Dyson Airblades waiting patiently to fulfil their hand drying dreams. Photo / Supplied
Dyson Airblades waiting patiently to fulfil their hand drying dreams. Photo / Supplied
A futuristic hand dryer that's won many design awards around the world has been clad in rusted metal by a pub trying to embrace a vintage aesthetic.
The redesigned Dyson Airblade was spotted at The Garrison Public House gastropub in London, which is described as having a rustic decor featuring "exposed brick walls" and "vintage chic fittings".
Twitter user Milo Edwards shared an image taken in the pub's bathroom on Thursday night London time, calling it the "crowning glory" of one particular design category, reports News.com.au.
"I've seen some sh*t in boujis London pubs, but the crowning glory has to be this faux rust-effect Dyson Airblade," Mr Edwards wrote to his more than 6,000 followers on Twitter.
It's understood his misspelling of the shortened form of bourgeois is a deliberate reference to now closed London nightclub Boujis, a formerly popular haunt for celebrities and a reported favourite of Princes William and Harry.
A Dyson Airblade has sparked a design debate online. Photo / Twitter
The Dyson Airblade was revolutionary on release in 2008, featuring high speed jets of unheated air through a gap the width of an eyelash to dry your hands by shooting the water off the surface of your skin.
It has been praised for its energy efficiency when compared to older warm-air dryers, the short time it takes to dry, and its design, which mirrors the chic industrial lines of Dyson's other products that includes vacuums and hairdryers.
You've likely come across one in a bathroom at your local pub or shopping centre, in fact some people install them in their homes.
The Airblade even has its own online fan community devoted to the hand dryer.
The Dyson Airblade Fan Club has attracted more than 5,800 members on Facebook.
But the dryer also attracted scepticism about hygiene after a viral post in 2018 by a university student who placed a petri dish in one to see what would grow as part of a microbiology assignment.
Dyson said they were surprised by the results and questioned its methodology.
The company said its hand dryers user filters that capture small particles including bacteria, and that the machines had been proven safe by university research in the past.
Hygiene wasn't the main problem Mr Edwards and others had with the design flair employed on the Airblade at The Garrison however.
"Look at the tetanus on that," one user wrote in response.
The consensus in the comments is that the modifications are "embarrassing", "cursed", and "the perfect option for the drunk reveller who wants to sever an artery on rusty metal".
But it wasn't all harsh words.
The occasional user reported liking the design changes, though many of the positive responses appear to be dripping in sarcasm.
The sincerity of the comments are unfortunately impossible to tell thanks to the brain-breaking quality of irony Twitter that prevents users from actually knowing whether or not they genuinely like something anymore.
Those who did say something positive include a first responder who said the modified Airblade "really blends in with the 1800s aesthetic of the rest of the bathroom, like the modern sink inches away from it".
Another user asked dissenters "let me stick my hands in the Jigsaw Airblade", while one said the modified Airblade was "just like our grandfathers used to use".
