Following the Anthrax letter attacks in the USA in 2001, much research has been directed towards the timely detection and response to such an event recurring. During this event, Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of Anthrax, was dispersed through the US Postal system as a dried bacterial spore preparation, leading to cases of both inhalational and cutaneous Anthrax, and a number of deaths. In March of 2005, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, which found the environmental sampling techniques used during this event were not validated, and therefore were unable to confidently provide interpretation of results without being aware of the limitations of the sampling processes. The research presented here compares the recovery efficiency and limits of detection of four wipe and four swab methods on seven surfaces, including glass, carpet and concrete. The surfaces were inoculated with a spore preparation of Bacillus thuringiensis, which is closely related to B. anthracis, at four concentrations ranging from 0.1 spores/cm²  to 100 spores/cm². Sampling tools were pre-moistened in Phosphate Buffered Saline containing a surfactant, and processed using a physical dissociation method. Detection was accomplished using viable plate counts. A ‘microfibre’ wipe (polyester/rayon blend), and foam-material swab were found to be superior for the collection and release of viable spores. Surface porosity was also found to impact recovery efficiencies and limits of detection significantly.