As more Americans turn to the their homes as a place for entertainment there are a number of products popping up in the housewares market that mimic many of the conveniences that we see in commercial and retail settings popping up in surprising places.
Since most of us would never venture to install a hand dryer in any of our bathrooms or kitchens, we are often left with cloth and paper towels to handle spills and the drying of our hands. Worries about cross contamination or of ways to reduce paper waste have been undertaken in many commercial and retail settings where installation of dryers has cut paper waste to a minimum and left many spaces cleaner and greener. Not surprisingly, as those green initiatives by companies are become more prevalent, the market for touchless products that can be integrated into the home have begun to proliferate.
One noticable place is around the paper towel roll which, for all of its convenience and utility has often been relegated to a simple rack or maybe a slightly stylish holder, but many kitchens leave them naked on a counter or atop a microwave. Thanks to innovations that incorporate sensors to control the flow of the roll the touchless paper towel product market is growing.
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| CleanCut Touchless Paper Towel Dispenser |
Among the innovations, is the
CleanCut, a mountable touchless paper towel system that uses infrared technology while operating on a low voltage power adapter that plugs into a standard 120 volt outlet. The dispensers are designed for under-cabinet mounting and can be placed in a variety of rooms including the kitchen, laundry room, workshop or garage. The CleanCut units come in three colors including black, white and stainless steel and can use any variety of store-bought paper towel. Instead of wedding you to the perforations on the roll, the clean cut will cut the paper towel based on your preference, from fine strips to a long piece without regard to those original perforations. This is reminiscent of the introduction of the select-a-size rolls that were introduced over ten years ago to give consumers the choice of breaking off small, medium or large segments of paper towels. The CleanCut system is very simple to use (you can watch the commercial for the product
here). Simply by placing your hand in front of one of the sensors the roll can be dispensed and are neatly cut. The units retail for US $129.95 to US $149.95 for the stainless steel model.
Another great option is the iTouchless
Towel-Matic II which is an automatic paper towel dispenser that also runs on a sensor housed within a scanning panel that will tighten onto the towel to assist with tearing and to decrease roll unraveling. The Towel-Matic II senses the performations on the paper towel (including full and half sheet rolls) and is ideal for one hand operation as it provides a preset length of towel. The Towel-Matic can be used on a counter space our can be mounted on a wall or undercounter with the separate purchase of brackets. Available in three colors including a limited edition Candy Apple Red, Metallic Silver and Pearl White, the unit requires 4 C-sized batteries which should provide a year of use before they need to be changed. The unit retails for US $99.99 to US $109.99.
For more information on both units please contact
cooklikejackie@gmail.com.
