This study assessed the effectiveness of cotton/polyester covergowns in protecting scrubsuits against bacterial contamination when operating room (OR) personnel are outside the clean environment of the operating suite. Rodac impression plates were used to measure bacterial contamination. The subjects were nurses working a normal daily OR routine. Bacterial colony counts on the right shoulder decreased when covergowns were worn over scrubsuits during the lunch period outside the OR and when fresh scrubsuits were put on following the lunch period. Colony counts rose over the lunch period when scrubsuits were worn unprotected outside the OR and when scrubsuits were removed before and put on again following lunch. Left thigh samples showed no significant effects of experimental treatments and yielded a mean colony count 2.8 times higher than right shoulder samples. Fifty-three percent of subjects were positive for Staphylococcus aureus and 16% yielded positive plates on 3 or more study days. The incidence of S. aureus contamination was affected by experimental treatments in a way similar to overall bacterial contamination. The results indicated that wearing covergowns protects against above-waist bacterial contamination of scrubsuits.