Restroom signs urge users to take just one paper hand towel, but one sheet often fails to dry their hands. The problem lies with the product, not the user.
In a survey of 250 subscribers to Yuhan-Kimberly's professional newsletter on restroom experiences, 70% of respondents said they use two or more paper hand towels at a time, the company said on Oct. 18.
Asked why, 81.1% said a single sheet does not absorb enough moisture. Another 25.1% said the sheets were so thin that they tore while drying. The findings suggest the issue is product performance rather than a lack of willingness to conserve.
The results carry implications for how companies and public agencies manage their restrooms. Posting a "please use only one sheet" notice has its limits. Meaningful reductions in usage require attention to the absorbency and durability of the towels themselves, as well as to how dispensers release them.
With that in mind, Yuhan-Kimberly has launched the Kleenex Dry Cell Roll Hand Towel. The product uses a UCTAD process that dries the material with hot air rather than compressing it, preserving pockets of air between the fibers.
In the company's own testing, absorption time was cut by more than 75% compared with its existing product, and wet tensile strength — the ability to withstand tearing when damp — rose more than 2.8-fold. The dispenser is also designed to release towels one at a time, reducing cases in which several sheets come out at once.
An analysis of 22 worksites that adopted the product found that paper hand towel usage fell by an average of about 49% from levels with the previous product. Actual savings may vary depending on the size of the facility and how it is used.
Researchers abroad have also examined how conservation messaging affects paper hand towel use. In a study published in 2024 in the international journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers at the University of Kassel in Germany observed 179 users of a women's restroom at a university. Those exposed to a pictorial notice encouraging them to use only one sheet took an average of 2.45 sheets, compared with 3.11 sheets among those who saw no notice.
From a hygiene standpoint, drying hands thoroughly so that no moisture remains is important. According to community hand hygiene guidelines published last year by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, residual moisture on hands can affect the transfer of pathogens between hands and surfaces.
The WHO and UNICEF recommend drying hands thoroughly with clean single-use paper towels, adding that wiping hands on clothing risks recontamination.