A composition useful for treating fabrics. The composition contains a silver-containing copolymer having polymerized units of a monomer X which is an ethylenically unsaturated compound having a substituent group selected from an unsaturated or aromatic heterocyclic group having at least one nitrogen atom and polymerized units of a monomer Y which is an ethylenically unsaturated compound selected from carboxylic acids, organosulfuric acids, sulfonic acids, phosphonic acids and esters comprising polymerized units of ethylene oxide.