With regard to the testing of specific materials, we examined survival on a range of porous items: a children's soft toy, a silver impregnated fabric with known bacteriostatic properties of the type sometimes encountered in hospital staff clothing to combat nosocomial bacterial infections, and a branded cleaning cloth (J clothH, Associated Brands). We hypothesised that the inclusion of an antimicrobial agent, MicrobanH (Microban International Ltd) in the J cloth might inhibit viral growth. MicrobanH is based on triclosan and has been demonstrated to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity; it has not however, been demonstrated or claimed to be anti-viral. Notwithstanding, in our laboratory setting, some constituent or quality of the J clothH appeared to limit virus survival to under 4 hours. The result for the silver impregnated fabric also deserves further comment. Whilst silver has been demonstrated to have bacteriostatic properties, it has not been documented to show antiviral activity. Our data would tend to suggest that it is not significantly inhibitory to influenza A. Surfaces that allowed PR8 virus to survive longest (between four and nine hours) included light switch material (polyvinyl chloride) and a computer keyboard. Interestingly these are likely to be the materials from which the most frequently touched communal household objects are made. Both PR8 and pandemic viruses survived less than four hours on all of the wood surfaces tested. This may have been due to a number of factors including porosity of the surface, oils in the wood or a potentially virucidal 'contact effect' of varnish finishes. Pine oil in particular has been demonstrated to have virucidal activity against respiratory viruses [24] . Our findings suggest they are not hospitable environments for enveloped viruses.