To dry a hand with fingertips and a carpus, the palmar aspect and the dorsal aspect of the hand are blown dry, starting from the fingertips, by a pair of planar gas jets, wherein the gas jets of the pair run towards each other in the direction from the carpus to the fingertips at an angle of less than 180°. By applying high-voltage AC pulses with respect to ground to dielectrically shielded electrodes arranged next to both planar gas jets, direct discharges are obtained across the hand on the palmar aspect thereof and on the dorsal aspect thereof.