Americans Lose Faith in Personal Hygiene of Others, Survey Finds

A recent survey found that 94 percent of Americans claim to wash their hands after using public restrooms yet 99 percent think they are the exception.

Contrary to the findings, another 48 percent claim they observe that others wash their hands less than half they use the restroom.

“Clearly people think public restrooms present a hygiene risk and claim they are washing their hands after using those restrooms,” said Mike Kapalko, environmental and tork services manager at SCA Tissue North America in a press release.

“But their observations of others in public restrooms indicate that a large percentage of them are not actually doing so,” he said.

The online survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, also found that paper towels are the favorite way of hand drying—suggesting a preference of comfort over the anti-bacteria hype.

The survey concluded that 59 percent of adults prefer paper towels as the quickest way to dry hands, yet 65 percent believe that high velocity air blowers are the best way to be germ-free.

According to Kapalko, the paper towel preference is the smarter approach.

“These opinions giving high marks to hot air and jet air dryers are fairly widespread among consumers, but scientific research shows that paper towels are not only more hygienic and effective but that hot air and jet air dryers actually do more harm than good when it comes to reducing bacteria in public washrooms,” said Kapalko.