Methacrylamide (MAA) was grafted onto cotton cellulose. The influence of the reaction conditions on the grafting was studied in detail. Upon a chlorine bleach treatment, some of the amide groups in the grafted MAA side chains were transformed into stable acyclic N-halamines; Hoffman-type degradation was not observed. The resultant cotton celluloses provided a total kill of 10(8)-10(9) CFU/mL for Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria), Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria), and Candida tropicalis (fungi) in 3 min, 10(6)-10(7) PFU/mL for the MS2 virus in 5 min, and 10(6)-10(7) spores/mL for Bacillus subtilis in 4 h. The antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antispore activities were both durable and rechargeable. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.