The surface of polyethylene slides nanocoated with silica and derivatized with long-chain poly(vinyl-N-hexylpyridinium) becomes permanently bactericidal: it kills 90-99% of (both airborne and waterborne) wild-type and antibiotic-resistant strains of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. The material created was similarly lethal to strains expressing multidrug resistance pumps, the only known mechanism of resistance to cationic antiseptics.