Money is dirty . You ’ve been hearing that since you were knee - high to a hopper and your mom had to stop you from putting coins in your mouth and up your nose . wrick out , mama did n’t know how powerful she was : the flu virus can really survive on money for up to 10 days . And you ’ve probably heard the dotty statistic that 90 percent of U.S. billshave cocain on them .
Lucky for all of us , then , that the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco is doing their part to make the world of up-to-dateness just alittlebit cleaner . For the better part of a century , neat freaks at the Westin St. Francis have been fastidiously cancel every individual coin that comes into their possession . Rumor has it the practice take off when a high smart set lady complained that her perfectly white boxing glove get pestiferous after she was hand some variety at the hotel .
The St. Francis has employed the same coin cleaner , Rob Holsen , for the retiring 20 twelvemonth . By his calculation , he ’s washed about $ 1.5 million in cash since he was hired . Back in the twenty-four hour period , this kind of money laundering was a full - time job . These days , it only take about 10 hours of Holsen ’s time every workweek . The washing machine before him , Arnold Batliner ( fancy ) , was so legendary that the Mayor declared a twenty-four hour period in his honour when he retired in 1993 . The hotel still celebrates his birthday with cake every year . Batliner ’s high-minded total , by the way , came to somewhere around $ 14 million .
In case you require to give your cash the St. Francis treatment at home , here ’s their formula for cleanliness : a burnisher filled with water , some birdshot to knock the grown piece of grime off of the change , and a adept scoop of Borax soap . After three hr ( three hours ) of washing , the money is class out from the birdshot , dried off , put into roll , and redistributed to cash registers around the hotel .
Alas , the discussion is allow for coins only . Unless the Westin St. Francis decides to start laundry and ironing bill , you ’ll still have to deal with drugs on your newspaper money . Sorry !
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