Abstract: Antimicrobial textiles and methods of making antimicrobial textiles including a sheet substrate comprising a textile and metal oxide nanoparticles in which the nanoparticles are present as a nanocomposite on the surface of and within the sheet substrate. The textiles may be used in wearable items such as personal protective equipment such as face masks. Methods of making the textiles include applying a metal salt solution to a textile to diffuse the metal salt into the textile and drying the textile, such as drying the textile with heat, to bind the metal salt to the surface of and the interior fibers of the textile by forming a nanocomposite of metal nanoparticles or nanostructures in situ.