into or bonded to the felt 12 is approved by the environmental protection agency epa antimicrobial agent 13 is chemically bonded to the felt 12 fibers or filaments of the textile material and effectively can provide a microscopic bed of spikes that punctures the cell membranes or cell walls of microbes as they come to rest on the surface of ball 10 on the felt 12 covered with agent 13 in use the treated tennis balls 10 are made by covering a rubber core 11 with a felt 12 that has been treated with an agent 13 the felt 12 used on tennis balls is typically made up of various percentages of wool and or cotton fiber and nylon and or polyester filaments the felt roll 12 is put in a bath of an antibacterial agent 13 and the wool and cotton fibers and polyester and nylon filaments of the felt are coated with agent 13 after drying the roll 15 is dye cut into figure eight shaped cutout pieces 17 that are adhered with a polymer bond to a pressurized inner rubber core 11 the finished treated balls 10 are then placed in pressurized cans to minimize the escape of pressure from the rubber core 11 the antimicrobial agent is preferably a polymeric organofunctional silane compound comprising a carbon chain which can penetrate the microbe and thereby inhibit or kill the microbe preferred silane compounds useful as an antimicriobial agent according to the subject invention include compounds having the following formulae ch 3 o 3 si ch 2 3 n ch 3 2 c 18 h 37 cl u2212 ch 3 ch 2 o 3 si ch 2 3 n ch 3 2 c 18 h 37 cl u2212 ch 3 o 3 si ch 2 3.