petri dish, and held it underneath a generic hand dryer in a public bathroom to see what bacteria would grow. She then took another agar dish and waved it around in normal air in order to compare how many germs are in the standard air we breathe and what comes out of the hand dryer.

After taking the two samples she incubated them overnight to allow any bacteria or fungi to grow – and the results were horrifying. Ruth told her followers: “The hand dryer agar shows so many different kinds of bacteria and a fungus too. The one from the air grew nothing, no bacteria at all. And this is why I do not use hand dryers.”

The short video has been viewed a whopping 3.2 million times with people understandably horrified by the results. One user replied: “I genuinely wipe my hands on my shirt because I don't like the noise of a hand dryer.”

Another person questioned: “What on earth. There is no contact with the hand dryers. Where are those germs coming from ? Also I would have thought the heat would kill off bugs. I am no longer a hand dryer user.” And someone else added: “As someone who has said this for years. I feel less insane.”

However, some social media users did note that in order to have a fair comparison, Ruth should have taken a control sample from the air in the public bathroom, not her office, which she acknowledged. After one person commented that would probably have more bacteria in it, she said: "Probably and I'm going to test that."

If Ruth's experiment has left you feeling itchy and violated, one woman has sparked debate after she claimed she won't wash her hands after using the toilet in her own house.

Summer, who posts online as @thesummeredeen, said in her TikTok: "Do you wash your hands after you go to the bathroom in your own home? I really hope I'm not outing myself. If everybody does this and I'm the only one that doesn't. But no, I don't. I'm not going to wash my hands on my own home. One or 2 or 3. I'm not going to do it.

"Honestly, there are public restrooms where I feel as if I wash my hands after using the restroom, I would actually get them more dirty by touching all the things the faucets, but especially in my own home. In the comfort of my own home, you want me to wash my hands? Ridiculous."

She even went on to admit she will sometimes pretend she's washed her hands by turning the tap on so that other people in her house will hear it.

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