JPH05106166A - Fiber product softened composition and manufacture of said composition - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a fabric softening compsn. comprising a water insoluble cationic fabric softening agent and a nonionic stabilizing agent wherein a biodegradable quaternary ammonium compd. having (an) ester bonding(s) is contained. which is suitable for an use as a fabric softening compsn. added to a rinsing soln. CONSTITUTION: A fabric softener is a biodegradable quaternary ammonium material having at least one ester bonding. A nonionic stabilizing agent is selected from (i) a linear 8-22C alcohol alkoxylated using 10-20 moles of alkylene oxide and (ii) 10-20C alcohol or mixtures thereof. Further, a method for preparing a liquid fabric softening compsn. comprises (i) a step to mix and heat the cationic fabric softener and the nonionic stabilizing agent to prepare a molten material and (ii) a step to disperse the molten material into water.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a textile softening composition,
In particular, a biodegradable textile softening composition containing a water-insoluble cationic textile softening agent and a nonionic stabilizer, which is suitable for use as a textile softening composition to be added to a rinsing solution. Of the aqueous dispersion of

Textile softening compositions for addition to rinse liquors are known. Compositions of this type typically contain water-insoluble quaternary ammonium textile softeners dispersed in water in an amount such that the level of softener is less than or equal to 7% by weight, or
The content of 50% by weight, the softener content being considered as a dilution of the former composition and of the latter composition as a concentrate. The textile softening composition desirably exerts effects other than softening. One such effect is to impart dirt release properties to textiles, especially textiles made of polyester fibers.

One of the problems associated with textile softening compositions is the physical instability of such compositions during storage. This problem is exacerbated when the composition is a concentrate and when storage is performed at low temperatures.

However, it is a consumer's desire that the concentrate can be stably stored at a low temperature. Physical instability manifests itself as a composition which, upon storage, thickens to a level such that the composition becomes non-flowable and may even become an irreversible gel. Thickening is highly undesirable as it makes it impossible for the composition to be preferably used.

In the past, the physical stability of textile softening compositions added to rinses has been improved by the addition of viscosity modifiers or anti-gelling agents. For example, European Patent No. 13780 (Procter & Gamble).
Now, a viscosity modifier is added to some concentrated compositions. The viscosity modifier may contain C ₁₀ -C ₁₈ fatty alcohols. Recently, European Patent No. 280550 (Unil
EVER) it has been proposed to improve the physical stability of diluted compositions containing a biodegradable ester linked quaternary ammonium compound and a fatty acid by the addition of a nonionic surfactant.

In concentrated compositions containing biodegradable ester-bonded quaternary ammonium compounds, the problem of physical instability is more severe than in compositions containing conventional quaternary ammonium compounds.

In EP 0 040 562 (Lesieur Cotelle), a nonionic emulsifier / stabilizer is added to a concentrate containing an ester linked quaternary ammonium compound to form a viscous gel. Stabilizers used are C ₁₂ -C ₁₄ alcohol ethoxylated with ethylene oxide 9 molecules. However, no mention is made of the degree of alcohol branching.

[0008] Certain nonionic stabilizers not only stabilize concentrated compositions containing biodegradable quaternary ammonium compounds, but are also environmentally friendly, that is, they are acceptable biodegradable. It is sexually active and practically not toxic to underwater living systems.

The imparting of dirt release properties to textiles is usually accomplished by including a dirt release agent, usually a high molecular weight polymer, in the detergent composition for further treatment. For example European Patent Publication No. 0 398 133
No. (Procter & Gamble) discloses cationic polymeric dirt release agents for inclusion in textile conditioning compositions.

Compositions containing a dirt release agent are disadvantageous in that the number of ingredients added increases, the cost increases and it becomes less environmentally acceptable.

Applicants have now discovered that textile softening compositions containing biodegradable, ester linked quaternary ammonium compounds can impart excellent dirt release properties to textiles.

That is, the present invention provides, in one aspect thereof, a textile softening composition containing a water-insoluble cationic textile softener and a nonionic stabilizer, which composition comprises The agent is a biodegradable quaternary ammonium material having at least one ester bond,
And wherein the nonionic stabilizing agent is i) from 10 to 20 mol linear C ₈ -C ₂₂ alcohol alkoxylated with an alkylene oxide or ii) C ₁₀ ~C ₂₀ alcohol or mixtures thereof.

[0013] nonionic stabilizer is more advantageous is alkoxylated linear C ₈ -C ₂₂ alcohol 10 to 20 moles of alkylene oxide.

Preferably, the composition of the present invention is a liquid which comprises an aqueous base.

The water-insoluble cationic fabric softener contained in the fabric softening composition of the present invention comprises two C ₁₂ -C ₂₈ linked to the N atom via one or more ester bonds.
Advantageously, it is a compound having an alkyl or alkenyl group.

Ester-bonded quaternary ammonium materials which may preferably be used in the composition according to the invention have the formula

[0017]

[Chemical 1]

The radicals R _1, which can be [2 wherein the be represented by is selected independently of one another from among C ₁ -C ₄ alkyl, alkenyl and hydroxyalkyl groups and two radicals R ₂ are C ₈ ~ Independently selected from C ₂₈ alkyl and alkenyl groups, T is

[0019]

[Chemical 2]

Or

[0021]

[Chemical 3]

And n is an integer of 0-5].

Expression

[0024]

[Chemical 4]

Compounds represented by the formula wherein R ₁ , n and R ₂ are as defined above are also second preferred quaternary ammonium substances.

The above-mentioned preferable substances and the production method thereof are described in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,137,180 (Leve).
r Brothers). Preferably, the material is the corresponding monoester as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,180, ie 1
A small amount of tallowoxy, 2-hydroxytrimethylammonium propane chloride.

The concentration of the ester-bonded quaternary ammonium compound is preferably at least 1% by weight of the composition, more preferably above 3% by weight and containing more than 7% by weight of the ester-bonded quaternary ammonium compound. Is particularly preferable. The level range of ester-bonded quaternary ammonium compounds is preferably from 1 to 80% by weight, more preferably 3%.
˜50 wt%, most preferred is 8-50 wt%.

Suitable nonionic stabilizers which may be used in the compositions of the present invention include C _{8 to} C ₂₂ primary straight chain alcohols and 10
-20 mol of ethylene oxide and a condensate are mentioned. As used herein, the term "straight chain alcohol" means a primary alcohol directly attached to the hydrocarbon backbone structure. If the dose of ethylene oxide is less than 10 mol, the aquatic toxicity of the stabilizer is unacceptably increased, especially when the alkyl chains are in the tallow range. Since the aquatic toxicity of the stabilizer is related to both the number of moles of ethylene oxide and the length of the alkyl chain, it has been found that the HLB value can be used as an indicator of aquatic toxicity. If HLB is greater than about 12, 1 mg
An unacceptable acute aquatic toxicity value of> 1/1 is obtained (EC ₅₀ 48 hours for Daphnia and algae, EC ₅₀ 96 hours for fish). By choosing a straight chain alcohol and using 20 moles or less of ethylene oxide, a nonionic stabilizer having acceptable biodegradability can be obtained. However, the use of nonionic stabilizers containing more than 20 ethylene oxide units would also be beneficial for stability. The alcohol may be saturated or unsaturated. Both are available from Hoechst AG, such as Genapol T-110 and Genapol T-1.
50, Genapol T-200 and Genapol
C-200, Lutensol AT1 from BASF
8, Hoechst Genapol O-100 and G
enapol O-150, or, for example, Albri
Laurex CS and She by ght & Wilson
A fatty alcohol such as Adol 340 from rex is preferred. Preferably, the nonionic stabilizer has an HLB of 10
-20, and more preferably 12-20.

The level of nonionic stabilizer is preferably 0.1 to 10% by weight, more preferably 0.5 to 5% by weight.
And 1 to 4% by weight is the most preferable. The molar ratio of quaternary ammonium compound to nonionic stabilizer is 40: 1 to about 1: 1 and preferably 18: 1 to about 3: 1.

The composition of the present invention may also contain fatty acids such as C _{8 to} C ₂₄ alkyl or alkenyl monocarboxylic acids and polymers thereof. Preferably saturated fatty acids, in particular use a curing tallow C ₁₆ -C ₁₈ fatty acids. The fatty acids are preferably unsaponified and more preferably free of eg oleic acid, lauric acid or tallow fatty acids.

The level of fatty acid material is preferably above 0.1% by weight, more preferably above 0.2% by weight.
Particularly preferred are concentrates containing 0.5 to 20% by weight, especially 1 to 10% by weight of fatty acids. The weight ratio of quaternary ammonium material to fatty acid material is preferably 10: 1 to 1: 1.
It is 0.

The composition of the present invention preferably has a pH of greater than 2.0, more preferably a pH of less than 5.

The compositions of the present invention include non-aqueous solvents, pH buffers, fragrances, fragrance carriers, fluorescent agents, colorants, hydrotropes, defoamers, anti-redeposition agents, enzymes, optical brighteners, opaque agents. One or more optional ingredients selected from agents, anti-shrinking agents, anti-wrinkling agents, stain-proofing agents, bactericides, fungicides, antioxidants, anticorrosives, folds, antistatic agents and ironing aids Can also be included.

The compositions of the present invention can also include nonionic textile softeners such as lanolin and its derivatives.

[0035]

The present invention is illustrated by the following non-limiting examples. In each example, all compositional percentages are by weight.

Example 1 A liquid textile softening composition was prepared as follows.

Cationic textile softener, fatty acid,
Furthermore, if appropriate, a nonionic stabilizer was premixed and heated together to produce a transparent melt. The thus-prepared molten mixture was added to water at 70 to 80 ° C. over a period of at least 1 minute with constant stirring to prepare a dispersion liquid.

The viscosity of the resulting composition was measured by a Haake rotary viscometer (ro) after storage for 21 days at ambient or 5 ° C.
It was measured by a toviscomter).

Composition A B C D E F G component Arquad 2HT ¹⁾ 12.8 − − − − − − HT TMAPC ²⁾ − 16 16 16 16 11.6 12.6 Fatty acid ³⁾ 3.2 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 1.9 2.
1 Tallow 11EO ⁴⁾ − 3 − − − − − Palm oil 10EO ⁵⁾ − − 2 − − − − Tallow 20EO ⁶⁾ − − − 3 − − − Alcohol ⁷⁾ − − − − − 1.5 1.5 Water + Trace substances Viscosity at 110 s ^-1 (mPa) Ambient temperature 159 77 34 43 90 53 50 5 ° C 155 66 38 47 Gel 50 50 Note: Composition A is currently under the trademark "COMFOR" by Lever in the United Kingdom.
Corresponds to the textile softening composition marketed under T ".

¹⁾ ; Arquad 2HT is a di-hardened tallow dimethylammonium chloride available from Akzo Chemie.

²⁾ ; HT TMAPC is available from Hoechst
1,2 di-cured tallowyloxy-3-trimethyl-ammoniopropane chloride.

³⁾ ; Hardened tallow fatty acid Pristerine 4916 available from Unichema.

⁴⁾ ; tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 11 moles of ethylene oxide, HLB13.

⁵⁾ ; Coconut oil alcohol ethoxylated with 10 moles of ethylene oxide, HLB14.

⁶⁾ ; TLB alcohol ethoxylated with 20 moles of ethylene oxide, HLB20.

⁷⁾ ; Laurex CS, tallow alcohol containing 65-80% C ₁₈ and 20-23% C ₁₆ , available from Albright & Wilson.

The results of the measurement show that the known fabric softening composition (composition A) containing a usual quaternary ammonium compound does not show physical instability on short-term storage at 5.degree. It has been shown that problems occur with compositions containing quaternary ammonium compounds and fatty acids (Composition E). It is also clear from the above results that the addition of the selected nonionic stabilizer can prevent the stability from decreasing and a stable concentrated composition can be obtained.

Example 2 Liquid textile softening compositions A and B having the following compositions were prepared by the method described in Example 1. The soil release properties imparted to polyester test pieces by treatment with the resulting composition were measured by measuring the reflectance change of the test piece after washing the stained test piece in a proprietary detergent composition. evaluated. First, a test piece was prepared using the composition A or B.
Was rinsed in 1 liter of 14 ° FH water containing 0.67 ml for 5 minutes. Next, the test piece was hung on a rope and dried, and the dried test piece was stained with 100 μl of olive oil containing 0.06% of Sudan red dye. After spreading the stain for a minimum of 2 days, the reflectance (R ₁ ) of the stained specimen was measured by ICS Micromatch. The test piece is then placed at 14 ° FH
New System available from Lever in the water
Persil Automatic was used in an amount of 5 g / l for a 15 minute wash cycle, rinsed and hung on a rope to dry. The reflectance (R ₂ ) after washing of the pretreated test piece was measured, and the washing rate (%) was calculated by the following equation: washing rate (%) = [(Ks ₁ −Ks ₂ ) / Ks ₁ ] × 100 [Equation Medium Ks ₁ = (1-R ₁ ) ² / 2R ₁ , Ks ₂ = (1-
R ₂ ) ² / 2R ₂ ].

The higher the cleaning rate is, the greater the dust release effect is.

The compositions A B Component ^{(wt%) Arquad 2HT 1) - 12.8} HT TMAPC 2) 11.6 - fatty ³⁾ 1.9 3.2 Tallow 11EO ⁴⁾ 2.5 - amount detergency ratio of the entire water and trace substances and 100 (%) 30 21 Note: Composition B is currently under the trademark "COMFOR" by Lever in the United Kingdom.
It corresponds to the textile softening composition marketed under T ". ¹⁾ , ²⁾ , ³⁾ and ⁴⁾ are the same as in Example 1.

The above results show that the known composition containing conventional quaternary ammonium compounds (composition B) has a dirt-release effect smaller than that of the composition according to the present invention (composition A). ing.

Example 3 A preferred composition example of the composition according to the present invention is as follows.

The compositions A B C Component ^{(wt%) HT TMAPC 2) 11.6 11.6} 11.6 fatty acid ³⁾ 1.9 1.9 1.9 Tallow 11EO ⁴⁾ - 2.5 - tallow alcohol ⁷⁾ 1.5 - - Tallow 15 EO ⁸⁾ - - 1.5 Isopropyl alcohol 1.6 1.6 1.6 Glycerol 1.6 1.6 1.6 Fragrances, dyes and trace substances 0.8 0.8 0.8 Amount based on 100 as total water Note: ²⁾ , ³⁾ , ⁴⁾ and ⁷⁾ are the same as in Example 1.

⁸⁾ ; tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 15 moles of ethylene oxide.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location C11D 1/72 8827-4H 3/26 8827-4H

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A fabric softening composition comprising a water-insoluble cationic fabric softener and a nonionic stabilizer, wherein the fabric softener has at least one ester bond and is biodegradable. quaternary and ammonium material, also nonionic stabilizers i) is 10 to 20 mol linear C ₈ -C ₂₂ alcohol alkoxylated with an alkylene oxide or ii) C ₁₀ ~C ₂₀ alcohol or mixtures thereof, of A softening composition for textile products, which is characterized in that: 2. A composition according to claim 1, characterized in that the nonionic stabilizer is a linear C ₈ -C ₂₂ alcohol alkoxylated with 10 to 20 mol of alkylene oxide. 3. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the quaternary ammonium substance content is 1% by weight or more. 4. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the content of the nonionic stabilizer is 0.1 to 10% by weight. 5. Composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it also contains more than 0.1% by weight of fatty acid substances. 6. A quaternary ammonium substance in an amount of 3 to 50% by weight, a nonionic stabilizer in an amount of 0.5 to 5% by weight, and 0.5 to 5% by weight.
Composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it contains 20% by weight of fatty acid substances. 7. The nonionic stabilizer has an HLB of 10 to 20.
The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein 8. The nonionic stabilizer has an HLB of 12 to 20.
The composition according to claim 7, which is: 9. A water-insoluble cationic textile softener comprising a compound having two C ₁₂ -C ₂₈ alkyl or alkenyl groups linked to N atoms via one or more ester bonds. Any one of claims 1 to 8
The composition according to the item. 10. A method for producing a liquid textile softening composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein i) a cationic textile softener and a nonionic stabilizer are mixed. And a step of producing a melt by heating, and ii) a step of dispersing the melt in water.