AimsThe objective of this research is to evaluate eluents for recovery of an enveloped bacteriophage, 6, using whole-hand sampling. Methods and ResultsVirus was applied to the hands of volunteers and sampled by the glove juice method with 15% beef extract (BE), phosphate buffered saline (PBS), 001 and 01% Tween 80, tryptic soy broth (TSB) and 9% NaCl. Each volunteer underwent multiple rounds application and hand sampling. Mean log(10) virus loss across trials was 26 for BE, 28 for PBS, 24 for TSB, 38 for NaCl, 30 for 01% Tween 80, and 29 for 001% Tween 80. Within each volunteer, there was a decline in viral loss from the first to last trial. ConclusionsThese eluents can recover phi 6 from hands with approx. 2-3 log(10) loss, comparable to recoveries previously reported for influenza. Protein and detergent-based eluents may have similar recoveries, but recovery may still vary across repeated sampling. Significance and Impact of the StudyBased on current work, protein-based eluents such as beef extract can maximize recovery of enveloped viruses during hand sampling, providing methods for evaluating survival and transmission of enveloped viruses on hands. Further exploration is needed of the effect of repeated sampling on recovery from whole-hand sampling.