JPH0215664B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

Aqueous textile treatment compositions comprising 2% to 11% of an active mixture comprising a water-insoluble cationic fabric softener, a water-insoluble nonionic fabric softener selected from C10-C24 non-cyclic hydrocarbons and C10-C40 fatty acid esters, and an alkoxylated ammonium surfactant having the general formula <CHEM> wherein R5 is C12-C24 alkyl or alkenyl, and R6, R7 and R8 represent C1-C4 alkyl, aryl or (CnH2nO)yH, wherein n is 2 or 3, y is from 0 to 9 and the sum total of CnH2nO groups is from 1 to 9, and wherein X is a counteranion. The compositions are stable compositions displaying excellent viscosity characteristics, softening and antistatic performance.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to fabric treatment compositions. More particularly, the present invention is suitable for use in the rinse cycle of fabric laundry operations to provide softening/static control benefits and is characterized by excellent physical properties during storage. Relating to aqueous compositions. Fabric treatment compositions suitable for providing fabric softening and static control benefits during laundering include:
It is well known in the art and has found extensive commercial applicability. Typically, fabric softening compositions added during rinsing contain as the active softening component a substantially water-insoluble cationic material having two long alkyl chains. Typical substances of this type are distearyldimethylammonium chloride and imidazolinium compounds substituted with two stearyl groups. However, while these cationic compounds are very effective softeners when applied in rinse solutions, there are certain disadvantages associated with their use. For example, cationic compounds with long alkyl chains can carry over anionic detergents into the rinse solution.
very sensitive to Because anion-cation complexes tend to precipitate out of solution, carryover of anionic detergents tends to eliminate the softening effect. Additionally, certain cationic surfactant compounds are expensive and in limited supply, and it is therefore desirable for commercial reasons to provide softening compositions with small amounts of cationic surfactant compounds. . Although certain water-insoluble nonionic compounds have been proposed as fabric softeners, these compounds have been found to precipitate very inefficiently from aqueous solutions due to their lack of positive charge, and are therefore referred to as ``carrier agents''. must be used in conjunction with a cationic surfactant material to act as a Compositions of this type containing a mixture of water-insoluble cationic and nonionic substances ensure that the composition has the necessary phase stability and viscosity properties over long periods of storage both at low and high temperature conditions. must be prescribed with great care. especially,
The viscosity of the product must not be so high as to cause pourability or gel formation problems, nor be so low as to give a poor impression to the consumer, and of course the viscosity must not be so high as to cause problems with pourability or gel formation, and of course the viscosity must not be so high that it can withstand long-term storage at various temperature conditions. It must be stable within an appropriate range over time. GB 1550205 and GB 1550206 disclose the use of certain cationic surfactants to increase the adhesion of fatty acid ester softeners to fabrics. US Patent No.
No. 4,233,164 discloses the use of protonated dipolyethoxymonoalkylamines to improve freeze-thaw recovery of cationic fabric conditioners and fabric conditioning compositions containing fatty acid esters. However, excellent flexibility/
There remains a need for fabric treatment compositions that have demand protection benefits and combine optimal viscosity and phase stability properties. The present invention provides fabric treatment compositions that have improved softening properties, particularly under hard water wash/rinse conditions, and improved formulation viscosity properties and excellent phase stability properties during long-term storage. Therefore, the present invention provides general formula () (In the formula, R ₁ and R ₂ represent an alkyl group or an alkenyl group having 12 to 24 carbon atoms, and R ₃ and R ₄ represent hydrogen or an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, or a hydroxyalkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. , and X is an equivalent counteranion) from 1% to 10% by weight of the composition, and a _C10 to _C24 acyclic hydrocarbon and total Ten
Contains 2% to 11% by weight of the composition of an active mixture containing 0.5% to 5% by weight of the composition of a substantially water-insoluble nonionic fabric softener selected from fatty acid esters having ~40 carbon atoms. In the composition, the active mixture further has the general formula () [In the formula, R ₅ represents a C ₁₆ to C ₂₂ alkyl group or alkenyl group, n is 2, and x and y are each 0 to 6
from 0.1% to 2% by weight of the composition; The present invention provides an aqueous fabric treatment composition characterized by containing: Preferably, the fabric treatment composition contains about 2% to about 8% cationic fabric softener, more preferably 2.5% to about 6% alkoxylated ammonium surfactant.
0.4% to about 1.5%, more preferably about 0.5% to about 1.2
%, and about 1% to about 3% nonionic fabric softener,
More preferably, it contains about 1% to about 2%. These amounts of active substance are preferred with a view to obtaining optimum product viscosity and stability properties. "Number average" means that each x, y represents the weight average number of moles of alkylene oxide within the corresponding polyoxyalkylene residue of the surfactant. It should be noted that, depending on the exact PH of the fabric treatment composition, non-quaternary ammonium type alkoxylated surfactants can be present in the composition in partially deprotonated form. In this type of case, all weight percentages and proportions are expressed in terms of the corresponding fully protonated salt. The compositions of the present invention are generally formulated to have a slightly acidic PH, preferably about 3.5-7, more preferably about 4-6. Additionally, it is desirable that the PH of the final formulation be lower than the acidity constant (pka) of the amine so that the amine is present primarily in the form of a protonated or ammonium derivative. Physically, the composition takes the form of a dispersion of cationic and nonionic fabric softener particles in an aqueous continuum containing at least some alkoxylated ammonium surfactant. A highly preferred composition comprises (a) from about 2% to about 8% of a cationic fabric softener having the general formula (); (b) from about 0.4% to about 1.5% of an alkoxylated ammonium surfactant having the general formula (). % (the weight ratio of (a) to (b) is within the range of about 6:1 to about 3:1). (c) Non-ionic fabric softener approximately 1% to approximately 3% [((a)+
(b)] to (c) in a weight ratio of from about 6:1 to about 1.5:1). The nonionic fabric softener materials used in the present invention include _C10 to _C24 acyclic hydrocarbons and 10 total carbon atoms.
~40 fatty acid esters. A particularly preferred material is glyceryl monostearate. The present invention involves (a) preparing a molten premix of a water-insoluble cationic fabric softener, a water-soluble alkoxylated surfactant, and a water-insoluble nonionic fabric softener; Also provided is a method of preparing a fabric treatment composition generally described above, comprising: preparing an aqueous dispersion by intimately mixing; and (c) cooling the dispersion. The compositions of the present invention are preferably stable for separation for 16 hours in a centrifuge at 3000 rpm and approximately 350 cp as measured on a Bruckfield viscometer using spindle No. 2 at 60 rpm and 21°C.
(0.35 pa.s) to about 70 cp (0.07 pa.s), preferably from about 200 cp (0.2 pa.s) to about 100 cp (0.1 pa.s). The various components of the composition of the present invention are detailed below. The water-insoluble cationic fabric softener is preferably a fabric-adhesive cationic compound that has a solubility in distilled water of less than 1 g/m at PH 2.5 and 20°C in pure form, such as a strong acid salt (e.g. chloride). or a mixture of such compounds. The soluble fraction of surfactants is that material that cannot be separated from water by centrifugation and passes through a 100 nm Nuclepore filter. Additionally, the cationic softener desirably has a monomer solubility (depending on the critical micelle concentration or CMC) such that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the material under said conditions is less than about 50 ppm, preferably less than about 20 ppm. measurement). If possible, take CMC values from the literature, especially those for surface tension, conductivity or dye adsorption. A virtually water-insoluble cationic fabric softener with the formula (In the formula, R ₁ and R ₂ represent an alkyl group or an alkenyl group having about 12 to about 24 carbon atoms, and R ₃ and
R ₄ is hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to about 4 carbon atoms,
represents an alkenyl group or a hydroxyalkyl group, and X is the counteranion of the salt, preferably selected from halogen, methylsulfate, ethylsulfate, ethylsulfate, benzoate, acetate, propionate and phosphate groups) It is a quaternary ammonium and amine salt compound with Representative examples of these quaternary softeners are ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride; ditallow dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate; dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride; di(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride; dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride; Di-eicosyldimethylammonium chloride; Didocosyldimethylammonium chloride; Di(hydrogenated tallow)dimethylammonium methyl sulfate; Dihexadecyldiethylammonium chloride; Di(coconut alkyl)dimethylammonium chloride; and Di(coconut alkyl) Dimethylammonium methosulfate. Among these, ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride and di(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride are preferred. The alkoxylated ammonium surfactant component includes both quaternary and non-quaternary ammonium compounds, with the latter being preferred from the standpoint of providing optimal viscosity and stability properties. A suitable non-quaternary surfactant is, for example, a protonated mono- or di-polyethoxy primary alkyl amine, in which the amine has from about 16 to about 22 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. ,
and the average number of ethoxy groups per polyethoxy chain is from 0 to about 6, preferably from about 0 to about 3, and the total number of polyethoxy groups per molecule is from 1 to about 6, preferably from 1 to about 3. Highly preferred amines have alkyl groups derived from cured or uncured tallow or stearyl and are ethoxylated with an average of about 2 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of amine (where x and y are 1). ). Corresponding polyalkoxylated quaternary ammonium surfactants, for example where R ₅ is C ₁₆ -C ₂₂ alkyl or alkenyl, R ₆ is methyl or ethyl, and R ₇ and R ₈ are each of the formula (C ₂ H ₄ O) _x H, (C ₂ H ₄ O) _y H (where x and y are each 0 to about 6, preferably 0 to about 3, the sum of x and y is 1 to about 6, Surfactants, preferably from 1 to about 3) groups, are also suitable. In a particular example,
R ₅ is talloyl, R ₆ is methyl, and x, y are each about 1. Preferred water-insoluble nonionic fabric softeners of the fatty acid ester type are _C12 to _C24 fatty acid esters of mono- or poly-hydroxy alcohols having from 1 to about 12 carbon atoms. Preferably the alcohol has from 1 to about 8 carbon atoms and the fatty acid ester has at least one, more preferably at least two, free (ie, non-esterified) hydroxyl groups. The monohydric alcohol part or polyhydric alcohol part of the ester is methanol, isobutanol,
- ethyl-hexanol, isopropanol, ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols with up to 5 ethylene glycol units, glycerin, diglycerin, polyglycerin, xylitol, erythritol, pentaerythritol, sorbitol or sorbitan, sugars such as glycol, fructose, galactose , mannose, xylose, arabinose, ribose, 2-
Can be deoxy-ribose, sedoheptulose, and sucrose. Esters of ethylene glycol, glycerin and sorbitan are particularly preferred, especially monoesters of glycerin. The fatty acid portion of the ester usually consists of fatty acids having 10 to 24 carbon atoms (preferably 12 to 22), typical examples being lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, oleic acid and It is linoleic acid. Glycerin esters are very highly preferred.
These are monoesters, diesters or triesters of glycerin and fatty acids of the type mentioned above. Commercial glyceryl monostearate containing small amounts of distearate and tristearate is preferred. Also useful are mixtures of saturated and unsaturated esters of glycerin derived from mixed saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Another suitable group of nonionic fabric conditioning agents are C ₁₀ to _{C 24} fatty acid esters of sorbitan;
For example, it is described in US Pat. No. 4,085,052. lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachic acid or behenic acid,
Sorbitan monoesters and diesters of oleic or linoleic acid are particularly useful as softeners and also provide antistatic benefits. Sorbitan esters are commercially available, for example under the trade name Span. For the purposes of the present invention, it is preferred that significant amounts of disorbitan esters and trisorbitan esters are present in the ester mixture. Preference is given to ester mixtures having 20% to 50% monoesters, 25% to 50% diesters, and 10% to 35% triesters and tetraesters. Preferred nonionic fabric softeners of the hydrocarbon type are:
It is a paraffin or olefin having about 14 to about 22 carbon atoms. Particularly preferred are the substances commonly known as paraffin oil, soft wax and trolatum. Examples of specific substances are tetradecane, hexadecane, octadecane and octadecene.
Preferred commercially available paraffin mixtures are:
Examples are spindle oils and gas oils, technical grade mixtures of _C14 / _C17 n-paraffins and _C18 / _C20 n-paraffins and deacidified white oils. In addition to the cationic softener component, the nonionic softener component, and the alkoxylated ammonium surfactant component, the composition contains ingredients commonly used in fabric treatment compositions (optionally distributed ingredients). , such as colorants, fragrances, preservatives, optical brighteners, opacifiers, PH buffers, viscosity modifiers, fabric conditioning agents, surfactants, stabilizers such as guar gum and polyethylene glycols, anti-shrink agents, Anti-wrinkle agents, fabric crisping agents, non-ionic softeners, spotting agents,
It can be supplemented with stain removers, disinfectants, fungicides, antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene, anticorrosives, etc. Of course, the amounts of these optional ingredients can be controlled, if necessary, so as not to adversely affect the physical stability and viscosity properties of the product. Other ingredients that may be added according to the general formula () (wherein R ₉ represents a C ₈ -C ₂₄ alkyl group or alkenyl group, and R ₁₀ , R ₁₁ , R ₁₂ are independently C ₁
~ _C4 alkyl or alkenyl group, or aryl group, and X is as defined above). Suitable substances of this general type are, for example, tallow trimethylammonium salt, cetyltrimethylammonium salt, myristyltrimethylammonium salt and coconut alkyltrimethylammonium salt. In addition to the above ingredients, the composition can contain other fabric treatment or conditioning agents. Examples of this type are the silicones described in German patent application DOS 2631419. Approximately
It can be used in amounts of 0.1% to about 6%, preferably 0.2% to 2%. Other ingredients optionally included in the composition range from about 2,000 to 250,000, preferably about 5,000
It is a water-soluble cationic polymer having a molecular weight of ~150,000 and containing an average of about 100 to about 1,000, preferably about 150 to 700, monomer units per molecule. The molecular weight was determined to be the viscosity average molecular weight and measured at 25°C using an Ostwald viscometer by F. Daniels et al., Experimental Physical Chemistry, pp. 71-74, 242-
246, as described by McGraw-Hill (1949). The polymer is preferably soluble in distilled water at 20°C to the extent of 0.5% by weight. This type of polymer provides valuable softening in the presence of anionic surfactants carried over from previous cleaning operations and can also contribute to viscosity control. Suitable polymers of this type are e.g.
polyethyleneimine having an average molecular weight of ~35,000, wherein the weight ratio of polyethyleneimine to ethylene oxide is at least 1:1 and a molecular weight of about
20,000 to about 70,000, and quaternized polyethyleneimine sold under the trade name Alcostat by Allied Colloids. Preservatives suitable for use in the present compositions include, for example, 2-nitro-2-bromo-propane-1,3-
Diol, glutaraldehyde and 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one and its 5
- It is a chloro derivative. The fabric treatment compositions of this invention can be used by adding them to the rinse cycle of a normal home laundry operation. Generally, the rinse water has a temperature of about 5°C to about 60°C. The concentration of total active ingredients generally ranges from about 2 ppm to about 1000 ppm, based on the weight of the aqueous rinse bath.
Preferably it is about 10 ppm to about 500 ppm. In general, the present invention in its fabric treatment method comprises: (a) washing the fabric with a detergent composition in a conventional washing machine; (b) rinsing the fabric; and (c) in the rinsing step. and (d) drying the fabric. Detergent compositions usually contain anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants or mixtures thereof, and often also contain organic or inorganic builders. If multiple rinses are used, the fabric conditioning composition is preferably added to the final rinse. Drying of the fabric can be carried out either in ventilation or in an automatic dryer. The following examples illustrate the invention. In the examples, the following abbreviations are used: Ditalodimethylammonium chloride
DTDMAC Didocosyldimethylammonium chloride
DDDMAC dilauryl diethylammonium methosa
DLDEAM sulfate ethoxylated tallowamine (2ED), TA2EO benzoate ethoxylated stearylamine (5EO), SA5EO phosphate ethoxylated coconut amine (3EO), CA3EO acetate di(hydroxyethyl)methyl tallow
DHMTAC Ammonium chloride monotaroyl trimethyl ammonium
MTTMAC Chloride Glyceryl Monostearate (40% monoester GMS ester; 60% diester and triester) Example An aqueous fabric treatment composition having the following composition is prepared.

[Table] A composition is prepared as follows. A melt premix of a water-insoluble cationic fabric softener, a water-insoluble non-ionic fabric softener and an alkoxylated ammonium surfactant, silicone, if present, and a non-alkoxylated water-soluble surfactant is prepared at a temperature of about 65°C. . The molten premix is then poured into a water sheet containing trace ingredients other than fragrance, maintained at about 45°C, and heated to about 50°C.
Stir for a minute. The dispersion is then passed through a heat exchanger to reduce the temperature to about 25°C and finally the perfume is added. The product thus prepared is a stable dispersion that exhibits excellent viscosity properties over long periods of storage at both low and high temperatures and is suitable for a range of natural to synthetic fabrics in both hard and soft water. It exhibits excellent softening and antistatic performance across the board, and also exhibits excellent dispensing and dissolving properties in the cold rinse water.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 General formula () (In the formula, R ₁ and R ₂ represent an alkyl group or an alkenyl group having 12 to 24 carbon atoms, and R ₃ and R ₄ represent hydrogen or an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, or a hydroxyalkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. , and X is an equivalent counteranion) from 1% to 10% by weight of the composition, and a _C10 to _C24 acyclic hydrocarbon and total Ten
Contains 2% to 11% by weight of the composition of an active mixture containing 0.5% to 5% by weight of the composition of a substantially water-insoluble nonionic fabric softener selected from fatty acid esters having ~40 carbon atoms. In the composition, the active mixture further has the general formula () [In the formula, R ₅ represents a C ₁₆ to C ₂₂ alkyl group or alkenyl group, n is 2, and x and y are each 0 to 6
and the sum of x and y is in the range 1 to 6, where x is as defined above. ] An aqueous fabric treatment composition comprising 0.1% to 2% of an alkoxylated ammonium surfactant having the following properties based on the weight of the composition. 2. The composition according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains 2% to 8% of a cationic fabric softener having the general formula () based on the weight of the composition. 3. 0.4% to 1.5% of the alkoxylated ammonium surfactant having the general formula () based on the weight of the composition.
The composition according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it contains: 4 Non-ionic fabric softener at 1% by weight of composition
The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the composition contains ~3%. 5. Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that x and y are each a number average within the range of 0 to 3, and the total of x and y is within the range of 1 to 3. The composition according to any one of the above. 6. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the nonionic softener is glyceryl monostearate. 7 (a) 2% to 8% of a cationic fabric softener having the general formula (); (b) 0.4% to 1.5% of an alkoxylated ammonium surfactant having the general formula () ((a) vs. (b)); (c) Non-ionic fabric softener 1% to 3% ([(a)+(b)]
(c) in a weight ratio of 6:1 to 1.5:1)
The composition according to any one of Items 1 to 6.