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SALT LAKE CITY -- Kids are getting a boost in some of the restrooms at the Salt Lake International Airport.
It's called Step 'n Wash. A stool is bolted down under the sink. It folds down for the child to step up, and voila, they can reach the sink -- no more parents struggling to lift them up.
Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann says the airport has six right now and will install 14 more this year.
"You have your hands full when you are traveling, so it's very nice to have some assistance with that process. Also we think it helps kids get their hands cleaner. So it's a health benefit as well," she says.
It is such a simple concept that the vice president of Step n Wash, Paul Sumpton, can't believe no one thought of it before.
"We just thought this is such an inconvenience for us and probably all other parents, wouldn't this be a great problem to solve. It turned into much more than we thought it would," he says.
Sumpton says the step stools are in airports, zoos, amusement parks, and other public restrooms around the country. The company just signed on its 500th customer, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
He says Whole Foods market has also signed on, but calls to Whole Foods around Utah didn't seem to show any Step 'n Wash stools in their restrooms yet.
Gann says the new ones at the airport will have a counter on them to see how often they are used, and they will be in men's and women's restrooms.
Sumpton hopes they eventually become like the diaper changing table, which became a staple in restrooms because parents kept asking for them.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
