Previous research has found that approximately 95% of people don’t scrub up sufficiently post bathroom break, meaning these supercharged dryers, with their powerful air streams, are spraying bacteria and viruses (like E. coli and norovirus) all over surrounding surfaces and even nearby people. (So if you’re waiting in line to use one, keep your distance.) Drying after washing reduces your risk of transmitting microbes, so skipping it isn’t an option, says study co-author Mark Wilcox, a medical microbiology professor at the University of Leeds in the UK. And neither is foregoing washing and opting for hand sanitizer instead, which, Wilcox says, isn’t effective at decontaminating hands that have potentially come into contact with urine and fecal matter. Your best bet? Use paper towels whenever possible, but if the jet dryer is the only thing available, go ahead and use it. “Just wash your hands as thoroughly as possible first, and hope others do the same,” he says. MORE: The 10 Worst Germ Hot Spots
