A study comparing the relative efficacy of a 5 vs. a 10 min surgical scrub was carried out using random sampling of personnel scrubbing for routine scheduled hospital surgical procedures. Scrubbing for 5 min apparently was equally as effective as scrubbing for 10 min. Betadine was compared to phisohex as a scrubbing agent and apparently was statistically more effective in degerming the skin following a 5 min scrub. A routine preoperative surgical scrub of 5 min duration, using Betadine as scrubbing agent, is recommended.