Apparently it’s a lot harder to make a paper towel dispenser than I would have thought. No matter what the format, it’s a pretty simple task: pull a paper towel. In my bathroom travels I’ve seen a lot of different dispensers, but none seem to be as simple as they ought.
Kimberly Clark substitutes signage for good design
But this one is worse than the rest. A lot worse. The concept is simple: pull a towel to get a towel. But it seems that one hand doesn’t always exert enough force to dispense the towel (I can confirm from personal experience).
But the really mystifying part is that instead of adjusting the mechanism to reduce the force required to dispense a towell, Kimberly Clark decided to print big signs on the dispensers warning people that one hand would not be enough. It’s annoying. Really.
And, incidentally, in what situation is the failure of a paper towel to properly dispense classified as an emergency? ‘Cause I can’t think of any such situation.
One Comment
I remember a previous coworker demonstrating his technique for getting paper towels out of the dispenser in the men’s room. He made “scissors” with his index and middle fingers and pulled the towel down. It never worked for me; the paper always dissolved (I adopted a grab-and-crumple method – to heck with the next guy).
I’m sure you have an entry planned about how much you hate/love infrared sensors on everything in public restrooms. I will say that paper towel dispensers are not the worst use of these sensors – they’ve worked more reliably for me than these finicky feed mechanisms.