AU652429B2

AU652429B2 - Fabric softening composition

Info

Publication number: AU652429B2
Application number: AU13125/92A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Simon Richard Ellis; Graham Andrew Turner
Original assignee: Unilever PLC
Current assignee: Unilever PLC
Priority date: 1991-03-25
Filing date: 1992-03-23
Publication date: 1994-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 2012-03-23
Also published as: ES2088542T3; DE69211203T2; EP0506312B1; EP0507478A1; DE69211203D1; EP0506312A1; ES2083084T3; JPH05106166A; JP2937306B2; CA2063463C; GB9106308D0; CA2063463A1; DE69207624T2; EP0507478B1; ZA922173B; AU1312592A; BR9201017A; DE69207624D1

Description

-1 C3404 oo a~ a oo FABRIC SOFTENING COMPOSITION So The present invention relates to fabric softening compositions, in particular the invention relates to 5 aqueous dispersions of biodegradable fabric softening compositions comprising a water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent and a nonionic stabilising agent suitable as rinse-added fabric softener compositions.

oo 10 Rinse added fabric softener compositions are well known.

Typically such compositions contain a water insoluble quaternary ammonium fabric softening agent dispersed in water at a level of softeninig agent up to 7% by weight in which case the compositions are considered dilute, or at at Ba S 15 levels from 7% to 50% in which case the compositions are considered concentrates. In addition to softening, fabric softening compositions desirably have other benefits. One is the ability to confer soil release properties to fabrics, particularly those woven from polyester fibres.

One of the problems associated with fabric softening compositions is the physical instability of such compositions when stored. This problem is accentuated by having a concentrated composition and by storage at low temperatures.

-2 C3404 Concentrates and storage stability at low temperatures are however desired by the consumer. Physical instability manifests as a thickening on storage of the composition to a level where the composition is no longer pourable and can even lead to the formation of an irreversible gel.

The thickening is very undesirable since the composition can no longer be conveniently used.

In the past physical stability of rinse added fabric oO 10 softener compositions has been improved by the addition of B00 o o viscosity control agents or anti-gelling agents. For example in EP 13780 (Procter and Gamble) viscosity control agents are added to certain concentrated compositions.

o The agents may include Cj 0 -Ci 8 fatty alcohols. More 15 recently in EP 280550 (Unilever) it has been proposed to 0 improve the physical stability of dilute compositions comprising biodegradable, ester-linked quaternary ammonium compounds and fatty acid by the addition of nonionic 0 surfactants.

With concentrated compositions comprising biodegradable 0 ester-linked quaternary ammonium compounds the problem of 0 0 physical instability is more acute than with traditional quaternary ammonium compounds.

In EP 0 040 562 (Lesieur Cotelle) a nonionic emulsifier/stabiliser is added to a concentrate comprising an ester-linked quaternary ammonium compound to form a viscous gel. The stabiliser is a C 12 to C14 alcohol ethoxylated with 9 molecules of ethylene oxide. The degree of branching of the alcohol is not, however, mentioned.

Certain nonionic stabilising agents not only stabilise concentrated compositions comprising biodegradable C3404 ,,c~A 3 quaternary ammonium compounds but are also environmentally friendly, in that they show acceptable biodegradability and are not substantially toxic in aquatic systems.

Soil release properties are generally imparted to fabrics by the use of separate soil-release agents, usually a high molecular weight polymer, in a detergent composition or separate treatment. For exa..le in EP 0 398 133A (Procter Gamble) ther^ is disclosed a cationic polymeric soil release agent for use in a fabric conditioning composition.

A disadvantage of such compositions is that the soil release agent increases the number of components in the formulation, increasing cost and making the product less environmentally acceptable.

We have now found that fabric softening compositions comprising biodegradable ester-linked quaternary ammonium compounds may confer improved soil release properties to fabrics.

Thus, according to one aspect of the invention there is provided a fabric softening composition comprising a water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent and a nonionic stabilising agent characterised in that the water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent is a biodegradable quaternary ammonium material having the formula

OOCR,

(R)

3 N n

CH

t r o o I 4 I I jtr""ic

CH

2

OOCR,

wherein each R 1 group is independently selected from C,.4 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl groups; and wherein each R, group is independently selected from C8,28 alkyl or alkenyl groups; L. C 404 -3a 0 0 11 11 T is or and n is ar integer from and the nonionic stabilising agent is i. a linear 08 to C2. alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to moles of alkylene oxide or ii. a CIO to 02. alcohol or mixtures thereof.

1 00 C3404 4 Advantageously the nonionic stabilising agent is a linear C, to C22 alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to 20 moleu of alkylene oxide Preferably the compositions of the invention are liquids comprising an aqueous base.

The quaternary ammonium material can be represented by the formula: 4* 4 61 0I 04* Od a L~ i iR r

I

1 1 C3404 5

OOCR

2

(CH

2

'CH

CHOOCR,

wherein each R 1 group is independently selected from C,.4 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl groups; and wherein e ach R 2 group is independently selected from C8_28 alkyl or alkenyl groups; O 0 T is or and n is an integer from *S .Preferred materials of this class and their method of i preparation are, for example, described in US 4 137 180 (Lever Brothers). Preferably these materials comprise small amounts of the corresponding monoester as described in US 4 137 180 for example 1-tallowoxy, 2-hydroxytrimethyl ammonium propane chloride.

S 30 Preferably the level of ester linked quaternary ammonium S compounds is at least 1% by weight of the composition, more preferably more than 3% by weight of the composition; especially interesting are concentrated compositions which comprise more than 7% of ester-linked quaternary ammonium 35 compound. The level of ester-linked quaternary ammonium compounds preferably is between 1% and 80% by weight, more preferably 3% to 50%, most preferably 8% to Suitable nonionic stabilisers which can be used include the condensation products of C8 C, primary linear alcohols with 10 to 20 moles of ethylene oxide. The term linear alcohol means a primary alcohol attached directly to a hydrocarbon backbone structure. Use of less than 10 moles L- i i_ 1 i L.L L i s:- ;i r i ;i i -1.

C404 5a of ethylene oxide, especially when the alkyl chain is in the tallow range, leads to unacceptably high aquatic toxicity. Since the aquatic toxicity is related to both the number of moles of ethylene oxide and the length of the alkyl chain we have found that the HLB value can be used as an indication of likely aquatic toxicity. An HLB 99 91 C Co C CCP .9 ,o

C

~019 9 9 91 49CCr ALI pLi,. 1 0* Z 6 C3404 of greater than about 12 gives rise to an acceptable acute aquatic toxicity value of >img/l;EC 5 0 48 hours for daphnia and algae and ECso 96 hours for fish. The selection of linear alcohols and the use of 20 moles or less of ethylene oxide gives acceptable biodegradability to the nonionic stabiliser. However the use of nonionic stabilisers with more than 20 ethylene oxide units will also.provide the stability benefit .The alcohols may be saturated or unsaturated. In particular Genapol T-110, a 10 Genapol T-150, Genapol T-200, Genapol C-200 all ex SHoeschst AG, Lutensol AT18 ex BASF, Genapol 0-100 and 00 0 S° Genapol 0-150 ex Hoechst, or fatty alcohols for example Laurex CS, ex Albright and Wilson or Adol 340 ex Sherex.

Preferably the nonionic stabiliser has an HLB of between 15 10 and 20, more preferably 12 and Preferably, the level of nonionic stabiliser is within the range from 0.1 to 10% by weight, more preferably from to 5% by weight, most preferably from 1 to 4% by weight.

0 0 i| 20 The mole ratio of the quaternary ammonium compound to the Sa nonionic stabilising agent is within the range from 40:1 00 to about 1:1, preferably within the range from 18:1 to about 3:1.

25 The composition can also contain fatty acids for example r C 8 Ca alkyl or alkenyl monocarboxylic acids or polymers Sthereof. Preferably saturated fatty acids are used, in particular, hardened tallow C16-Cj fatty acids. Preferably the fatty acid is non-saponified, more preferably the fatty acid is free for example oleic acid, lauric acid or tallow fatty acid.

The level of fatty acid material is preferably more than 0.1% by weight, more preferably more th&. 0.2% by weight.

Especially preferred are concentrates comprising from C- ;L I h-4L -1 ~L i i 7 C3404 to 20% by weight of fatty acid, more preferably 1% to by weight. The weight ratio of quaternary ammonium material to fatty acid material is preferably from 10:1 to 1:10.

The compositions of the invention preferably have a pH of more than 2.0, more preferably less than The composition can also contain one or more optional S 10 ingredients, selected from non-aqueous solvents, pH 0 Sbuffering agents, perfumes, perfume carriers, fluorescers, SQ colourants, hydrotropes, antifoaming agents, antiredeposition agents, enzymes, optical brightening Sagents, opacifiers, anti-shrinking agents, anti-wrinkle agents, anti-spotting agents, germicides, fungicides, anti-oxidants, anti-corrosion agents, drape imparting agents, antistatic agents and ironing aids.

The composition may also contain nonionic fabric softening *1,o 20 agents such as lanolin and derivatives thereof.

o The invention will now be illustrated by the following 0 0 non-limiting examples. In the examples all percentages are expressed by weight.

4 a. SExample 1 Lquid fabric softening compositions were made as follows.

The cationic fabric softening agent, fatty acid and nonionic stabilising agent where appropriate were premixed and heated together to form a clear melt. The molten mixture thus formed was added over a period of at least one minute, to water at 70 0 C to 80 0 C with constant stirring to form a dispersion.

-8 C3404 The viscosity of the compositions was measured by Haake rotoviscometer following 21 days storage at ambient temperature or at 5 0

C.

Composition

BC

0 a a o1 0 0 00 0 Arquad 2HT' HT TMPAC 2 Fatty acid' Tallow 11E0 4 10 Coco 1OE05 Tallow 20E0 6 Water minors Viscosity at IKAs- 12.8 16 3.2 2.7 16 2.7 16 2.7 16 2.7 3ba Ambient mPas 5 0 C mPas 159 77 155 66 gel 0* 0 t 00 I 00 ~9 00 0 00 90 4 04 09 00 9 0 0 00 00 00 0 0* 4 0 0 4 composition F G HT TMpAC 2 11.6 12.6 Fatty acid 3 1.9 2.1 Alcohol 7 1.5 water minors balanceviscosity at 110s-, 4 Ambient mpas 50C mPas Notes Formulation A corresponds to a commercially available fabric softening composition currently sold in the UK by Lever under the trade mark COMFORT.

i.

-9 C3404 1. Arquad 2HT is dihardened tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride ex Akzo Chemie.

2. HT TMAPC is 1,2 dihardened tallowyloxy-3-trimethylammonio propane chloride ex Hoescht.

3. Pristerine 4916 a hardened tallow fatty acid ex Unichema.

4. tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 11 moles of ethylene .oxide of HLB 13.

coco alcohol ethoxylated with 10 moles of ethylene 10 oxide of HLB 14.

6. tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 20 moles of ethylene O oxide of HLB t,"O 7. Laurex CS a tallow alcohol comprising 65-80% C 18 and S20-23% C 16 ex Albright a Wilson.

The results show that while known fabric softening compositions comprising conventional quaternary ammonium compounds do not show physical instability on short term Sstorage at 5 0 C (composition A) a problem is experienced 04 to 20 with compositions comprising ester-linked quaternaries and fatty acid (composition The results also show that addition of selected nonionic stabilising agents 0 0 counteract destabilisation to give stable concentrated compositions.

00 4, 0 4 o Example 2 Liquid fabric softening compositions as given below were made as described in Example 1. The soil release properties imparted to polyester test pieces by treatment with the compositions was assessed by measuring the change in reflectance following staining and a subsequent wash in a proprietary detergent composition. The pieces were first rinsed for 5 minutes in 1 litre of 14 0 FH water containing 0.67 ml of either composition. The pieces were I i 1 e 10 C3404 then line dried and stained with 100 micro litres of olive oil containing 0.06% sudan red dye. The stain was allowed to spread for a minimum of two days following which the reflectance of the stained piece was measured using an ICS micromatch. The pieces were then washed, rinsed and line dried using 5c/l New System Persil Automatic ex Lever in 14 0 FH water for a 15 minute wash cycle. The reflectance of the pretreated, washed piece (R 2 was measured and the percentage detergency calculated 10 according to the following equation: o 0 0 o o a a 0.0 a 0 0 4 Ks, Ks 2 Detergency x 100 (1 Ri) 2 (1 R) 2 where Ks, and Ks, 4 t 4 &4 406 44 20 The higher the percentage detergency, the greater the soil release benefit.

oI 00 4 4 4 44 44 4 4 44 4 1 S S Composition 25 Arquad 2HT

I

HT TMAPC 2 Fatty acid 3 Tallow 11EO 4 Water and minors to balance Detergency by weight A B 12.8 11.6 1.9 3.2 j i h n is an integer from /2 .9

I-

11 C3404 Notes Formulation B corresponds to a commercially available fabric softening composition, currently sold in the UK by Lever under the trade mark COMFORT. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are as in Example 1.

These results show that known compositions comprising conventional quaternary ammonium compositions (Composition 10 B) show a smaller soil release benefit than compositions according to the invention (Composition A).

Example 3 Preferred compositions according to the invention are as follows: 0 0 0 0 0 t0 I O~n 0 o 00 t I

C

Composition 14 0 0 086 4.94 *U 0 0O 0 00

HTTMAPC

2 Fatty acid 3 Tallow 11E0 4 Tallow Alcohol 7 Tallow 15EO 8 Isopropyl alcohol Glycerol Perfume, Dye minors Water to balance by weight A B 11.6 11.6 1.9 1.9

C

11.6 1.9 1.6 1.6 0.8 1.6 1.6 0.8 1.6 1.6 0.8 Notes 2, 3, 4 and 7 are as in Example 1 8. is tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 15 moles of ethylene oxide.

i

Claims

1. A fabric softening composition comprising at least lwt% of a water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent and from 0.1 to 10 wt% of a nonionic stabilising agent characterised in that the water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent is a biodegradable quaternary ammonium material having the formula: OOCR 2 N e (CH 2 )n CH CH 2 OOCR 2 wherein each R, group is independently selected from Ci 4 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl groups; and wherein each R 2 group is independently selected from C._28 alkyl or alkenyl groups; O O II II T is or and 30 n is an integer from and the nonionic stabilising agent is i. a linear C, to C22 alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to 20 moles of alkylene oxide, or ii. a Ci0 to C20 alcohol or mixtures thereof.

2. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the nonionic stabilising agent is a linear C, to C22 alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to 20 moles of alkylene oxide. .4 44~c J 04o '4 4' 0 0 0 1 441 '4t, 4' C3404 12a-

3. A composition as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the composition also comprises more than 0.1% by weight of a fatty acid material.

4. A composition as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the composition comprises from 3% to 50% by weight of the quaternary ammonium material, from 0.5% to 5% by weight of the nonionic stabilising agent and from 0.5 to 20% by weight of fatty acid material.

A composition as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the nonionic stabilising agent has an HLB of between 10 and o o .o S 0* I Q0 t 'I o* 0 I h e a I 1:1 I I j^ 13 C3404

6. A composition as claimed in claim 5 wherein the nonionic stabilising agent has an HLB of between 12 and

7. A fabric softening composition as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the water insoluble cationic comprises a compound having two C,2-2 alkyl or alkenyl groups connected to the N atom via one or more ester links. 0

8. Process for making a liquid fabric softening composition as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 comprising the steps of i. mixing and heating the cationic fabric softening agent and nonionic stabilising agent to form a melt and ii. dispersing the melt in water. DATED this 3rd day of May 1994 Signed for and on behalf of UNILEVER PLC by Unilever Australia Limited B.F. ON Co s ecretary e t t r I 1O 1 1 D 0 0 1 V*ttd I *Dlr) ~ltdJ O 0 D 0 )r) 00 00 C CO 0 II O ~sl 0000 rr* r 0 r .I r P d L 0 0 01(11 L V, L 'a 1' r^ 14 C3404 ABSTRACT 09 0 4 14 4 A fabric softening composition comprising a water insoluble caticic fabric softening agent and a nonionic stabilising agent wherein the water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent is a biodegradable quaternary ammonium material with at least one ester link and the nonionic stabilising agent is selected from: .0 i. a linear C, to C22 alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to moles of alkylene oxide, or ii. a Ci0 to C20 alcohol or mixtures thereof. The invention also provides a process for making the liquid fabric softening composition comprising the steps of 10 i. mixing and heating the cationic fabric softening agent and nonionic stabilising agent to form a melt and 44 0 4 B O o i o o~ o 0 0 ita ii. dispersing the melt in water. I--