CA2232863A1

CA2232863A1 - Method of treating household surfaces using high volume sprayer

Info

Publication number: CA2232863A1
Application number: CA002232863A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Heather Lea Abel; Peter Michael Self
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Procter and Gamble Co
Priority date: 1995-09-25
Filing date: 1996-09-12
Publication date: 1997-04-03
Also published as: IL123814A0; JPH11511384A; EP0852519A1; WO1997011785A1; CZ65198A3; AU7018396A

Abstract

A method for treating household surfaces using a manually operated spray device capable of dispensing a volume of about 3 mL or greater of treatment liquid in a single stroke.

Description

METHOD OF TREATING HOUSEHOLD SURFACES
USING HIGH VOLUME SPRAYER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the use of large capacity finger operated spraydevices for the treatment of household surfaces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Household surfaces are treated for cleaning, deodorizing, disinfecting and other purposes by a wide variety of means. Despite extensive efforts by industry to -meet the needs of consumers in this area, the treatment of household surfaces still 20 remains a problem for the typical consumer.
Consumers are faced with the need to treat a wide variety of surfaces with an equally wide variety of products. A typical consurner deals with surfaces ranging from ceramic tile to deep pile carpet on a frequent basis. The use of liquid products to be applied by sponge full-strength or dilute, aerosol foams and granules for high traff1c 25 or large areas, powders from shaker containers for deodorizing carpets, and relatively low volume trigger and pump sprays for small spots and stains are all well known in the art.
Performance of the surface treatment used is often tied to the manner in which it is applied. Powders are difficult to spread evenly across a wide area. Spray foams do 30 not penetrate fibers as well as non-foamed liquids. Low capacity trigger sprayers have diff1culty in covering large areas and in applying sufficient tre~tment to achieve the desired benefit. Aerosol spray dispensers, heretofore widely used, particularly those types employing fluorocarbons, are now being replaced because scientific studieshave shown that they may produce harmful environment~l effects; and further, the35 fluorocarbon carriers may be increasingly difficult or expensive to obtain. Thus, there continues to be a need for improved method for treating household surfaces.
It has been discovered that the use of a high volume manually operated sprayer can effectively address many problems relating to treating household surfaces. A

W O 97/11785 PCTnJS96114594 _ ~ _ finger operated spray device capable of dispensing a volume of about 3 mL or greater - of a treatment liquid has been discovered to provide consumers an effective means to treat household surfaces.
Compression sprayers are, of course, well kno~,vn. Generally, a trigger is used 5 to compress air, which is then released through a restricted orifice to form a jet of air.
Fluid from a reservoir is entrained either directly, by impingement, or indirectly (e.g venturi effect). The trigger can also pressurize the fluid, which is released through a restricted orifice to form a droplet spray dispersion. U.S. Pat. No. 2,923,481 is generally representative of the overall configuration of a m:~nll~lly-operated 10 compression sprayer used, for exarnple, to apply household and garden spray solutions for controlling pests, deodorizing, or the like. While that patent is more particularly directed to a specific nozle configuration within such a context, it exemplifies a construction where a closed compression chamber receives a pressurizing piston which, upon manual stroking, creates a pressure head responsible 15 for propelling liquid housed within an associated reservoir.
Traditional consumer manual spray devices dispense about 1 ml~ of liquid or less. These sprayers are ineffective for treating large areas such as vinyl flooring and -carpet. The present invention addresses the need to provide an efficient, consumer acceptable, method for both evenly treating large surface areas and spot treating small 20 areas. Surprisingly, consumers find the use of large capacity m~nll~lly operated sprayers desirable, even though the amount of physical effort expended is greater per stroke than for the traditional 1 mL ~pldy~.s. The fact that consumers find it desirable to expend more effort for fewer trigger pulls was a totally unexpected result.
This method provides consumers with a versatile means to treat surfaces that 25 can, in part, or in whole, replace several systems currently used. This method also provides a means by which a full strength treatment solution can be applied directly and evenly to household surfaces. A single product can thus be used to treat large areas, to provide a means for deodorizing surfaces such as carpet, and to spot treat smaller areas for spots and stains. These and other advantages of the present invention 30 will be seen from the disclosures hereinafter.
All references cited herein are incorporated by reference.

SUl~MARY OF THE INVENTIO~
The present invention encompasses the use of a finger operated spray device 35 capable of dispensing a volume of about 3 mL, or greater, in a single stroke, of a treatment liquid onto household surfaces.

The invention is applicable to common household surfaces encountered by consumers on a daily basis. The surfaces capable of such treatment include, but are not limited to, wood, glass, metal, ceramic tile, vinyl, l~min~te~, stone, carpet and rug.
The preferred surfaces for the invention are household carpet and non-carpeted floors.
5 The most preferred surface for the invention is carpet. The use of a treatment liquid.
especially a concentrated treatment liquid, provides surprising advantages in the treatment of carpets as compared to foams or dilute tre~tment liquids.
The finger operated spray device includes, but is not limited to, trigger operated sprayers and pump sprayers. Preferably, a trigger sprayer is used in order to 10 minimi7f the effort expended by consumer to dispense the treatment liquid. The essential element of the spray device is the ability to dispense a volume of tre~tment liquid of about 3 mL or greater in a single stroke. The ability to dispense a relatively large volume of liquid per stroke enables the consumer to select treatments which effectively distribute the treatment over large areas and/or to direct concentrated 15 treatment onto small spots.
The treatment liquid includes, but is not limited to, cleaning and/or deodorizing solutions, disinfecting solutions, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers and ~ protection treatments such as sealers or stripping agents. Preferred tre~tment liquids are cleaning and/or deodorizing solutions, and most preferably, a cleaning and/or 20 deodorizing solution cont~inin~ a source of available oxygen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention encomp~es the use of a finger operated spray device capable of dispensing a volume of about 3 mL or greater of a treatment liquid to25 household surfaces in a single stroke.
The Surfaces The present invention is applicable to general household surfaces. The surfaces which can be treated include, but are not limited to, wood, glass, metal, ceramic tile, 30 vinyl, l~min~tes, stone, carpet and rug. In particular the method is useful for cleaning carpeted surfaces.
Stains or soils are often not readily removed from carpet, especially if not , treated immediately after the spillage has occurred. Indeed, if the stain or soil has become dry the difficulty of removing the stain or soil effectively is significantly 35 increased. As a result of soiling and staining the carpets become lln~ightly, often malodorous and unhygienic. Carpet also tends to cover relatively large areas of household surfaces. Carpeted surfaces can require both wide area treatment to CA 02i32863 1998-03-24 W O 97/11785 PCT~US96114594 deodorize and to remove day to day soils, especially after buildup, and also spot - treatment to address localized stains and spills. These problems are ideally suited to the present invention's ability to effectively treat both large areas evenly and to treat small areas with concentrated application. Therefore, carpet is a highly preferred surface for the invention s method.
The area to be treated using the method according to the present invention can be any size. In addition a complete section or even a whole carpet can be applied with the treatment liquid according to the present invention.

The Sprav Device Preferably, the spray dispenser is a non-aerosol, manually activated, pump or trigger spray dispenser. Said pump or trigger spray dispenser comprises a container and a pump mechanism which securely screws or snaps onto the container. The container comprises a vessel for cont~inin~ the tre~tment liquid composition to be 1 5 dispensed.
The pump me~h~ni~m comprises a pump chamber of substantially fixed volume, having an opening at the inner end thereof. Within the pump chamber is - located a pump stem having a piston on the end thereof disposed for reciprocal motion in the pump chamber. The pump stem has a passageway there through with a dispensing outlet at the outer end of the passageway and an axial inlet port located inwardly thereof.
The container and the pump meçh~ni~m can be constructed of any conventional material employed in fabric~tinf~ pump-spray dispensers, including, but not limited to: polyethylene; polypropylene; polyethyleneterephth"l~,te; blends of polyethylene, vinyl acetate, and rubber elastomer. Preferred containers are clear? e.g., polyethylene terephth~l~te, and opaclue, e.g. high density polyethylene (HDPE). Other materials can include stainless steel. A more complete disclosure of commercially available dispensing devices appears in: U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,895,279, Schultz, issued January 23, 1990; 4,735,347, Schultz et al., issued April 5, 1988; and 4,274,560, Carter, issued June 23, 1981; all of said references are herein incorporated by reference.
More preferably, the spray dispenser is a m~nll~lly activated trigger-spray dispenser. Said trigger-spray dispenser comprises a container and a trigger both of which can be constructed of any of the conventional m~t~ori~l employed in fabricating trigger-spray dispensers, including, but not limited to: polyethylene; polypropylene;
polyacetal; polycarbonate; polyethyleneterephth~ tP; polyvinyl chloride; polystyrene;
blends of polyethylene, vinyl acetate, and rubber elastomer. Other materials can CA 02232863 l998-03-24 W O 97/11785 PCT~US96/14594 _ 5 _ include stainless steel and glass. The trigger-spray dispenser does not incorporate a propellant gas into the treatment composition, and preferably it does not include those that will foam the treatment composition. The trigger-spray dispenser herein is typically one which acts upon a discrete amount of the treatment liquid composition itself, typically by means of a piston or a collapsing bellows that displaces the composition through a nozle to create a spray of thin liquid. Said trigger-spraydispenser typically comprises a purnp chamber having either a piston or bellows which is movable through a limited stroke response to the trigger for varying the volume of said pump chamber. This pump chamber or bellows chamber collects and holds the product for dispensing. The trigger spray dispenser typically has an outlet check valve for blocking communication and flow of fluid through the nozzle and is responsive to the pressure inside the chamber. For the piston type trigger sprayers, as the trigger is compressed, it acts on the fluid in the chamber and the spring, increasing the pressure on the fluid. For the bellows spray dispenser, as the bellows is compressed, the pressure increases on the fluid. The increase in fluid pressure in either trigger spray dispenser acts to open the top outlet check valve. The top valve allows the product to be forced through the swirl chamber and out the nozzle to forrn a- discharge pattern. An adjustable nozzle cap can be used to vary the pattern of the fluid dispensed.
For the piston spray dispenser, as the trigger is released, the spring acts on the piston to return it to its original position. For the bellows spray dispenser. the bellows acts as the spring to return to its original position. This action causes a vacuum in the chamber. The responding fluid acts to close the outlet valve while opening the inlet valve drawing product up to the charnber from the reservoir.
A more complete disclosure of commercially available dispensing devices appears in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,223, Nozawa, issued Apr. 4, 1978; 4,161, 288, McKinney, issued Jul. 17, 1985; 4,434,917, Saito et al., issued Mar. 6, 1984; and 4,819,835, Tasaki, issued Apr. 11, 1989; 5,303,867, Peterson, issued Apr. 19, 1994;
all of said references are incorporated herein by reference.
The spray devices useful in the present invention are capable of dispensing about 3 mL or more of liquid in a single stroke. This single stroke comprises the entire one step motion of the user of the device and the resulting action of the device, for example, sqrlee7ing and releasing a trigger or depressing and releasing a mech~ni~m on a pump device. The trigger is usually reset by the action of a spring that is compressed by the dispensing motion.

The ability to dispense relatively large volumes of treatment liquid in one action enables the consumer to treat even large areas efficiently and to apply treatments to small spot areas in a concentrated manner.
Trigger sprayers capable of dispensing about 3 mL or greater of treatment 5 liquid are commercially available. Such a sprayer is commercially available from CSI
(Continental Sprayers, Inc.), St. Peters~ Missouri; under the tradenarne T-4700(~. This type of sprayer. heretofore, has not been used in consumer products to treat household surfaces.

10 The Treatment Liquid The treatment liquid includes, but is not limited to, cleaning and/or deodorizing solutions, disinfecting solutions, insecticides, herbicides. fertilizers, and protection treatments such as sealers or stripping agents. Preferred treatrnent liquids are cleaning and/or deodorizing solutions including those exemplified in U.S. Patents.
5,061,393, Linares, et al., issued October 29, 1991,5,10~,660, Michael, issued April 27, 1993, and 5,376,298, Michael, issued December 27, 1994, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, and most preferably, a cleaning and/or deodorizing ~ solution cont~ining a source of available oxygen.
The present invention includes the use of stable acidic aqueous compositions comprising a source of available oxygen. The terrn "stable", as used herein, refers to compositions which will not undergo any chemical or physical interactions that will destroy the efficacy of the compositions, thus the compositions will remain constant and available even when stored for long periods of time. As a result, the ingredients of the compositions according to the present invention do not require mixing just prior to said compositions' use or pH regulation. Thus, the amount of available, oxygen in the composition during the products lifetime. which is typically 12 months, is preferably not less than about 85% of the amount of available oxygen present when the composition is form~ tcfl Thus, according to the present invention, a preferred ingredient is a source of available oxygen. A preferred source according to the present invention is hydrogen peroxide or sources thereof. As used herein a hydrogen peroxide source refers to any compound which produces hydrogen peroxide when said compound is in contact with water. Suitable water-soluble sources of hydrogen peroxide for use herein include alkali metal percarbonates, peroxides and/or perborates.
In addition other classes of peroxides can be used as an alternative to hydrogenperoxide and sources thereof, or in combination with hydrogen peroxide and sources CA 02232863 l998-03-24 thereof. Suitable classes include dialkylperoxides, diacylperoxide preforrned percarboxylic acids, persulphates and/or organic and/or inorganic peroxides.
Hydrogen peroxide, or sources thereof, provide from 0.1% to 15%, preferably from 0.5% to 10%, most preferably from 1 % to 7% by weight of the total composition 5 of available oxygen in said composition.
As used herein ' available oxygen" concentration refers to the percentage concentration of elemental oxygen, with an oxidation number zero, that being reduced to water, that would be stoichiometrically equivalent to a given percentage concentration of a given peroxide compound, when the peroxide functionality of the 10 peroxide compound is completely reduced to oxides. The available oxygen sources according to the present invention increase the ability of the compositions to remove colored stains, to destroy malodorous molecules and to kill germs.
The concentration of available oxygen can be determined by methods known in the art, such as the iodoimetric method, the perm~ng~nometric method and the 15 cerimetric method. Said methods and the criteria for the choice of the ap~lo~l;ate method are described for exarnple in "Hydrogen Peroxide", W. C. Schumb, C. N.
Satterfield and R. L. Wentworth, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, 1955~and "Organic Peroxides", Daniel Swern, Editor Wiley Int. Science, 1970.
Suitable organic and inorganic peroxides for use in the compositions according 20 to the present invention include diacyl and dialkyl peroxides such as dibenzoyl peroxide, dilauroyl peroxide, dicurnyl peroxide, persulphuric acid and mixtures thereof. The compositions according to the present invention comprise from 0% to15%, preferably from 0.005% to 10% of said organic peroxides.
Suitable preformed peroxyacids for use in the compositions according to the 25 present invention include diperoxydodecandioic acid (DPDA), m~gne~ium perphthalic acid, perlauric acid, perbenzoic acid, diperoxyazelaic acid and mixtures thereof. The compositions according to the present invention can optionally comprise from 0% to 15%, preferably from 0.005% to 10% of said preformed peroxyacids.
Optionally, the compositions can additionally comprise from 0% to 30%, 30 preferably from 2% to 20% of peracid precursors, i.e. compounds that upon reaction with hydrogen peroxide produce peroxyacids. Examples of peracid precursors suitable for use in the present invention can be found among the classes of anhydrides, amides, imides and esters such as acetyl triethyl citrate (ATC) described for instance in EP 91 87 0207, tetra acetyl ethylene diamine (TAED), succinic or maleic anhydrides.
35 Preferably said peracid precursors can be used in an emulsion form as described in unpublished European Patent Application No.: 92870188.7.

The present invention further encompasses the use of a composition - comprising chelant, e.g., phosphonate chelant, or mixtures thereof, together with a soil suspending polymer, e.g., polycarboxylate polymer, or mixtures thereof, for the cleaning of carpets, whereby improved particulate soil removal performance is 5 achieved.
By " improved particulate soil removing performance" it is meant herein that the removal of particulate soils from carpets achieved by using a carpet cleaning composition comprising phosphonate chelant together with a soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer, is improved as compared to the removal of particulate soils 10 obtained by using said composition but without any phosphonate chelant and/orwithout any soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer. More particularly~ it has been found that a synergistic effect on particulate soil removing performance is associated with the use of a cleaning composition comprising a phosphonate chelant togetherwith a soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer. By " particulate soil" it is meant 15 herein any soils or stains of particulate nature that can be found on carpets. e.g. clay, dirt, dust, mud, concrete and the like.
Encompassed by the present invention is a phosphonate chelant or mixtures - thereof. Such phosphonate chelants can include the organic phosphonate compounds, including amino alkylene poly (alkylene phosphonate), alkali metal ethane l-hydroxy 20 diphosphonates, nitrilo trimethylene phosphonates, ethylene ~ min~ tetra methylene phosphonates, and diethylene triamine penta methylene phosphonates. The phosphonate compounds can be present either in their acid form or as salts of different cations on some or all of their acid functionalities. Preferred phosphonate chelants to be used herein are diethylene triamine penta methylene phosphonates. Such 25 phosphonate chelants are commercially available from Monsanto under the trade name DEQUEST(I~.
The compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention comprise in their neat form of from 0.01% to 5% by weight of the totalcomposition of a phosphonate chelant or mixtures thereof, preferably of from 0.05%
30 to 3% and more preferably of from 0.1% to 1% .
Also encompassed by the present invention is a soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer or mixtures thereof. Any soil suspending polycarboxylatepolymer known to those skilled in the art can be employed according to the present invention such as homo- or co-polymeric polycarboxylic acids or their salts including 35 polyacrylates and copolymers of maleic anhydride or/and acrylic acid and the like.
Indeed, such soil suspending polycarboxylate polymers can be prepared by polymerizing or copolymerizing suitable unsaturated monomers, preferably in their W O 97/11785 PCTrUS96/14594 acid form. Unsaturated monomeric acids that can be polymerized to form suitable polymeric polycarboxylates include acrylic acid, maleic acid (or maleic anhydride), fumaric acid, itaconic acid, aconitic acid, mesaconic acid, citraconic acid and methylenemalonic acid. The presence in the polymeric polycarboxylates herein of monomeric segments, cont~ining no carboxylate radicals such as vinylmethyl ether, styrene, ethylene, etc. is suitable provided that such segments do not constitute more than about 40% by weight Particularly suitable polymeric polycarboxylates can be derived from acrylic acid. Such acrylic acid-based polymers which are useful herein are the water-soluble salts of polymerized acrylic acid. The average molecular weight of such polymers in the acid form preferably ranges from about 2,000 to 10,000, more preferably fromabout 4,000 to 7,000 and most preferably from about 4,000 to 5,000. Water-soluble salts of such acrylic acid polymers can include, for example. the alkali metal, ammonium and substituted ammonium salts. Soluble polymers of this type are knownmaterials. Use of polyacrylates of this type in detergent compositions has been disclosed, for example, in Diehl, U.S. Patent 3,308,067, issued March 7, 1967.
Acrylic/maleic acid based copolymers (MA/AA) can also be used as a ~preferred soil suspending polycarboxylic polymer. Such materials include the water-soluble salts of copolymers of acrylic acid and maleic acid. The average molecular weight of such copolymers in the acid form preferably ranges from about 2,000 to100,000, more preferably from about 5,000 to 75,000, most preferably from about 7,000 to 65,000. The ratio of acrylate to maleate segments in such copolymers will generally range from about 30:1 to about 1:1, more preferably from about 10:1 to 2:1.
Water-soluble salts of such acrylic acid/maleic acid copolymers can include, forexample, the alkali metal, ammonium and substituted ammoniurn salts. Soluble acrylate/maleate copolymers of this type are known materials which are described in European Patent Application No. 66915, published December 15, 1982. Particularlypreferred is a copolymer of maleic / acrylic acid with an average molecular weight of about 70,000. Such copolymers are cornmercially available from BASF under the trade name SOKALAN CP5(~).
The compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention comprise in their neat form from 0.05% to 10% by weight of the total composition of a soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer or mixtures thereof, preferably from 0.1% to 5%, more preferably from 0.1% to 2% and most preferably from 0.2% to 1.5% .
The concentrations mentioned herein for the soil suspending polycarboxylate polymers and the phosphonate chelants are ~Icr~ d as at these concentrations, W O 97/11785 PCTrUS96/14594 maximum perforrnance is obtained in the most economic way. Also at these concentrations the arnount of residues that the compositions for cleaning carpets of the present invention may eventually leave behind on the carpets is minim~l The pH of the compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention is from 1 to 14. In a preferred embodiment, wherein the compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention comprise a source of available oxygen, the recommended pH range to achieve good hydrogen peroxide stability is from 1 and 9, preferably between pH 1 and 6, and more preferably between pH 2 and 5. Accordingly the compositions for the cleaning of carpets aceording to the present invention can further comprise an acid. In addition some acids can have the advantage that they can form small concentrations of thecorresponding peraeids by reaction with hydrogen peroxide in-situ, thus enhancing the overall performance of the composition. These acids can be further selected so as to have chelating and/or building ~lUpCl lies. The acids of the present invention that can be used for these purposes can be organic or inorganic acids, preferably organic acids such as citric, maleic, oxalic succinic, and tartaric acids or inorganic acids such as sulphurie aeid.
- The eompositions for the cleaning of earpets aecording to the present invention can further comprise a number of additional compounds such as surf~cts~nt~, builder system, other chelants, solvents, perfumes, dyes, suds suppressing agents, enzymes, photoble~rhing agents and other minors. In the preferred embodiment, where the compositions used according to the present invention comprise a source of available oxygen, the optional ingredients are selected so that they are compatible with said source of available oxygen. For instance dyes are used at low concentrations to prevent st~inin~ Solvents suitable for use herein can be selected from octyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, propyl alcohol and furfuryl alcohol. The compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention can additionally comprise ~nti~t~tic agents to reduce statie build up and sunscreening agents to protect the carpet or upholstery treated from ultra-violet radiation.
D~lelg~llL surfactants suitable for use herein are well known in the art and inelude anionic, nonionic, zwitterionic and cationic surfactants and mixtures thereof.
The surfactants suitable for use herein are compatible with hydrogen peroxide and sources thereof.
The anionie surfactants which can be used in the present invention include for example alkali metal salts of alkyl substituted benzene sulphonates, alkali metal alkyl sulphonates, alkali metal alkyl s-llph~t~s and alkali metal alkyl ether sulphates derived =

W O 97/1178~ PCT~US96/14594 -from for example fatty alcohols and alkyl phenols. alkali metal alkane sulphonates.
alkali metal olefin sulphonates and alkali metal sulphosuccinates and alkyl succinates, whereby the sodium salts are preferred, alkyl carboxylates and alkyl ether carboxylates.
The nonionic surfactants which can be used include any liquid or solid ethoxylated (EO) C6-C24 fatty alcohol nonionic surfactant, alkyl propoxylates (PO) and mixtures thereof, fatty acid C6-C24 alkanolamides, C6-C~o polyethylglycol ethers, polyethylene glycol with molecular weight 1000 to 80000 and C6-C24 amineoxides, glucose amides, alkyl pyrrolidones, betaines.
Suitable cationic surfzlctz~ntc for use herein include quaternary ammonium compounds of the formula RlR~R3R4N+ where Rl,R2 and R3 are methyl groups, and R4 is a C12 15 alkyl group, or where Rl is an ethyl or hydroxy ethyl group, R2 and R3 are methyl groups and R4 is a C 12-15 alkyl group.
Another optional ingredient are zwitterionic surfactants. Suitable zwitterionic surfactants include derivatives of aliphatic quaternary ammonium, phosphonium, and sulphonium compounds in which the aliphatic moiety can be straight or branched chain and wherein one of the aliphatic substituents contains from about 8 to about 24 - carbon atoms and another substituent contains, at least, an anionic water-solubilizing group. Particularly preferred zwitterionic materials are the ethoxylated ammonium sulphonates and sulfates disclosed in U S. Patents 3,925,262, T ~nghlin et al., issued December 9, 1975 and 3,929,678, T ~nghlin et al., issued December 30, 1975. The compositions according to the present invention optionally contain from 0% to 20%
of zwitterionic surfactants.
The compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention comprise in their neat form from 0.01% to 70% by weight, preferably from 0.1% to 50% by weight, of the total composition of said surfactants.
The compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention can further comprise detergent builder. Any conventional builder system is suitable for use herein. Though less preferred for obvious environment~l reasons, phosphate builders can also be used herein.
Suitable builders for use herein include citric acid, preferably in the form of a water-soluble salt, derivatives of succinic acid of the formula R_CH(COOH)CH2(COOH) wherein R is C 10-20 alkyl or alkenyl, preferably C 12- 16~
or wherein R can be substituted with hydroxyl, sulpho sulphoxyl or sulphone substituents. Specific examples include lauryl succinate, myristyl succinate, palmityl succinate, 2-dodecenylsuccinate, 2-tetradecenyl succinate. Succinate builders are CA 02232863 l998-03-24 W O 97/1178~ PCT~US96/14594 preferably used in the form of their water-soluble salts, including sodium, potassium.
ammonium and alkanolammonium salts.
Other suitable builders are oxodisuccinates and mixtures of tartrate monosuccinic and tartrate disuccinic acid such as described in US 4,663,071 Further suitable builders for use herein are fatty acid builders including saturated or unsaturated C 10-18 faKy acids, as well as the corresponding soaps Preferred saturated species have from 12 to 16 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. The preferred unsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid.
A preferred builder system for use herein consists of a mixture of citric acid, fatty acids and succinic acid derivatives described herein above. The builder system according to the present invention preferably represents from 0% to 10%, preferably from 1% to 7% by weight of the neat total composition.
Other optional ingredients such as further chelants can be used according to the present invention. The chelants can improve the stability of the hydrogen peroxide in the formulation and improve the ability of the compositions to remove metal pigments from the stains and soils. Suitable chelants can be chosen from EDTA, NTA
or preferably from biodegradable chelants such as s,s-ethylene diamino disuccinate -and dipicolinic acid.
The amount of the composition applied will depend on the severity of the stain or soil. In the case of stubborn stains more than one application may be required to ensure complete removal of the stain. The cleaning compositions can also be used in order to deodourise the surface and remove the ~lingine~ of the surface rrslllting from a diffused layer of soil which results from general wear.
According to the present invention the method can be used for the removal of odours, stains and soils from carpets or upholstery. In addition the composition can be used to hygenise or disinfect carpets and exl~""i-,~tt- microinsects from the carpet or upholstery.
Depending upon the type of tre~tment used and the type of surface treated, the tre~tment liquid can be permitted to dry on the surface, to dry on the surface and be extracted by conventional means or be extracted by conventional means while still liquid.

EXAMPLES
The following compositions are made by combining the following ingredients in the listed proportions.

Hydrogen peroxide 7 0 Sodium Dodecyl sulphate 1.0 Poly ethoxy propoxy alcohol 1.0 (C13-Cls, E0 = 4, P0 = 2) DETPMP ' 1.0 MA/AA2 0.2 BHT (di t-butyl hydroxy toluene) 0.03 Perfume, dyes 0.2 Sulphuric acid up to pH 4 Water Balance ' DETPMP is diethylene triamine penta methylene phosphonic acid available from Monsanto under the trade name Dequest 2060 or Dequest 4060 2 MA/AA is copolymer of maleic/ acrylic acid, average molecular weight about 70,000.

Hydrogen peroxide 8.5 Ethoxylated alcohol 1.5 (Dobanol(5~) 91-10) Ethoxylated alcohol 1.0 (Dobanol~) 23-3) Citric acid 4.0 NaOH up to pH 4 Perfume, dyes 0.2 Water Balance The compositions in the examples are compositions for the cleaning of carpets according to the present invention, i.e. they exhibit excellent particulate soil removing perforrnance while providing also good cleaning performance on other types of soils such as coffee, beverages and the like.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for treating household surfaces comprising the application of a treatment fluid to said surface by means of a finger operated spray device capable of dispensing a volume of 3 mL or greater of said treatment liquid in a single stroke.

2. The method as defined in Claim 1 wherein said surface is selected from the group consisting of wood, glass, ceramic tile, vinyl, laminates, stone, carpet and rug.

3. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said spray device is a trigger or pump operated sprayer.

4. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said treatment liquid comprises a cleaning and/or deodorizing composition, preferably containing a source of available oxygen.

5. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said cleaning and/or deodorizing composition comprises a source of from 0.1% to 15% of available oxygen.

6. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said pH is from 1 to 6.

7. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said composition further comprises chelant.

8. The method according to any of the preceding Claims wherein said composition further comprises soil suspending polycarboxylate polymer.