The efficacy of 14 procedures for the hygienic disinfection of hands mostly with commerical preparations was tested by a new experimental model developed at the Institute of Hygiene of the university Vienna (1,3). The disinfectant power was clearly dependent on the duration of treatment as well as on the kind of alcohol used in the preparation (n-Propanol better than iso-Propanol better than Ethanol). After one minute the efficacy of all preparations containing one of the three alcohols as active agent was well comparable to that of the standard procedure which according to our proposal (5) uses iso-Propanol 60% (ml/ml) for 1 minute. For preparations with n-Propanol as the main active agent (Satinazid and Sterillium) this was true even after treatment for a period as short as 0.5 min. In our opinion disinfecting detergents are out of place for hygienic disinfection of hands. One preparation representing this group (Versuchspräparat A) was far less effective than the standard procedure.