The Pros and Cons: Using Paper Towel Cabinets For Your Business

As a business owner during a pandemic, the last thing you want is paper towel rolls bouncing around between different spaces and departments at the office. It’s not only an easy way for things to feel more disorganised but isn’t a sanitary decision considering everyone is on high alert about what they touch, trying to prevent cross-contamination of viruses and bacteria. A paper towel cabinet can be a problem solver in this regard, creating a designated space for your paper towels, as well as ensuring that employees only come into contact with a single sheet of paper at a time. So what are some of the other pros (and a few cons) that you should keep in mind before buying these?

What Are Paper Towel Cabinets? 

A paper towel cabinet is traditionally a spring-loaded piece of equipment that allows the user to tear off a single sheet of paper towel with just one hand. The machine should have a weighted base that ensures that it doesn’t tip over, and is usually firmly mounted to the wall. Paper towels are great for removing bacteria from the fingertips and palms. Psychologically, people are also more comfortable with using paper towels rather than air dryers, especially as COVID-19 is airborne. It’s possible to double up on preventative efforts by using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser right after the paper towel. 

The Pros of Using a Paper Towel Cabinet

Although we’ve mentioned a couple already, it’s worth touching on a handful more pros of using paper towel cabinets around the office. Besides keeping things tidy, these handy inventions usually don’t run on electricity (though some are battery-powered), which means that they will save the business costs over the long term if they are offered as an alternative to hand dryers. This makes them more eco-friendly too, reducing the overall carbon footprint of the company in the process. You only have to look at options like the Cotton Towel Cabinet, Paper Towel Cabinet Multifold or the Mystique Auto to realise that paper towel cabinets are easy to install (a major bonus if you have a large workforce) and economical too, unlike some of the high-end dryers on the market today. 

The Cons To Keep In Mind

As with anything good, there is always a downside to consider. Although paper towel cabinets tick the boxes in terms of affordability, ease of use and eco-friendliness, we also have to talk about the fact that they do produce a fair amount of daily waste too. Once a piece of paper has been used (or contaminated), it makes it less likely to be able to be recycled. For this very reason, it’s very important to make sure you select the right kind of paper for your cabinets to dispense. Although the manufacturer might dictate what can be used with a specific machine, always make sure you ask about the various options, and speak to your recycling company to hear what can be done about reducing the amount of waste. Another con to keep in mind is that unlike with heat dryers, you have to encourage everyone to throw their paper towels away after use. Things can get messy if the rules aren’t properly enforced at the office. 

Buying Your Next Paper Towel Cabinet

If you have any questions about buying your next paper towel cabinet for the office, reach out to the Bidvest Steiner team. They are more than happy to work within the realm of your personal preferences, as well as catering to your budgetary needs. While there are standard products on the market, during the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a rise in automatic sensor dispensers to help keep things as touch-free as possible. This ensures greater peace of mind at a managerial level, but also at the employee level of the business as well. In 2021, it’s never been more important to look out for the entire team, and to ensure that the right systems are in place to help us keep each other as safe as possible, while the world continues to work through a once in a generation pandemic.