Now, more than ever, there is a collective concern regarding germs. It’s gone way beyond our mothers telling us to wash our hands after we use the bathroom or even the industrial size hand every new mother purchases before the baby comes home. With enterovirus in elementary schools and ebola cases popping up in America, I’d venture to say we’ve all awoken our sleeping inner germaphobe. Personally, I have always been slightly germaphobic. Not to the Howie Mandel extent, but I am definitely a little grossed out after certain subway rides or play dates involving six four year olds in my house. Does it make you a bad person? I don’t think so at all.
Much to the delight of many, the consumer market has gone above and beyond the call of duty bringing us design worthy products that might help give us some sense of ease while still keeping aesthetics in mind. In a nut shell, it’s all about touchless technology. Here are five (mostly) affordable products that will look good and almost never have to be touched. Here’s what I found.
Legrand Adorne Wave Light Switch
Light switches are something we don’t pay enough attention to. Think about it..consumers spend millions of dollars a year remodeling and decorating every room in the house, but when it comes to our switches we grab whatever works and is under five bucks. Ironically, they’re something we use several times a day and are often dirtier than our cell phones. Ew. Well, luxe lighting manufacturer, Legrand (pronounced Le Grahn, just fyi) came out with a fab little line called Adorne. Amongst it’s hottest sellers is The Wave. Yep, you got it right. Just wave the hand in front of the switch and voila! Lights on, lights off. Kind of like The Clapper but way cooler and dare I say, much more socially acceptable. No clapping for you, darling. $45-$65 at Legrand and home improvement retailers.
Kohler Touchless Toilet Kit
Most of us would probably agree, if you want to go touchless the toilet is the first place on the list, right? At first, I thought who would buy a brand new toilet just to not touch it? But, then I saw it’s actually a very affordable kit that can be fit to almost any existing toilet! The install took under twenty-five minutes and a few batteries. It might be the easiest improvement project you’ll ever embark on in your bathroom. $99.97 at Kohler.com
Dyson Airblade Tap
Dyson, the familiar name in vacuums and bladeless fans are known for products that are both innovative with a sleek design with a British accent. Not exactly cheap, but it’s hard to deny their products are pretty cool. If you’ve been to a newly refurbished restroom lately, you’ve probably seen (and hopefully used) their touchless hand dryers. Recently, they took that a step further by adding a faucet tap. With the Dyson Airblade Tap (DAT) you wash and dry your hands in one spot without ever touching a thing. The price for all this is a steep $1899 on Dyson
Umbra Otto Sensor Soap Dispenser
So, while some may charge almost two grand to keep the hands off the faucet, you can soap them up beforehand for under $30.00. I found this model at Kohl’s and like the mod look, small size and the fact that four AAA batteries has me up and running and squeaky clean.
Simplehuman Touchless Trash Can
The trashcan is another place we want to touch as little as possible..from tossing raw meats to messy spills, it’s always best to touch the trash can as little as possible. With a handful of sizes, styles and prices, there’s really no reason not to. I liked this one because it’s alsoIf none of these appeal to you, rest easy. At the end of the day, there is always soap and hot water! fingerprint proof, always a plus for someone like me with two little kids. This model is $120.00 here but if you dig up one of those Bed Bath & Beyond coupons in the kitchen drawer, well you do the math.
And there’s always soap and water..XO