GB1597513A

GB1597513A - Fabric softening compositions

Info

Publication number: GB1597513A
Application number: GB8905/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Unilever PLC
Current assignee: Unilever PLC
Priority date: 1977-03-02
Filing date: 1977-03-02
Publication date: 1981-09-09
Also published as: NZ186609A; ZA781187B; AR217462A1; AU515806B2; AU3371378A; IN147371B; JPS53134995A; BR7801253A

Description

(54) FABRIC SOFTENING COMPOSITIONS (71) We, UNILEVER LIMITED, a company organised under the laws of Great Britian, of Unilever House, Blackfriars, London E/C 4, England, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to fabric-softening compositions and to processes for preparing and using them.

Certain quaternary ammonium salts containing at least one long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon group in the molecule are useful as fabric softeners applied in the rinse following a washing process. Such products are customarily manufactured as liquid concentrates and it is convenient for the domestic user to dispense them into the cold rinse liquor containing the washed fabric: the liquid concentrate is dispersed in the rinse liquor and cations of the quaternary ammonium salt are taken up by the fabric during the rinsing process. The formulation of liquid concentrates provides problems because the rheological properties of the concentrates are liable to change.It is particularly difficult to prepare concentrates containing more than about 8% by weight of the softener, and marketing of softener has hitherto required a disproportionate expenditure on packaging and transport for delivery of suitable softening effects.

Attempts have been made to eliminate the water from the softener formulations in order to provide a concentrated softener in solid form but these have encountered problems because softener particles have to be provided in the rinse liquor in very finely-divided form in order that the fabric can be effectively softened. Many cationic quaternary ammonium salt softeners are insoluble in cold water and even where they are soluble do not disperse readily.

It has now been discovered that these problems can be solved by formulating compositions of the softener with certain additional ingredients as particles held in a matrix of solid water-soluble carrier, which compositions on dispersing in a rinse liquor provide an effective softening dispersion.

The present invention provides a solid fabric softening composition comprising a solid water-soluble non-surfactant carrier having a solubility in water at 5"C of at least 5% by weight and particles containing: (i) a fabric softening quaternary ammonium pyridinium or imidazolinium salt; (ii) a non-ionic or zwitterionic surfactant; and (iii) a non-ionic hydrophobic organic material having a solubility in water at 20"C of less than 10-6 molal and being readily deformable at 100C, wherein the particles are held as a fine dispersion in a matrix of the carrier that is sufficiently rigid to maintain the integrity of the particles while the composition is solid, so that when the composition is dispersed in water the carrier dissolves and releases the unagglomerated particles.

It has been found that the presence of both the surfactant and the nonionic hydrophobic material in the softener particles is important in achieving ready water dispersion, particularly in cold water. The presence of the nonionic hydrophobic organic material enables an increased concentration of the fabric softener in the particles to be obtained and therefore increased softener activity to be realised without losing the desirable water-dispersible properties.

Preferably the carrier has a solubility of at least 20% by weight in water at 50C.

The carrier can be an inorganic salt, for example sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, potassium aluminium sulphate, sodium carbonate or sodium borate.

Anhydrous sodium carbonate is especially suitable because on dispersion of a composition containing it in cold water heat is generated locally to assist in rapid dispersion of the particles containing softener compound.

Alternatively the carrier can be a nonionic organic compound of melting point above 40"C and preferably above 60"C. Examples of suitable nonionic organic compounds are urea, sorbitol, sucrose, mannose and oxidised starch.

The fineness of the dispersion of particles in the carrier matrix advantageously is such that particles of size (average diameter) 0.01 to 10 microns are obtained when the composition is placed in water and the carrier matrix dissolved.

Preferably the particles obtained are of size 0.1 to 2 microns. Particle size can be determined by light scattering apparatus using the dissymmetry method described in Chapter 8 of Scattering of Light and other Electromagnetic Radiation, by Milton Kerker, Academic Press, 1969, or by calculation from the diffusion coefficient of the particles measured by Rayleigh-Doppler light-scattering apparatus as described in the Chapters by P. N. Pusey on Macromolecular Diffusion, and by C. J. Oliver on Correlation Techniques, in Photon Correlation and Light Beating Spectroscopy, Ed. Cummins and Pike, Plenum Press 1974.

Fabric-softening salts containing quaternary nitrogen form a class of materials well-known in the detergent art. Teyarecationic substances characterised by having one or more long chain aliphatic hydrocarbon groups, and many specific substances have been described in the technical literature.

Examples of suitable quaternary ammonium salts are to be found within the classes of compounds having the structure R4NX where 1 or 2 groups R are straight chain aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals having from 12 to 24 carbon atoms, the remaining groups R are alkyl or hydroxyalkyl groups having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and X is an anion; compounds having the structure RCOOR'NR2R3R4X where R is a straight chain aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 16 to 24 carbon atoms, Rl is an alkylene or hydroxyalkylene group having 2 or 3 carbon atoms, R2, R3 and R4 are alkyl or hydroxyalkyl groups having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and X is an anion.Imidazolinium salts include compounds having the structure

where R and R' are straight chain aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals having from 16 to 24 carbon atoms, R2 is an alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms and X is an anion. Suitable anions X are chloride, bromide, iodide and methosulphate.

Other classes of softening compound that are well-known are those of similar structure but having other types of heteroatom linkages interrupting the aliphatic hydrocarbon radical and quaternary ammonium group.

Fabric softeners salts that are sufficiently water-soluble have cationic surfactant properties, but where reference is made in this specification to surfactants, it is the nonionic or zwitterionic surfactants that are meant. Preferably the fabric softener has a Krafft point above 40"C, especially above 70"C.

Compounds with two higher aliphatic hydrocarbon groups are less soluble than those with one and have Krafft points in a higher range. It is with the more insoluble softening compounds that the invention provides the greatest advantage as formulation of these provides the greater difficulties. Those compounds with Krafft points above 90"C provide the most difficulty.

Specific examples of suitable softening compounds with Krafft points above 40"C are: Dilauryldimethylammonium chloride Distearyldimethylammonium chloride Di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride Eicosyloxycarbonylmethyl trimethylammonium chloride Behenoylaminopropyl trimethylammonium chloride 3-Behenoyloxy-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride Di(2-hydroxy-3-myristyloxypropyl)dimethylammonium chloride 2-Heptadecyl- 1-methyl-I -(stearoylamidoethyl)imidazolinium methosulphate.

Specific examples of softening compounds with Krafft points below 40"C and which are relatively soluble are: Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide Stearyltrimethylammonium bromide Cetylpyridinium chloride 2-Hydroxymyristyl trimethylammonium iodide Myristoyloxyethyl trimethylammonium iodide Stearoyloxyethyl trimethylammonium bromide A nonionic surfactant is preferably an ethoxylated C12 to C22 alkanol or alkenol, an ethoxylated C,2 to C22 fatty acid, or an ethoxylated C12 to C22 fatty amine, for example an ethoxylated soya amine of average molecular formula C18H37Nt(CH2CH2O)7.5H]2; examples of suitable zwitterionic surfactants are a 3 (2 - hydroxy[C12 to C22]alkyldimethylamino) propyl sulphonate and a 3 - ([C12 to C22]alkyldimethylamino) - 2 - hydroxypropyl sulphonate.

The nonionic hydrophobic material which has a solubility in water at 200C of less than a 10-6 molal, and is readily deformable at 100C, may be either a liquid or semisolid material. It preferably has a melting point below 40"C, and especially below 10"C. Preferably the hydrophobic material is liquid at 100 C. The nonionic hydrophobic organic material can be a hydrocarbon, particularly a straight-chain paraffin or olefin having 10 to 24 carbon atoms, for example n-tetradecane, noctadecane and liquid paraffin; or a long-chain fatty acid ester, such as an ester of a fatty acid having 10 to 24 carbon atoms with an aliphatic alcohol, ethylene glycol or glycerol, for example glyceryl trioleate.It can also be a long-chain fatty amine having one or more alkyl groups with 10 to 24 carbon atoms, for example di(hardened tallow)methylamine.

The amounts of the three components in the particles should be so chosen that the composition is readily dispersible in water at f00C to provide softener particles of the required size. In general satisfactory compositions are obtained when there are present from 30 to 90% (especially 45 to 80%) of carrier and from 70 to 10% (especially 55 to 20%) of the fabric softener, the surfactant and the nonionic hydrophobic organic material together, by total weight of these four components, Preferably the amounts of the non-carrier components are from 20 to 60% (especially 30 to 55%) of the fabric softener, from 5 to 75% (especially 10 to 60%) of the surfactant, and from 2 to 70% (especially 5 to 50 /O) of the hydrophobic organic material, by total weight of these components.The amount of surfactant is preferably at least 20% by weight of the hydrophobic organic material.

The invention also provides a process for preparing the solid fabric-softening composition in which an emulsion is formed of the particle ingredients as disperse phase and the carrier in the liquid phase as dispersion medium, and the dispersion medium is then converted to a solid carrier phase. The carrier in the liquid phase can be a solution of the carrier in sufficient water to make it liquid, and the dispersion medium can be converted to a solid carrier phase by drying, for instance spray-drying, drum-drying or freeze-drying. Suitable carriers for this process are inorganic salts, sucrose and oxidised starch. The carrier is simply dissolved in water to form a concentrated solution, the particle ingredients dispersed in the solution at a suitable raised temperature to form an emulsion, and water removed from the emulsion until a solid composition is formed.The amount of water used will depend on the solubility of the carrier and the amount of drying that can economically be employed: in general the concentration of carrier in the aqueous solution will be above 60% by weight. Alternatively where the carrier has a sufficiently low melting point and is stable in the molten condition, molten carrier can be employed as the dispersion medium for the emulsion. The carrier in liquid phase is then molten carrier, and the dispersion medium is converted to the solid carrier phase by cooling, for instance by spray-cooling to form particulate composition, or by cooling to give massive solid composition which, if required, can be ground to a powder. Suitable carriers for this process are sorbitol, mannose, and especially urea, because very little mechanical working is necessary to form the emulsion of particles in molten urea.It is generally convenient to prepare a liquid homogeneous softener mix of the particle ingredients by heating and stirring them together before emulsifying them with liquid carrier phase.

Stirring while heating the mix and stirring while cooling the emulsion is thereby highly desirable. Where a perfume is included in the particle ingredients, care must be taken to ensure it is retained in hot compositions, particularly in a spray-cooling step, which can be done under pressure if necessary. The compositions can be used in a process for softening fabrics in the conventional manner. Thus the fabric to be softened can be contacted with a rinse liquor in which has been dispersed a softening amount of the composition, for instance enough to give an aqueous dispersion containing from 0.001 to 0.05% by weight of the fabric-softening quaternary ammonium salt.

The invention is illustrated by the following Examples, in which the amounts are by weight unless otherwise indicated, temperatures are in OC, and particle sizes are those determined using Rayleight-Doppler light-scattering apparatus. The ethoxylated soya amine used as surfactant was one prepared by the condensation of 15 mols ethylene oxide with 1 mol primary soya amine.

EXAMPLE 1 A fabric softener powder composition was prepared from the following ingredients.

Parts Commercial fabric softener 20 base consisting of Di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride 13.5 Mono(hardened tallow) trimethylammonium chloride 15 Isopropyl alcohol 1.4 Water 3.6 Glyceryl trioleate 7.5 Ethoxylated soya amine 7.5 Urea 70 The ingredients other than urea were heated together on a steambath with stirring until a homogeneous liquid softener mix was formed.This softener mix was added with stirring to the molted urea maintained at 135"C until an emulsion was formed, and the emulsion sprayed under 5.3 kg/cm2 pressure through a nozzle of diameter 1.6 mm into a vertical spray-cooling chamber cooled with air at ambient temperature, at the bottom of which the composition was deposited as a freeflowing powder consisting of solid particles of softener mix in a matrix of urea as carrier.

The powder dispersed in cold water at 0.067% concentration to dissolve the urea and liberate the softener particles, and the size of the particles produced was found to be 0.25 microns.

EXAMPLE 2 A fabric softener powder was prepared from the ingredients of Example 1, but using the following amounts.

Parts Commercial fabric softener base 13.3 Glyceryl trioleate 10 Ethoxylated soya amine 10 Urea 70 An emulsion at 1350 was prepared as in Example 1, but instead of spraycooling, it was cooled and stirred until it solidified, then further cooled without stirring to ambient temperature and ground to a free-flowing powder containing softener providing on dispersion in water particles of size 0.30 microns.

EXAMPLES 3 and 4 From the powders of Examples 1 and 2 were prepared dilute aqueous dispersions for use as rinse liquors in softening fabrics. The two powders (0.0333 and 0.0376 parts respectively) were each dispersed with stirring in demineralised water (1000 parts) at ambient temperature to give aqueous dispersions containing 0.005% of active fabric-softening quaternary ammonium salt (Examples 3 and 4 respectively). A dilute aqueous dispersion containing 0.005% of the same quaternary ammonium salt was also prepared by appropriate dilution of a widely used commercial concentrated aqueous fabric softener dispersion.

In each of~three Tergotometer pots were placed 3 pieces of clean cotton towelling (20 cm square, total weight 4Ug) and one ot the three dilute aqueous fabric softener dispersions (800 ml): in a fourth pot were placed 3 pieces of towelling and 800 ml water as control, giving a liquor:cloth ratio of 20:1. The cloths were rinsed in the liquor for 20 minutes, spun dry and allowed to dry in the atmosphere. The process was repeated in such a way that each pot was used for each liquor, giving 48 treated cotton pieces. The 12 pieces from each treatment were then submitted to a softness comparison by a 5-membered test panel according to a statistical design giving total scores representing a ranking order, scores reducing with increasing softness, with a minimum difference in score of 35 being significant. The results obtained were as follows.

Composition Softness score Example 3 117 Example 4 112 Commercial softener 131 Control 240 These results show that the softening effect of the compositions of the invention is at least as good as that of the commercial composition.

EXAMPLES 5 and 6 Two compositions were prepared as in Example 1, but using the following ingredients.

Parts Commercial fabric softener base consisting t0a\owimetyammonium of 15 20 Di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride 13.5 18 Mono(hardened tallow)trimethyl- ammonium chloride Glyceryl trioleate 7.5 10 Ethoxylated soya amine 7.5 10 Urea 70 60 The products were free-flowing powders similar to the product of Example 1, giving aqueous dispersions whose measured softener particle size was 0.32 microns in each instance.

EXAMPLE 7 A composition was prepared as in Example 1, except that the following ingredients were used and the softener mix was added to the solid urea and the mixture heated with stirring to 1200 before spray-cooling.

Parts Commercial fabric softener base of Example 5 25 Ulyceryl trioleate 12.5 Ethoxylated soya amine 12.5 Urea 50 The free-flowing powder obtained was similar in appearance to that of Example 1, and dissolved particularly readily in water at 150 to give dispersions with softener particle size 0.51 microns.

EXAMPLE 8 and 9 Fabric softener powders were prepared from the following ingredients.

Parts Di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride (recrystallised from acetone) 30 Glyceryl trioleate 15 Ethoxylated soya amine 15 Carrier 140 As carriers were used sorbitol (Example 8) and mannose (Example 9). The ingredients other than carrier were heated together with stirring to 700 until they formed a homogeneous liquid softener mix, which was added to the molten carrier with stirring until an emulsion was formed, and this was then cooled with stirring until solid, further cooled to ambient temperature without stirring, and ground to a free-flowing powder containing carrier-bound softener particles.

The powders dispersed readily in cold water to give dilute aqueous dispersions of particles of size 0.13 and 0.35 microns respectively, suitable for use as rinse liquors for softening fabrics.

EXAMPLE 10 The liquid softener mix of Example 8 (3 parts) was added to 70% aqueous sucrose solution (10 parts) at 700 with stirring until an emulsion was formed, and the emulsion drum-dried to give flakes which were ground to a free-flowing powder containing sucrose-bound softener. This powder dispersed readily in cold water to give a dilute aqueous dispersion of softener particles of size 1.0 micron.

EXAMPLE 11 The liquid softener mix of Example 8 (60 parts) was added to 70 -Ó aqueous sucrose solution (233 parts) at 700 with stirring until an emulsion was formed, and the emulsion cooled rapidly to 100 and freeze-dried to give a fine powder containing sucrose-bound softener. This powder dispersed rapidly in cold water to give a dilute aqueous dispersion of softener particles of size 0.68 microns.

EXAMPLES 12 to 17 Liquid softener mixes were prepared as in Example 8 and dispersed with stirring in solutions in demineralised water of various inorganic compounds at 70" to form hot aqueous emulsions which were rapidly frozen to --100 and then freezedried to give fine powders containing inorganic carrier-bound softener particles suitable for rapid dispersion in cold water to give fabric-softening rinse liquors.

The relative amounts of ingredients used and softener particle size provided by the products were as follows.

Example No.

12 1J 14 15 16 17 Di(hardened tallow) dimethylammonium chloride 30 15 Glyceryl trioleate 15 15 Ethoxylated soya amine 15 15 Carrier I ---cc7 Anhydrous sodium carbonate 140 1 ~~~~~~~~~ Sodium sulphate 140 Sodium borate 140 Potassium aluminium sulphate 140 Sodium chloride 140 Boric acid 140 Water: sufficient to dissolve carrier at 700.

Softener particle size (microns) 6.0 2.0 0.42 0.31 0.24 0.23 EXAMPLES 18 to 31 Liquid softener mixes were prepared by heating together various ingredients designated as follows.

Quaternary ammonium salts a, Di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride (as in Example 5) a2 Di(2-hydroxy-3-myristyloxypropyl)dimethylammonium chloride a2 3-Behenoyloxy-2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride Nonionic hydrophobic organic materials b1 Liquid paraffin b2 n-Octadecane b3 Di(hardened tallow)methylamine, mp 35 Surfactants Nonionic surfactants c, Ethoxylated soya amine (as in Example 1) Condensates of 1 mol of a mixture of 67% C,3 and 33% C5 aliphatic alcohols having an a-methyl content of about 50% with:: c2 10 mols ethylene oxide c3 15 mols ethylene oxide c4 20 mols ethylene oxide c5 Condensate of 1 mol of a mixture of n-(C16 to C20) alkanols with 15 mols ethylene oxide c6 Condensate of 1 mol oleyl alcohol with 10 mols ethylene oxide Zwitterionic surfactants d, 3-(2-Hydroxyoctadecyldimethylamino)propyl sulphonate d2 3-(2-Hydroxylauryldimethylamino)propyl sulphonate d3 3-(Hexadecyldimethylamino)-2-hydroxypropyl sulphonate Nonionic Quaternary hydrophobic Example ammonium organic No. salt Parts material Parts Surfactant Parts 18 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10

19 a2 # 15 b1 7.5 c1 7.5 20 a3 21 # a1 15 b2 7.5 c1 7.5 22 b3 23 C2 24 C3 25 C4 26 # a1 10 b1 10 C5 10 28 C6 29 # C7 d1 30 a1 15 b1 7.5 d 7.5 31 The quaternary ammonium salt, nonionic hydrophobic organic material and surfactant were in each instance heated together and stirred until a homogeneous liquid softener mix was formed. To the mix was added urea (70 parts) as carrier and heating and stirring continued until an emulsion of the softener mix in liquid urea was formed. This emulsion was then cooled with stirring until solid and then further cooled to ambient temperature and ground to a free-flowing powder consisting of particles containing fabric-softening compound held in a matrix of urea. The powders dispersed readily in cold water to give dilute aqueous dispersions suitable for use as rinse liquors for softening fabrics, of particles size as follows.

Particle size Example No. (microns) 18 0.69 19 0.36 20 0.35 21 0.36 22 1.15 23 0.34 24 0.26 25 0.25 26 0.31 27 0.22 28 0.42 29 0.23 30 0.26 31 0.25 EXAMPLES 32 and 33 Two fabric softener compositions were prepared from the following ingredients.

Parts The fabric softener base of Examples 5 and 6 15 N-(hardened tallow alkyl)carboxyamidoethyl N-methyl 2-(hardened tallow alkyl)-imidazolium methosulphate 15 Liquid paraffin 7.5 7.5 Condensate of 1 mol of a mixture of n-(C16-C30) alkanols with 15 mols ethylene oxide 7.5 7.5 Urea 70 70 All ingredients except the urea were mixed together and heated on a steam bath until a homogeneous liquid softener mix was obtained: this was added to molten urea with vigorous stirring until an emulsion was formed. The emulsion was rapidly cooled and ground to give a powder suitable as a water-dispersible fabricsoftening composition and providing aqueous dispersions having softener particle size of about 0.3 microns.

EXAMPLES 3" 36 A repeat of the procedure of Examples 18-31, using 10 parts of a1, 10 parts of c5, 70 parts of urea and 10 parts of n-decane (Example 34), or C11-C14 paraffin (Example 35), or 1-dodecene (Example 36) produces analogous results.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A solid fabric softening composition comprising a solid water-soluble nonsurfactant carrier having a solubility in water at 50C of at least 5% by weight, and particles containing: (i) a fabric-softening quaternary ammonium, pyridinium or imidazolinium salt: (ii) a nonionic or zwitterionic surfactant; and (iii) a nonionic hydrophobic organic material having a solubility in water at 200C of less than 10-6 molal and being readily deformable at 100C, wherein the particles are held as a fine dispersion in a matrix of the carrier that is sufficiently rigid to maintain the integrity of the particles while the composition is solid, so that when the composition is dispersed in water the carrier dissolves and releases the unagglomerated particles.

2. A composition according to Claim 1, and containing from 30 to 90% of the carrier and from 70 to 10% of the fabric softener, the surfactant and the nonionic hydrophobic organic material together, by total weight of these four components.

3. A composition according to Claim 2, and containing from 45 to 80% of the carrier by total weight of the four components.

4. A composition according to any preceding claim and containing from 20 to 60% of the fabric softener, from 5 to 75% of the surfactant, and from 2 to 70% of the hydrophonic organic material by total weight of these components.

5. A composition according to claim 4, and containing from 30 to 55% of the fabric softener, from 10 to 60% of the surfactant, and from 5 to 50% of the hydrophobic organic material, by total weight of these components.

6. A composition according to any preceding claim, in which the carrier is an inorganic salt.

7. A composition according to claim 6, in which the inorganic salt is sodium carbonate or sodium borate.

8. A composition according to claim 6, in which the inorganic salt is anhydrous sodium carbonate.

9. A composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the carrier is an organic compound of melting point above 40"C.

10. A composition according to claim 9, in which the carrier is urea.

11. A composition according to claim 9, in which the carrier is sorbitol or mannose.

12. A composition according to claim 9, in which the carrier is sucrose or oxidised starch.

13. A composition according to any preceding claim, in which the quaternary ammonium salt has a Krafft point above 700 C.

14. A composition according to claim 13, in which the quaternary ammonium salt is di(hardened tallow)dimethylammonium chloride.

15. A composition according to any preceding claim, in which the nonionic hydrophobic material is a hydrocarbon or an ester of a fatty acid having 1024 carbon atoms.

16. A composition according to any preceding claim, in which the surfactant is a nonionic surfactant.

17. A composition according to claim 16, in which the surfactant is an ethoxylated C,2 to C22 fatty amine.

18. A composition according to any one of claims 1 to 15, in which the surfactant is a zwitterionic surfactant.

19. A composition according to claim 1, substantially as described in any one of Examples 1, 2 and 5 to 33.

20. A process for preparing a composition according to any preceding claim, in which an emulsion is formed of the particle ingredients as disperse phase and the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. All ingredients except the urea were mixed together and heated on a steam bath until a homogeneous liquid softener mix was obtained: this was added to molten urea with vigorous stirring until an emulsion was formed. The emulsion was rapidly cooled and ground to give a powder suitable as a water-dispersible fabricsoftening composition and providing aqueous dispersions having softener particle size of about 0.3 microns. EXAMPLES 3" 36 A repeat of the procedure of Examples 18-31, using 10 parts of a1, 10 parts of c5, 70 parts of urea and 10 parts of n-decane (Example 34), or C11-C14 paraffin (Example 35), or 1-dodecene (Example 36) produces analogous results. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A solid fabric softening composition comprising a solid water-soluble nonsurfactant carrier having a solubility in water at 50C of at least 5% by weight, and particles containing: (i) a fabric-softening quaternary ammonium, pyridinium or imidazolinium salt: (ii) a nonionic or zwitterionic surfactant; and (iii) a nonionic hydrophobic organic material having a solubility in water at 200C of less than 10-6 molal and being readily deformable at 100C, wherein the particles are held as a fine dispersion in a matrix of the carrier that is sufficiently rigid to maintain the integrity of the particles while the composition is solid, so that when the composition is dispersed in water the carrier dissolves and releases the unagglomerated particles.

10. A composition according to claim 9, in which the carrier is urea.

carrier in the liquid phase as dispersion medium, and the dispersion medium is then converted to a solid carrier phase.

21. A process according to claim 20, where the carrier in the liquid phase is a solution of the carrier in sufficient water to make it liquid, and the dispersion medium is converted to a solid carrier phase by drying.

22. A process according to claim 21, where the carrier is an inorganic salt, sucrose or oxidised starch.

23. A process according to claim 20, where the carrier in the liquid phase is molten carrier, and the dispersion medium is converted to a solid carrier phase by cooling.

24. A process according to claim 23, where the carrier is urea, sorbitol or mannose.

25. A process according to claim 20, substantially as described in any one of Examples 1, 2 and 5 to 33.

26. A composition according to claim 1, when prepared by a process according to any one of claims 20 to 25.

27. A process for the softening of fabrics, in which a fabric is contacted with a rinse liquor in which has been dispersed a softening amount of-a composition according to any one of claims I to 10 and 26.

28. A process according to claim 27, substantially as described with reference to Examples 3 and 4.