Where are the self-opening doors?

Capodecina
Soldato
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Automatic (self-opening) doors are appearing more and more these days - stores and supermarkets have them.
Toilets in public places (e.g Cinemas, Theatres, Stations, etc.) increasingly have taps that don't need physical contact and have hygienic blown air hand dryers (which sometimes work).

However, having carefully washed and dried your hands you then have to grab the germ infested door handle and pull it to get out! What genius thinks up and/or specifies these brilliant hygiene schemes?

Why not have an "automatic (self-opening) door"?


ps - I know, I know, you still have to touch most soap dispensers but at least you tend to wash your hands with soap and then rinse them.
 
Associate
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2 Jul 2019
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2,405
Have thought about this myself, and agree. The real genius is the one who said, "let's open the doors this way". Meaning the handle is on the other side, so when you wash your hands you push the door with your elbow or whatever.

Interestingly, there is an ongoing debate between the paper towel and air drying companies with regard to hygiene. But really it's just the money thing they're trying justify.

The auto tap things are damn annoying tbf. Dyson blowers i think were a good invention, less energy and dry hands in seconds.
 
Associate
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18 Sep 2003
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903
Because automatic anything costs money. A door handle or a soap button, a twisty hot/cold tap not so much.

^ This basically.

Although there is a cheap solution. I went to a restaurant a few months ago that had one of these:
https://www.stepnpull.co.uk/

It's a brilliantly simple solution.

It's made worse by the fact you see about half of men go to the toilet then walk out without washing their hands. Having to touch the same handle almost makes it pointless washing your own hands. What you can do is use a folded up tissue to open the door with then throw it away in the nearest bin.
 
Caporegime
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17 Feb 2006
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29,263
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Cornwall
Tell me, when was the last time that house and office building was about anything more than generating the maximum profit for the construction firm?

The answer to that is any time you build your own home (and have the money to do so).

In all other cases you get whatever building delivers the construction company the biggest profit margins.

And as we've learned, that even includes cutting costs by compromising fire safety. You think your petty concerns about hygiene are worth even a passing consideration? LOL, no.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Jul 2005
Posts
1,575
Have thought about this myself, and agree. The real genius is the one who said, "let's open the doors this way". Meaning the handle is on the other side, so when you wash your hands you push the door with your elbow or whatever.

Interestingly, there is an ongoing debate between the paper towel and air drying companies with regard to hygiene. But really it's just the money thing they're trying justify.

The auto tap things are damn annoying tbf. Dyson blowers i think were a good invention, less energy and dry hands in seconds.

And a stain on the floor under every Dyson dryer, as all it does is blow it onto the floor.
 
Joined
10 May 2004
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12,813
Location
Sunny Stafford
I'm sure you are right, count the pennies and bugger the paying customers (and COVID-19) :rolleyes:

COVID / Corona is just a media scare. It's BSE all over again.

BSE happened in 1996, at a time when the Conservatives were rating poorly. So the Tory rednecks (I mean farmers) created BSE in their cows as a cover up; to divert the press from Tory sleazes for a couple of months.

In 2020, the same is happening, but this time it's to cover up Brexit which is a more world wide issue. So the Chinese (or Russians) decided to create a virus that would take the headlines away from Brexit (and Megxit), again for a couple of months. COVID-19 will have blown over by early April. But by then, Boris behind the scenes will have burnt all bridges with the EU.

:p
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Nov 2006
Posts
23,702
COVID / Corona is just a media scare. It's BSE all over again.

BSE happened in 1996, at a time when the Conservatives were rating poorly. So the Tory rednecks (I mean farmers) created BSE in their cows as a cover up; to divert the press from Tory sleazes for a couple of months.

In 2020, the same is happening, but this time it's to cover up Brexit which is a more world wide issue. So the Chinese (or Russians) decided to create a virus that would take the headlines away from Brexit (and Megxit), again for a couple of months. COVID-19 will have blown over by early April. But by then, Boris behind the scenes will have burnt all bridges with the EU.

:p

lol
 
Soldato
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27 Aug 2019
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2,583
Problem with society today, everything has to be squeaky clean ,sure it won't do our immune system any good further down the line.
 
Capodecina
Soldato
OP
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30 Jul 2006
Posts
12,129
Those Dyson hand driers are riddled with bacteria.
Possibly . . . I am not aware of any comparative studies but I believe that Dyson have changed the design now. The Excel Xlerator is a much better design.
Problem is with doors that are automatic you still need locks on the inside. . . .
I think you are missing the point here pal.
Problem with society today, everything has to be squeaky clean ,sure it won't do our immune system any good further down the line.
Yes, washing your hands, not spitting and covering your mouth when sneezing is SO 21st Century. :rolleyes:


As to doors opening inwards rather than outwards (allowing them to be pushed rather than pulled), the only explanation for this stupidity that I can think of is to allow people to get to the toilet quickly in an emergency ;)
 
Associate
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1 Jul 2011
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1,728
I can't see why most doors leading into toilets have a handle you have to pull on the inside, why can't they open out and then when leaving the toilet you can just push the door open without grabbing onto a possibly germ ridden handle, especially after seeing the state some people leave the cubicle in, they obviously don't have any hygiene sense at all
 
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