Method for the destruction of microorganisms

A method of protecting articles by applying an antimicrobial composition comprising water or a predominantly hydrous solvent mixture and a biocide to the article and removing the water or the predominantly hydrous solvent mixture, wherein the biocide is from 0.001 to 5% by weight of at least one water-soluble or water-dispersible polymer comprising

• (a) from 30 to 98 mol % of styrenesulfonic acid,
• (b) from 2 to 40 mol % of an N-vinyllactam, N-vinylamine, or a mixture thereof and
• (c) from 0 to 30 mol % of free-radically polymerizable monomers, wherein the mol % is based on the total molar amount of all monomer units present in the polymer, and the sum of (a), (b), and (c) totals 100 mol %.