An exhaustion process for finishing fabric, consisting of submerging all or part of said fabric in an antimicrobial composition, then removing said fabric from said composition, and then drying said fabric or allowing said fabric to dry, wherein said antimicrobial composition is a liquid, wherein said antimicrobial composition comprises water and a metal/polymer complex, wherein the pH of said composition is 6.5 or lower; wherein the concentration of said metal/polymer complex is from 0.005% to 0.1% by weight based on the weight of said composition; wherein said metal is selected from copper, silver, gold, tin, zinc, and combinations thereof; wherein said polymer comprises monomer residues selected from residue A, residue B, residue C, residue D, and combinations thereof; wherein said polymer contains 99.5% or less by weight of residues of residue B, based on the weight of said polymer; wherein residue A is wherein residue B is wherein residue C is wherein residue D is the residue of a crosslinking monomer, wherein X is an unsaturated or aromatic heterocycle having at least one hetero atom selected from N, O and S; c is 0 or 1; R 1 is selected from H, CH 3 and -CO 2 R 4; where R 4 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5, a C 3 -C 24 alkyl; R 2 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5, phenyl, -CH 2 CO 2 R 5 and -CO 2 R 5; where R 5 is selected from -, H; -(CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n H; (CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n COCH 2 COCH 3; and, where R 11 is selected from H, methyl and phenyl; n is an integer from 1 to 20; Y is selected from OH, SO 3 Z and X; where Z is selected from H, sodium, potassium and NH 4 +; with the proviso that when the polymer contains 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue B and 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue C, R 2 is -CH 2 CO 2 R 5 or -CO 2 R 5, R 5 is and Y is X; R 3 is selected from H, methyl, phenyl, sulfonated phenyl, phenol, acetate, hydroxy, a fragment O-R 1, where R 1 is as defined previously, -CO 2 R 12 and -CONR 6 R 7; where R 6 and R 7 are independently selected from H, methyl, ethyl, C(CH 3) 2 CH 2 SO 3 Z, where Z is as defined previously, C 3 -C 8 alkyl and a combined ring structure and R 12 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5 and C 3 -C 24 alkyl; R 8 and R 9 are independently selected from hydrogen, methyl, ethyl and C 3 -C 4 alkyl; R 10 is selected from C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 2 -C 8 alkenyl, C 6 -C 10 unsaturated acyclic, C 6 -C 10 cyclic, C 6 -C 10 aromatic, C 2 -C 4 alkylene oxide and poly (C 2 -C 4 alkylene) b oxides; where b is an integer from 2 to 20. X is an unsaturated or aromatic heterocycle having at least one hetero atom selected from N, O and S; c is 0 or 1; R 1 is selected from H, CH 3 and -CO 2 R 4; where R 4 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5, a C 3 -C 24 alkyl; R 2 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5, phenyl, -CH 2 CO 2 R 5 and -CO 2 R 5; where R 5 is selected from -, H; -(CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n H; (CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n COCH 2 COCH 3; and, where R 11 is selected from H, methyl and phenyl; n is an integer from 1 to 20; Y is selected from OH, SO 3 Z and X; where Z is selected from H, sodium, potassium and NH 4 +; with the proviso that when the polymer contains 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue B and 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue C, R 2 is -CH 2 CO 2 R 5 or -CO 2 R 5, R 5 is and Y is X; H; -(CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n H; (CH 2 CH(R 11)O) n COCH 2 COCH 3; and, where R 11 is selected from H, methyl and phenyl; n is an integer from 1 to 20; Y is selected from OH, SO 3 Z and X; where Z is selected from H, sodium, potassium and NH 4 +; with the proviso that when the polymer contains 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue B and 0 wt% of monomer residues of residue C, R 2 is -CH 2 CO 2 R 5 or -CO 2 R 5, R 5 is and Y is X; R 3 is selected from H, methyl, phenyl, sulfonated phenyl, phenol, acetate, hydroxy, a fragment O-R 1, where R 1 is as defined previously, -CO 2 R 12 and -CONR 6 R 7; where R 6 and R 7 are independently selected from H, methyl, ethyl, C(CH 3) 2 CH 2 SO 3 Z, where Z is as defined previously, C 3 -C 8 alkyl and a combined ring structure and R 12 is selected from H, CH 3, C 2 H 5 and C 3 -C 24 alkyl; R 8 and R 9 are independently selected from hydrogen, methyl, ethyl and C 3 -C 4 alkyl; R 10 is selected from C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 2 -C 8 alkenyl, C 6 -C 10 unsaturated acyclic, C 6 -C 10 cyclic, C 6 -C 10 aromatic, C 2 -C 4 alkylene oxide and poly (C 2 -C 4 alkylene) b oxides; where b is an integer from 2 to 20.