Wearing long sleeves while prepping a patient in the operating room decreases airborne contaminants.

•Data used to support many practices in the operating room environment are supported by anecdotal data.•Certain regulatory agencies have suggested that nonscrubbed operating room personnel wear long sleeves while in the room.•Wearing long sleeves and gloves while prepping a mock patient led to decreased large-particle and microbial shedding compared with prepping with bare arms.•Wearing of long sleeves and gloves should be considered when applying the skin prep to patients before surgery.