After washing and rinsing, dip your hands into a bowlful of transparent silica gel marbles to dry them.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 08 2010 Do Not Eat http://t0.gstatic.c...vwY4sX_UHYi27p6c3hQ [Letsbuildafort, Jun 10 2010] Rather colourful really... http://www.goldwing...iewtopic.php?t=3813Dessicant beads and the art of motorcycle repair about halfway down the page [FlyingToaster, Aug 05 2012] I had in mind upscale restaurants and hotels where washrooms are frequently and rigorously inspected, and any problems taken care of immediately.
For home use it would make for an interesting conversation piece in a well appointed two-piece (commode & sink) powder room, but for rooms containing a shower/bath it would look rather odd alongside the bathtowels & be redundant to same.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 08 2010 What keeps the beads from sticking to your hands?-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 08 2010 Make them the size of marbles.-- Ling, Jun 08 2010 What you need is a Dyson Airblade.-- xenzag, Jun 08 2010 Sounds a lot quieter than the air blower type driers - this would be much appreciated.-- phundug, Jun 08 2010 //What keeps the beads from sticking to your hands?// Admittedly I don't know anything about the tactility of commercially available dessicant beads, whether they're smooth or rough surfaced. Sizewise 1/4" diameter seems about right, so big enough to just brush them off if they indeed do stick. § x1-- FlyingToaster, Jun 08 2010 //Dyson Airblade// evil machines, I complain to the management of any establishment foolish enough to install them. Truly the devil's own hand dryers.-- pocmloc, Jun 08 2010 Sodium Hydroxide is a pretty good dessicant. If used there woul be no problems with people not using soap as it can convert the oils of the skin into soap!-- saedi, Jun 09 2010 Fuming Sulphuric Acid is also a good dessicant. However, it has a tendancy to explode (by rapidly boiling) when it begins to hydrate. Perhaps not the best choice...-- saedi, Jun 09 2010 Only problem is Silica gel has a very slow water absorbtion rate, your hands wouldn't dry anywhere quick enough. better would be small sponge balls (or foam) these would soak up water much faster, and the water would even eventually sink to the bottom of the bowl under gravity, (there it could hit the hot plate and evaporate).
nice idea, but sponge balls would be the way to go, a sort of 3d towel...-- Lunartick, Jun 09 2010 /for privates use in my home I quite like it/
21's thought would seem to be a natural, especially following development of the "sponge balls" concept.-- bungston, Jun 09 2010 This might work better if the beads were made of that lightweight Space Shuttle insulation. You can heat that stuff to a cherry red and pick it up, which would answer the contamination problem.-- ldischler, Jun 09 2010 That would be quite a challenge - stick your hands into these 'ere hot coals to dry and sanitise them. I forsee people punching the air with elation on sucessfuly drying their hands.
Although you might need to interlock the gas flame that heats the aerogel.-- Ling, Jun 10 2010 As the dessicants in countless packages of computer parts and beef jerky bags have taught me - do not injest. Perhaps a poor choice of hand dryer for restaurant lavatories.-- Letsbuildafort, Jun 10 2010 Indeed. Gotta show everyone I'm still alive from time to time.-- Letsbuildafort, Jun 10 2010 Personally I'd recommend sand-blasting instead ...-- Aristotle, Jun 10 2010 Found some <link>. For the idea of course the beads would be 1.0 - 1.5cm in diameter. There are different colours but blue > red seem to be the most popular.-- FlyingToaster, Aug 05 2012 random, halfbakery