JPH06184936A - Liquid soft-finishing agent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a liquid soft-finishing agent containing a neutralized product or quaternized product of a specific compound as an essential component, giving excellent softness and elasticity (puffy touch) to various fibers, and excellent in dispersibility. CONSTITUTION:A di (long chain) amine compound of the formula (R<1>, R<2> are 1-4C alkyl, hydroxyalkyl; R<3>, R<4> are OH-substituted 7-36C alkyl or alkenyl) is treated with an inorganic acid or organic acid or with an alkyl halide such as methyl chloride to produce its neutralized product or quaternized product. The concentration of the amine compound in a solution is suitably 10-30wt.%. The finishing agent is high in stability to long term storage and excellent in biodegradability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a softening finish, and more particularly to a liquid softening finish which can impart excellent flexibility and elasticity (puffiness) to various fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently,
Most of the products marketed as household softening agents are mainly quaternary ammonium salts having two long-chain alkyl groups in one molecule as typified by di (hardened tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium chloride. And the composition. The reason for this is that a small amount of quaternary ammonium salt has a good softening effect on various fibers.

However, although the above quaternary ammonium salt has a remarkable softening effect on cotton, it is sufficiently effective on synthetic fibers such as acrylic, polyester and polyamide fibers. It is difficult to say, and if the treatment is carried out at a higher concentration, the elasticity of the clothing may be deteriorated and the texture may be impaired.

Further, since the above quaternary ammonium salt has a strong hydrophobicity, when it is poured into rinsing water when the stirring power is weak, the dispersibility in water is poor and, therefore, there is a possibility that the garment may be uneven. Further, particularly when it is stored for a long period of time at a low temperature, it may thicken, form a gel, or separate. Commercially available softeners contain various additives in addition to the above quaternary ammonium salts to improve dispersibility in water and long-term storage stability, but the effect is still insufficient.

Liquid softening finishes having various amines as softening bases have been conventionally known. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-
59796 discloses a composition for imparting flexibility to a fiber containing a long-chain alkylamine such as methyldi (cured tallow alkyl) amine, and JP-A-58-6070 discloses an acylated alkanolamine, a water-soluble composition. A fiber material finishing agent that imparts smoothness and comfortable feel to a fiber containing a quaternary ammonium salt and a fatty acid ester is disclosed in JP-A-61-167083. Quaternary ammonium compound, higher fatty acid and hydroxy lower alkyl polyamine. A softener having good dispersibility containing a polyglycol ether, JP-A-61-275474 discloses a stable aqueous dispersion for treating textiles containing a di (higher alkyl) cyclic amine and a Bronsted acid. JPA
64-85368 discloses a softening composition containing a dilong alkylamine-anionic surfactant ion pair complex, a non-silicone wax and a liquid carrier, and JP-A-2-6662 discloses hydroxy lower alkyl. A fabric conditioning composition containing an amine such as a condensate of an alkylenediamine and a higher fatty acid and an amphoteric fabric conditioning agent is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 14076/1990, which is a flexible resin containing a dilong-chain alkylamine-polyfunctional carboxylic acid complex. , A fabric conditioning composition that imparts antistatic properties.

Further, JP-A-52-5394 describes a fabric condition-controlling composition containing a mono- or di-long-chain alkylalkylenediamine antistatic agent and a quaternary ammonium softening agent.

However, the softening agents containing these amines have relatively good dispersibility and storage stability as compared with the softening agents containing the quaternary ammonium salt, but the softening performance is still insufficient. Further, recently, there is a growing concern over the influence on the environment all over the world, and a soft base having excellent biodegradability is desired. However, the above-mentioned softening agent containing an amine is not sufficiently effective in this respect as well.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of earnest studies on a softening agent containing an amine, the present inventors have found that a neutralized product or a quaternized product of a specific (dilong chain type) amine compound has a The present invention has been completed by finding that it is a soft base material which is excellent and can impart elasticity (puffiness) to clothes and is excellent in biodegradability.

That is, the present invention provides a liquid softening finish containing a neutralized product or a quaternized product of a compound represented by the following general formula (A) as an essential component.

[0010]

[Chemical 2]

[Wherein R ¹ and R ² are alkyl groups having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or hydroxyalkyl groups R ³ and R ⁴ are linear or branched carbon atoms having from 7 to 36, which may be substituted with a hydroxyl group. Represents an alkyl group or an alkenyl group. ].

Typical examples of the compound represented by the above general formula (A) include acylated products of N, N-dimethyl-3-alkoxy-2-hydroxypropylamine. This compound can be easily obtained by reacting N, N-dimethylamine with an alkyl glycidyl ether to obtain an ether compound having a hydroxyl group and further acylating it with a fatty acid or its ester compound. Fatty acids used in this reaction are generally derived from natural fats and oils such as coconut oil, palm oil, beef tallow, lard, rapeseed oil and fish oil, but may be chemically synthesized.

The acid for obtaining a neutralized product from the compound represented by the general formula (A) is an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, maleic acid. , Organic acids such as fumaric acid and toluenesulfonic acid. Examples of the quaternizing agent include alkyl halide compounds such as methyl chloride and alkyl sulfate compounds such as dimethyl sulfate.

Since the compound represented by the general formula (A) has an ester group in the molecule, the neutralized salt and the quaternary compound are excellent in biodegradability and have been considered for the natural environment. It is a new soft base.

In the present invention, the acid-neutralized or quaternized compound of the compound represented by the general formula (A) is added to the liquid softening agent as
The total amount is 4-40% by weight, preferably 6-30% by weight, particularly preferably 10-30% by weight. The balance of the liquid softening agent of the present invention is water and optional components.

The liquid softening agent of the present invention has, for example, the general formula:
It is obtained by slowly adding a melt or concentrated solution of the compound represented by (A) to an aqueous solution containing a neutralizing agent with stirring or under shear mixing, but is not limited to this method. It can also be obtained by a method such as a method of producing a neutralized product in advance or a method of adding a neutralized product afterwards.

The liquid softening agent of the present invention further comprises a silicone compound such as dimethylpolysiloxane, dimethylpolysiloxane partially modified with an amino group or a polyoxyalkylene group, particularly preferably a polyoxyalkylene group. By blending the modified dimethylpolysiloxane, it is possible to improve the texture of the softly treated clothing without impairing the water absorption performance. These silicone compounds are preferably blended in an amount of 0.3 to 5% by weight based on the total amount of neutralized or quaternized amine compounds according to the present invention.
Further, in order to adjust the viscosity, it is desirable to add 0.05 to 0.4% by weight of an inorganic electrolyte such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride or magnesium chloride.

The liquid softening agent of the present invention has high stability for long-term storage, but for further stabilization under severe storage conditions, polyoxyethylene (5 to 50 mol) alkyl or alkenyl (C ₁₂ ~ C ₂₄ ) ether or polyoxypropylene (5 to 50 mol) alkyl or alkenyl (C _{12 to} C ₂₄ ) ether, etc., a surfactant, a solvent such as ethanol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, glycerin, or urea. can do. Known softening agents such as esters, nonionic or cationic compounds, long-chain alcohols, long-chain amines other than the present invention, long-chain fatty acids and the like may be used in combination.

It is also possible to incorporate a pigment or dye for the appearance of the product, a brightening agent for the whiteness of the finished product, and a fragrance to improve the taste of the product when used and after finishing. .

The liquid softening agent of the present invention has almost the same softening effect as that of the widely used di-hardened beef tallow alkyldimethylammonium chloride, but surprisingly provides elastic softness. I found out.

[0021]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The softening agent of the present invention is capable of imparting sufficient flexibility and antistatic properties to various fibers, imparting excellent elasticity, and excellent biodegradability.

[0022]

EXAMPLES The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

The compounds used in the following Examples and Comparative Examples are shown in Table 1 below.

[0024]

[Table 1]

Examples 1 to 8 and Comparative Example 1 A liquid softening finish having the composition shown in Table 2 was prepared (the balance was water),
With respect to each, the flexibility and elasticity were evaluated by the following methods.

<Evaluation of flexibility and elasticity> (1) Treatment method 3.5 kg of commercially available cotton towel 2 kg and acrylic jersey 1 kg
After washing with a commercial detergent attack (registered trademark, manufactured by Kao Corporation) 5 times with DH hard water 5 times (30 liter washing machine) to remove the fiber treatment agent attached to each fiber, Table 2
1.5g as the active ingredient of the compounded composition of
Treated for 1 minute under stirring. (2) Evaluation method The cloth treated by the above method was air-dried indoors, and then left in a constant temperature and humidity room at 25 ° C and 65% RH for 24 hours.

The softness and elasticity of these cloths were evaluated. For the evaluation of softness and elasticity, pairwise comparison was carried out with a cloth treated with 10 cc of a softening agent containing 15% by weight of dihydrogenated tallow alkyldimethylammonium chloride as a control. The evaluation is expressed as follows. +2; softer or more elastic than the control +1; slightly softer or slightly elastic than the control 0; same as the control -1; slightly softer or less elastic than the control -2; more control Is softer or less elastic than the control, as shown in Table 2, by using the compound of the present invention, the effect of satisfying both flexibility and elasticity is obtained.

[0028]

[Table 2]

Examples 9 to 11 and Comparative Example 2 In order to evaluate the elasticity of the compositions having the formulations shown in Table 3, the pile height of cotton towels was measured. <Evaluation of elasticity> A cotton towel treated in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 8 is folded into eight and stacked up by stacking 3 sheets, 5 g / cm ²
After pressurizing with the pressure of 5 minutes for 5 minutes, the pressure was removed and the height of the towel was measured. The higher the towel height, the better the elasticity.

[0030]

[Table 3]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid softening finish containing a neutralized product or a quaternized product of a compound represented by the following general formula (A) as an essential component. [Chemical 1] [In the formula, R ¹ and R ² are an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a hydroxyalkyl group R ³ and R ⁴ are linear or branched alkyl groups having 7 to 36 carbon atoms which may be substituted with a hydroxyl group. Or an alkenyl group. ]