A gloved-hand wash method was used to compare the antimicrobial effect of  chlorhexidine digluconate alcohol emollient hand wash (HIBISTAT) with that of 70% isopropyl alcohol on the normal flora of the hands (81 subjects) under conditions designed to mimic use by surgeons. Results of the immediate postwash effects on the bacterial counts for all 3 tests days showed that  chlorhexidine digluconate significantly reduced the normal flora of the hands. When compared with the base line bacterial counts, there was 85, 96, and 98% reduction with  chlorhexidine digluconate treatment and 84, 93, and 90% reduction with alcohol treatment on days 1,2, and 5, respectively. The difference between  chlorhexidine digluconate and alcohol treatments was not statistically significant on days 1 and 2, but was significant on day 5 (P less than 0.01). For delayed postwash bacterial counts (for persistent antimicrobial effects), the overall log means were 4.9943 and 5.4684 for chlorhexidine digluconate and alcohol treatments, respectively. The difference between the two treatments was significant (P less than 0.01). After the chlorhexidine digluconate treatment, there was no significant growth of bacteria over a period of 6 h when compared with the base line bacterial counts.