Prototype objects of steel, glass, porcelain, and various polymers were evaluated for their use as carriers for testing the sporicidal activity of disinfectants. The carriers were inoculated with bacterial spores of Bacillus subtilis. Their ability to retain spores as microbial load carriers was determined by an enumeration procedure. Inoculated carriers were alternately subjected to 2.5% glutaraldehyde and 2.5N HCl to determine if the carrier material effected the ability of the chemicals to inactivate the spores. The carriers that retained the greatest number of spores were the Teflon cylinders and the cup washers, and those that retained the lowest were the o-rings and the PVC carriers. Spores on both the grooved stainless steel and Teflon carriers survived the longest against inactivation to the chemicals; greater than 30 minutes in glutaraldehyde and greater than 8 minutes in the HCl. The porcelain carriers showed viable spores in only 40% of the replicates at 20 minutes in the glutaraldehyde and only 30% of the replicates at 4 minutes in the HCl. A new carrier object made of grooved stainless steel and polymer rings is representative of materials commonly found on reusable medical devices and more appropriate than the current porcelain and silk suture carriers for testing liquid chemical germicides.