AU4270789A - Detergent composition - Google Patents

Description

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'2 FORM 1

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1952

APPLICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

I\We, UNILEVER PLC of UNILEVER HOUSE BLACKFRIARS LONDON EC4 ENGLAND hereby apply for the grant of a standard patent for an invention entitled:

c~ DETERGENT COMPOSITION. c I Irr Ctsr which is described in the accompanying complete specification Details of basic application(s):

Number of basic Name of Convention country in Date of basic application which basic application was application filed 8824599.8 20 OCT 88

My/our address for service is care of GRIFFITH HACK CO., Patent Attorneys, 601 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004, Victoria, Australia. t r

t f DATED this 10th day of October 1989

UNILEVER PLC GRIFFITH HACK CO.

'7(f

TO: The Commissioner of Patents.

Australia Patent Declaration Form

Forms 7 and 8

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1952

DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF A CONVENTION OR NON-CONVENTION APPLICATION FOR A PATENT OR PATENT OF ADDITION no. 42707/89 Name(s) of In support of the application/made by UNILEVER PLC Applicant(s)

Title for a patent for an invention entitled DETERGENT COMPOSITION

Name(s) and I!MU DILSHAD RAJAN, of address(es) Unilever House, Blackfriars, London EC4P 4BO. England of person(s) making declaration do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:-

1. amec>daet<he<Qpp6oi xtox?3^ tau x authorised by the abovementioned applicant to make this declaration on its behalf.

2. The basic application(s) as defined by Section 141 of the Act was/wmm made in the following country or countries on the following date ak by the following applicant(s) namely:- Country,filing Great Bri-nin on 20 October 1988 date and name bv Unilever ol of Applicant(s) by Unilever Dlc for the or on each basic by application

3. The said basic application(s) was/were the first application(s) made in a Convention country in respect of the invention the subject of the applica-ion. Name(s) and 4. The actual inventor(s) of the said invention AS/are address(es) Mohamad Sami FALOU of 8 Hill Close, Oldham, Lanes OL4 of the or England; and Reginald Vear SCOWEN of 113 Brookhurst Road, each actual Bromborough, Wirral, Merseyside L63 OEH, England 'inventor See reverse 5. The facts upon which the applicant(s) is/are entitled side of this to make this application are as follows:- form for The said applicant is the assignee of the said actual guidance in inventors. completing this part

DECLARED at London, Englandthis day of October 1989

1)1s o0 cC a A a i L i aP, a a a C Ci C tl~

(12) PATENT ABSTRACT (11) Document No. AU-A-42707/89 (19) AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE

(54) Title DETERGENT COMPOSITION

International Patent Classification(s) (51)4 C1D 001/83 C11D 001/25 C11D 001/72 (21) Application No. 42707/89 (22) Application Date 10.10.89 Priority Data (31) Number (32) Date (33) Coi untry 8824599 20.10.88 GB UNITED KINGDOM (43) Publication Date 26.04.90 (71) Applicant(s) UNILEVER PLC (72) Inventor(s) NAME NOT GIVEN (74) Attorney or Agent GRIFFITH HACK CO. MELBOURNE (57) Claim 1. A detergent compo sition comprising:

1 to 50% by weight of a surfactant system which is a mixture

of:

i) dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups of

which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12 to

carbon atoms in total; and

ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB

value not above 10.5;

the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7, and

to 60% by weight of detergency builder.

-I

(11)42707/89 -2-

12. A method of washing which comprises contacting

soiled material with a built aqueous wash liquor which is a

solution of surfactant system comprising a mixture of:

i) dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups of

which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12 to

carbon atoms in total; and

ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB

value not above 10.5;

the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7.

IL

AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 Form COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL) FOR OFFICE USE

Short Title:

Int. Cl:

Application Number: Lodged:

Complete Specification-Lodged: Accepted: S Lapsed: Published: 0' n. Priority:

Related Art: 4 t

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT

Name of Applicant: UNILEVER PLC r Address of Applicant: UNILEVER HOUSE 9 BLACKFRIARS LONDON EC4 ENGLAND

Actual Inventor:

Address for Service: GRIFFITH HACK CO., 601 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: DETERGENT COMPOSITION.

The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:-

1A

DETERGENT COMPOSITION

This invention relates to a detergent composition

for cleaning soiled materials using a built aqueous wash

liquor, and in particular but not exclusively to a detergent

composition for washing fabrics.

Fabric washing compositions contain, as an

essential ingredient, a detergent active system whose role

is to assist in the removal of soil from fabric and its

10 suspension in the wash liquor. Suitable detergent active materials fall into a number of classes, including anionic,

nonionic and cationic materials and marketed products e. contain materials selected from one or more of these

classes.

A known group of compounds which fall into the

class of anionic detergent active materials are the *Se

a dialkylsulphosuccinates. These materials have been used as t 1 detergent active materials in products for other cleaning

purposes, such as in dishwashing compositions. However, dialkyvlsulphosuccinates have not found favour in detergent

compositions intended to give a built wash liquor, such as

compositions intended for washing fabrics. We have now discovered that enhanced performance

from dialkylsulphosuccinates in solution in a built wash

liquor can be achieved by specific selection of alkyl

substituent groups and by mixing with a specific nonionic

detergent active material. Thus, according to the

invention there is provided a detergent cbmposition

1 i r. 2 comprising:

1 to 50% by weight of a surfactant system which is a mixture

of:

i) a dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups

of which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12

to 20 carbon atoms in total; and

S 10 ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB

value not above 10.5, preferably below this as indicated

below, 0 4

0 44

the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7; and

to 60% by weight of detergency builder.

SThe balance of any detergent composition may be

selected from water and other ingredients conventionally

encountered in detergent compositions. According to a second aspect of this invention

there is provided a method of washing which comprises Scontacting soiled material with a built aqueous wash liquor

which is a solution of surfactant system comprising a

mixture of:

i) dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups of

which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12 to

S-

3

carbon atoms in total; and

ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB

value not above 10.5;

the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7.

For a given total number of carbon atoms in the

two alkyl groups of the sulphosuccinate, it is advantageous

0 040 10 that the alkyl groups contain the same number of carbon atoms so that the dialkylsulphosuccinate is symmetrical. It I tt is then possible for other dialkylsulphosuccinate molecules, with alkyl substituents of different chain length or with rfit

t" unsymmetrical substituents, to be present also. It is preferred however, that of all dialkylsulphosuccinate

molecules present in the composition at least 55% of the alkyl chains, preferably at least 70% of the alkyl chains

are of the same length.

We have found that the optimum chain length for

the alkyl substituents is seven carbon atoms, especially

when these C7 alkyl groups are of straight chain formation.

Suitable nonionic surfactants which may be used

C are alkoxylated materials which are the reaction products of

Scompounds having a hydrophobic group and a reactive hydrogen

atom, for example aliphatic alcohols, acids, amides or alkyl

phenols with alkylene oxides, especially ethylene oxide

either alone or with propylene oxide. Specific alkoxylated nonionic detergent compounds are alkyl (C6 -C2 2 phenols-

-r w~

ethylene oxide condensates, the condensation products of

aliphatic (C8 -Cg primary or secondary linear or branched

alcohols with ethylene oxide, and products made by

condensation of ethylene oxide with the reaction products of

propylene oxide and ethylenediamine.

Alkylene oxide adducts of fatty materials are

preferably used as the nonionic surfactants. The number of

alkylene oxide groups per molecule has a considerable effect

upon the HLB of the nonionic surfactant. The chain length

10 and nature of the fatty material is also influential, and thus the preferred number of alkylene oxide groups per

molecule depends upon the nature and chain length of the a 4 fatty material. 44&$

As indicated above, the nonionic surfactant has an

HLB value not above 10.5. It is preferred that the nonionic

surfactant has an HLB value below 10, preferably below 9.

The surfactant system may include other surfactant

materials in addition to the specified

dialkylsulphosuccinate and nonionic materials. These other

surfactant materials may be selected from anionic detergent

active materials, zwitterionic or amphoteric detergent

active materials or mixtures thereof.

Preferably, any such further surfactant materials

are present at a level which is no more than a minor amount

of the total amount of surfactant in the composition.

For compositions in which the

dialkylsulphosuccinate has alkyl groups with a total of 14

carbon atoms or less, it is possible to have electrolyte

I

present in the wash liquor, without detriment to detergency.

There may well be enough electrolyte to give a concentration

of at least 0.05 molar, preferably at least 0.1 molar when

the composition is used at a concentration of 1 g/14 tre.

If more than half of the sulphosuccinate has alkyl

groups with a total of 16 carbon atoms, or more, it is very

desirable to restrict the concentration of electrolyte in

the wash liquor to not over 0.05 molar, preferably 0.035

molar. (The concentration of surfactant in the wash liquor

is likely to be from 0.05 to 2.0 g/litre, preferably 0.1 to

o* 9 0 1.0 g/litre.

More specifically, if more than half of the

a 'o@o sulphosuccinate has alkyl groups with a total of 16 or more o"o carbon atoms, it is desirable that the ionic strength of the

15 wash liquor should not exceed 0.05 moles/litre preferably 0.035 moles/litre.

Ionic strength is related to concentration but

takes account of the numbers of ions in a molecule and multiple charged ions.

20 Ionic strength is calculated from the molarity (m)

of each ionic species present in solution and the charge (z)

carried by each ionic species. Ionic strength is one

half the summation of m.z 2 for all ionic species present

i.e.

I S m.z2 E

For a salt whose ions are both univalent, ionic

strength is the same as the molar concentration. This is

not so where more than two ions or multiple charges are r involved. For instance a 1 molar solution of sodium carbonate contains 2 moles/litre of sodium ions and 1 mole/litre of carbonate ions carrying a double charge.

Ionic strength is given by:

I [2(12) 1 x 3 moles/litre

A description of ionic strength is given in

"Physical Chemistry" by Walter J. Moore, 4th Ed. 1963.

The level of electrolyte in the wash liquor is

not, in practice, a parameter over which the domestic user

of a fabric washing product exercises direct control. It

on is determined, inter alia by the level of water-soluble

salts present in the product and the recommended dosage for o000

0 0'o 90 that product. Thus forms of the present invention using o o alkyl groups with a total of 16 or more carbon atoms are of

15 particular value in two circumstances, i.e. i) where recommended dosage levels are low, as for example in North

America, and ii) where the product contains high levels of S water-insoluble material, as for example where the product

contains a water-insoluble detergency builder material. The

20 only water-insoluble detergency builder material which has

ibeen used extensively is zeolite, a crystalline

aluminosilicate ion-exchange material, but the invention

would also be of value to products containing any other

water-insoluble builder material. Detergent compositions

are generally used in amounts greater than 1 gram/litre,

usually in the range from 4 g/litre to 10 g/litre.

The detergent composition of this invention may

comprise from 1% to 50% by weight of the surfactant system.

6Lb- -A e i I

Preferred is that the amount of the surfactant system should

range from 2% better 4 or even 6% by weight up to 30 or

Any electrolyte which is present will generally be

a water-soluble salt. This may be such a salt as will

provide a benefit in terms of the fabric washing process

such as a water-soluble detergency builder salt or a water-

soluble alkaline salt. Alternatively the electrolyte may be

constituted by a water-soluble filler salt such as sodium

sulphate or sodium chloride. Salts from all three classes

may be present.

o Generally, compositions according to the invention ao will contain some electrolyte, for example ranging frc;i

go up to 90% by weight of the composition, so as to give an ionic strength of at least 5 x 10 3 moles/litre, more likely 09 15 at least 0.01 moles/litre in a wash liquor. A wash liquor

may have an electrolyte concentration of at least 0.01

molar.

S When a low level of electrolyte is required the Scomposition may comprise not more than 60% by weight,

S 20 preferably not more than 40% by weight of water-soluble r alkali metal salts, and may also contain from 10% to 60% by

weight, preferably from 20% to 50% by weight, of a water-

insoluble detergency builder material. a 9

It is desirable that the compositions according to

the invention be approximately neutral or preferably

alkaline, that is when the composition is dissolved in an

amount to give surfactant concentration of 1 g/1 in

distilled water at 25 0 C the pH should desirably be at least

I _Er-

ILr---r_

8

6, preferably at least 8 and yet more preferably at least To this end the compositions may include a water-

soluble alkaline salt. This salt may be a detergency

builder (as described in more detail below) or a non-

building alkaline material.

The amount of detergency builder can range from

to 60% by weight. It may be preferred to use from at least

by weight to 50% by weight. The detergency builder may

be any material capable of reducing the level of free

0 calcium ions in the wash liquor and will preferably provide

the compositions with other beneficial properties such as Sthe generation of an alkaline pH and the suspension of soil o

removed from the fabric.

Examples of phosphorus-containing inorganic

detergency builders, when present, include the water-soluble salts, especially alkali metal pyrophosphates,

orthophosphates, polyphosphates and phosphonates. Specific

°t examples of inorganic phosphate builders include sodium and potassium tripolyphosphates, orthophosphates and

20 hexametaphosphates.

Examples of non-phosphorus-containing inorganic

detergency builders, when present, include water-soluble

Salkali metal carbonates, bicarbonatos, silicates and

crystalline and amorphous aluminosilicates. Specific

examples include sodium carbonate (with or without calcite

seeds), potassium carbonate (with or without calcite seeds),

sodium and potassium bicarbonates and silicates.

Examples of organic detergency builders, when present, include the alkali metal, ammonium and substituted ammonium polyacetates, carboxylates, polycarboxylates, polyacetyl carboxylates and polyhydroxsulphonates. Specific examples include sodium, potassium, lithium, ammonium and substituted ammonium salts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, oxydisuccinic acid, melitic acid, benzene polycarboxylic acids and citric acid.

Apart from the ingredients already mentioned, a

number of optional ingredients may also be present.

o 10 Examples of other ingredients which may be present in the

o composition are polymers containing carboxylic or sulphonic acid groups in acid form or wholly or partially neutralised *o*o to sodium or potassium salts, the sodium salts being

preferred. Preferred polymers are homopolymers and

15 copolymers of acrylic acid and/or maleic acid or maleic t

o anhydride. Of especial interest are polyacrylates,

acrylic/maleic acid copolymers, and acrylic phosphinates. Suitable polymers, which may be used alone or in

combination, include the following:

S 20 polyacrylic acids, for example Versicol (Trade

Mark) E5, E7 and E9 ex Allied Colloids, Narlex (Trade Mark)

LD 30 and LD 34 ex National Adhesives and Resins Ltd,

Acrysol (Trade Mark) LMW-10, LMW-20, LMW-45 and Al-N ex Rbhm

Haas, and Sokalan (Trade Mark) PA-20, PA-40, PA-70 and PA-

110 ex BASF;

ethylene/maleic acid copolymers, for example the

EMA (Trade Mark) series ex Monsanto;

methyl vinyl ether/maleic acid copolymers, for example, Gantrez (Trade Mark) AN 119 and AN 149 ex GAF

Corporation;

acrylic acid/maleic acid copolyme's, for example,

Sokalan (Trade Mark) CP4, CP5 and CP7 ex BASF, and the

Alcosperse (Trade Mark) series ex Alco;

acrylic phosphinates, for example, DKW (Trade

Mark) 125 ex National Adhesives and Resins Ltd, and the

Belsperse (Trade Mark) series ex Ciba-Geigy. cc The molecular weights of homopolymers and

S 10 copolymers are generally 1000 to 150,000, preferably 1500 to

"ao 100,000. The amount of any polymer may lie in the range

from 0.5 to 5% by weight of the composition. Other suitable

o polymeric materials are cellulose ethers such as carboxy methyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxy alkyl

celluloses, and mixed ethers, such as methyl hydroxy ethyl

S* cellulose, methyl hydroxy propyl cellulose, and methyl

S' carboxy methyl cellulose. Mixtures of different cellulose

ethers, particularly mixtures of carboxy methyl cellulose

and methyl cellulose, are suitable. Polyethylene glycol of

S 20 molecular weight from 400 to 50,000, preferably from 1000 to

10,000, and copolymers of polyethylene oxide with polypropylene oxide are suitable as also are copolymers of

polyacrylate with polyethylene glycol. Polyvinyl

pyrrolidone of molecular weight of 10,000 to 60,000

preferably of 30,000 to 50,000 and copolymers of polyvinyl

pyrrolidone with other poly pyrrolidones are suitable.

Polyacrylic phosphonates and related copolymers of molecular

weight 1000 to 100,000, in particular 3000 to 30,000 are r. 11 also suitable.

Further examples of other ingredients which may be

present in the composition include fabric softening agents

such as fatty amines, fabric softening clay materials,

lather boosters such as alkanolamides, particularly the

monoethanolamides derived from palm kernel fatty acids and

coconut fatty acids, lather depressants, oxygen-releasing

bleaching agents such as sodium perborate and sodium

percarbonate, peracid bleach precursors, chlorine-releasing 04 0 0 10 bleaching agents such as trichloroisocyanuric acid, O inorganic salts such as sodium sulphate, and, usually o 0 4tt present in very minor amounts, fluorescent agents, perfumes

including deodorant perfumes, enzymes such as cellulases, Oitt

proteases and amylases, germicides and colourants.

The detergent compositions according to the invention may be in any suitable form including powders,

bars, liquids and pastes. For example suitable liquid compositions may be non-aqueous or aqueous, the latter being

either isotropic or lamellar structured. The compositions

may be prepared by a number of different methods according

to their physical form. In the case of granular products

they may be prepared by dry-mixing or coagglomeration.

SDialkylsulphosuccinate is preferably not subjected to

conventional spray-drying, because it is hydrolytically

unstable. The specified nonionic surfactants can be

liquified by melting or solvent dissolution and sprayed onto

preformed base powder granules.

An example of a granulaz; detergent composition which can be used at a dosage of 6 g/litre to yield an ionic strength of 0.023 mole/litre is: by weight

Dialkylsulphosuccinate

Nonionic surfactant 6

Zeolite

Alkaline silicate 3

Polyacrylate 4 Sodium carbonate 6

Sodium sulphate

Water and minor constituess which are not electrolytes balance to 100%

The invention will now be described in more detail

in the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES

S'o. A number of examples and comparative examples were

i 20 carried out. These examples compared the soil removal

(specifically triolein removal) from fabrics using various compositions.

The experimental conditions were the same in each

case. Wash liquors were used to wash a fabric load in a

Tergotometer at a liquor to cloth ratio of 40:1. Washing

was carried out at 40°C for 20 minutes, with agitation at

The load consisted of a number of polyester test

cloths to which had previously been applied an amount of C 1 4

labelled triolein. Measurement of the level of labelled

-i

triolein after washing, using radiotracer techniques gave an

indication of the degree of detergency (soil removal).

Various dialkylsulphosuccinate compounds were

used. All had straight alkyl chains. The material

indicated below as C 6 /C8 was a mixture consisting of

molecules with one C 6 and one C 8 alkyl group, molecules with

two C6 alkyl groups and molecules with two C7 alkyl groups,

in a 2:1:1 ratio.

Nonionic surfactants were C 1 2 alcohol ethoxylated

I' 10 with differing average amounts of ethylene oxide, as stated

below. 04

q In a first series of experiments, for each tested Q

composition, wajh liquors were made up containing 1 g/l of

the surfactant mixture and 0.1 molar sodium chloride (to

represent the electrolyte level which would derive from

other components of the composition in practice) at a pH of For sodium chloride electrolyte concentration and ionic strength are the same. SIn a second series of experiments wash liquors 4tI

again contained 1 g/l uf th. surfactant mixture and had an

S, ionic strength of 0.1 mole/litre but the electrolyte was T 1.8 g/l sodium tripolyphosphate, 0.48 g/l sodium silicate

and 3.9 g/1 sodium chloride, giving a pH of

Results of both series of experiments are given in

Table 1 below.

TABLE 1

Example No 1 2 3 4

pH 6.5 10 6.5

Alkyl groups on diC7 diC7 C C diC 8 sulphosuccinate straight straight straight straight Ethylene oxide 3 3 3 3 residues on C 1 2 alcohol Sulphosuccinate: Nonionic ratio %triolein removal 000

9000 100:0 18.2 62.0 11.0 28.8 *0 15 87.5:12.5 11.9 28.8 00 0.

0 75:25 27.4 69 .9 13.1 25 .9

o0.00 62. 5: 37. 5 18.6 71.3 6.9 21.7

50:50 6.7 68.8 5.9 12.

37. 5: 62. 5 39.0

25:75 4.3 4.8

0:100 0.5

09 0 A further series of experiments was carried out at A44

a lower ionic strength of 0.02 mole/litre. Results are set

out in Table 2 below.

F

7

TABLE 2

Example No 5 6 7 8 9

pH 6.5 6.5 10 10

Alkyl groups C6 /C 8 C6 C6 C,/C 8 diC, on sulpho- straight straight straight straight straight succinate

Ethylene oxide 3 residues on C1 2 alcohol o s Sulphosuccinate: 0404 4 15 Nonionic ratio triolein removal "4 100:0 6.8 6.8 11.0 11.0 31.9 o *O

4.: 80:20 7.3 4.8 21.3 10.1 34.4 1I

4440 60:40 10.1 4.5 38.3 14.9 42.4

50:50 8.7

40:60 5.3 8.5 44.8 27.5 35.4

20:80 4.6 30.6 15.8 53.13 17.6 0:100 59.9 77.5

Comparison of Examples 5 and 6 and comparison of

Examples 7 and 8, all in Table 2, shows that greater

detergency occurs with a mixture of the low HLB nonionic and

dialkylsulphosuccinate than with either of these components

alone. This synergistic effect is not observed with the

higher HLB nonionic. The same synergistic effect is observed with Examples 1 to 3 in Table 1.

It can be seen from the Examples that the

synergistic effect is obtained both at approximately neutral

pH and at alkaline pH, and under both low electrolyte (0.02

7. 16

mole/litre) and higher electrolyte (0.1 mole/litre)

conditions, except however in the case of diC8

alkylsulphosuccinate for which synergy is observed at low

electrolyte only (Example 9). It can be seen also that synergy generally occurs

at sulphosuccinate:nonionic ratios between 1:4 and 4:1, and

that diC alkyl sulphosuccinate gives best performance. Further examples demonstrate liquid compositions

built with sodium citrate, as set out in Table 3 below. The

compositions were added to water in an amount of 12 g/l, to

provide wash liquors containing 1.7 g/l surfactant, an 2 electrolyte concentration of 1.18 x 10- molar and anionic

strength of 3.42 x 10- 2 moles/litre. The removal of

labelled triolein was measured as set out above and the

result is included in Table 3. The sulphosuccinate used had

C, straight alkyl groups. the nonionic surfactant was C12 alcohol ethoxylated with an average of 3 ethylene oxide

residues.

4 i

4 1 *t

L- 4 i

17

TABLE 3

Example No 11

Constituent by weight DiC 7 alkyl- sulphosuccinate 13

C1 2 3EO 6.5 13 .0 Glycerol 4 4 4 Borax 1.3 1.3 1.3 Sodium citrate 10 10 o to Sodium chloride 3 3 3 or

It Ethanol 30 30 it 0 Water balance to

Triolein removal was

Example 10 sulphosuccinate only 11.0 Example 11 sulphosuccinate nonionic 71.2 Example 12 nonionic only 1.1

i Similar examples were carried out using slightly

different liquid formations as detailed in Table 4 below,

using 6 g/l to make up wash liquors containing 0.85 g/l

surfactant, with an electrolyte concentration of 6.26 x 10-3

mole/litre and an ionic strength of 1.16 x 10- 2 mole/litre.

I

18

TABLE 4

Example No 13 14

Constituent by weight

DiC, alkyl- sulphosuccinate 13

C 2 3EO 6.5 13

Glycerol 1.3 1.3 1.3

Borax 4 4 4

Sodium citrate 7 7 7

Sodium chloride 4 4 4 t Ethanol 30 30 O*

Water balance to

Triolein removal was:

Example 13 s ulphosuccinate only 2.1

Example 14 s ulphosuccinate nonionic 45.7

Example 15 n onionic only 3.1

The synergy between the dialkylsulphosuccinate and

the nonionic surfactant is apparent.

L-

Claims (1)

1. Y

   19

   THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

   1. A detergent composition comprising:

   1 to 50% by weight of a surfactant system which is a mixture

   of:

   i) dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups of

   which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12 to

   20 carbon atoms in total; and o* o It

   ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB value not above 10.5;

   the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7, and

   to 60% by weight of detergency builder.

   2. A composition according to claim 1 wherein the

   ratio of i) to ii) lies between 4:1 and 1:4.

   i 3. A composition according to claim 1 or claim 2

   wherein at least half of the sulphosuccinate has alkyl

   groups with a total of 12 to 16 carbon atoms.

   4. A composition according to claim 1, claim 2 or

   claim 3 wherein at least half of the sulphosuccinate has

   both alkyl groups the same.

   71 7

   A composition according to claim 4 wherein at

   least half of the sulphosuccinate has alkyl groups

   containing 7 carbon atoms in straight chain formations.

   6. A composition according to any one of the

   preceding claims containing at least 10% by weight of

   detergency builder. o

   o oe

   0 7. A composition according to any one of the 9 0

   oo preceding claims containing at least 10% by weight of water-

   soluble electrolyte.

   8. A composition according to any one of the 15 preceding claims in which the nonionic surfactant has an HLB

   of less than

   9. A composition according to any one of the

   preceding claims which contains sufficient alkaline salt to

   render a pH of at least 6, when the composition is added to t

   distilled water at 25°C in an amount of 1 g/litre or more.

   A composition according to any one of the

   preceding claims which is a granular composition suitable for washing fabrics.

   L-2: 2

   ~-Tc~ r

   t

   11. A composition according to any one of the

   preceding claims which contains at least one of:

   fabric softening agents

   fabric softening clay

   lather booster

   lather depressant

   bleaching agent

   fluorescent agent 0 oo perfume, and 0, o oo enzyme.

   t

   04 r

   0440c 12. A method of washing which comprises contacting soiled material with a built aqueous wash liquor which is a II solution of surfactant system comprising a mixture or:

   00 4 i) dialkylsulphosuccinate, the alkyl substituent groups of 0I which contain at least 4 carbon atoms each and contain 12 to *040

   044 4~r 20 carbon atoms in total; and

   0000« 20 ii) an alkoxylated nonionic surfactant which has an HLB 04 ti value not above 10.5;

   the ratio of i) to ii) lying between 7:1 and 1:7.

   13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the ratio of i) to ii) lies between 4:1 and 1:4.

   14. A method according to claim 12 or claim 13 wherein

   Lm- 1

   -C l U1

   22

   at least half of the sulphosuccinate has alkyl groups with a

   total of 12 to 16 carbon atoms.

   A method according to claim 12, claim 13 or claim

   14 wherein at least half of the sulphosuccinate has both

   alkyl groups the same.

   o* 16. A method according to claim 15 wherein at least

   half of the sulphosuccinate has alkyl groups containing 7

   10 carbon atoms in straight chain formations.

   17. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 16

   wherein the wash liquor contains electrolyte to give an

   electrolyte concentration of at least 0.01 molar.

   18. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 17

   Swherein the wash liquor has a pH of at least 6.

   19. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 18

   wherein the nonionic surfactant has an HLB of less than

   DATED THIS 10TH DAY OF OCTOBER 1989 UNILEVER PLC By its Patent Attorneys:

   GRIFFITH HACK CO. Fellows Institute of Patent Attuoneys of Australia.

   -"In V