MXPA97004555A - Smoothing compositions of liquid concentrated and transparen - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a concentrated aqueous transparent fabric softening microemulsion composition having a particle size of between about 10 and about 100 nanometers, capable of conversion to a milky microemulsion with dilution with water consisting essentially of: A) about 10% to about 60% of a quaternary ammonium diester surfactant fabric softener having the formula (I): wherein R is an alkylene radical having from 2 to about 4 carbon atoms, R 'is an alkyl or alkenyl group having from 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, n is an integer having values from 1 to about 4, and R "is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, and / or from about 10% to about 60% of a fabric softener of ammonium diamido surfactant having the formula (2): wherein n, R and R 'are as defined above, R1 + is a lower alkyl radical that has from 1 to about 4 atoms of carbon or hydrogen and X is R "SO4-, Br- or Cl- wherein R" is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms; B) from about 5% to about 40% by weight of an organic solvent, C) to about 10% of an optional water-immiscible oil perfume, and D) to about 15% by weight of an optional fabric co-softener selected from the group consisting of fatty alcohols, fatty acids, fatty esters, fatty amines, or amido-amines, and E) enough water to bring the concentrated composition of total aqueous microemulsion to 100% by weight

Description

CONCENTRATED AND TRANSPARENT LIQUID FABRIC COMPOSITIONS A. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to fabric softening compositions in the rinse cycle. More particularly, it relates to aqueous liquid microemulsion fabric softening compositions which are clear, for example, transparent even when highly concentrated. 2. Description of Related Art U.S. Patent No. 3,892,669 issued to A.A. Rapisarda et al. Refers to a clear aqueous fabric softening composition containing a solubilized tetra alkyl quaternary ammonium salt having two short chain alkyl groups and two long chain alkyl groups, about 5% to about 25% of the latter having methyl and ethyl branched on the 2-carbon atom. The solubilization is effected by the presence of solubilizers comprising aryl sulfonates, diols, ethers, low molecular weight quaternaries, sulfobetaines, taurines, sulfoxides and nonionic surfactants.

U.S. Patent No. 4,149,978 issued to P.C.E. Goffinet describes textile treatment compositions comprising a water-soluble fabric softener and a C12-C40 hydrocarbon optionally together with a water-soluble cationic surfactant. Preferred fabric softeners are quaternary ammonium salts having two C10-C22 alkyl chains.

U.S. Patent No. 4,351,737 issued to S. Billenstein describes and claims smoothing concentrates containing 30-70% of a cationic softener, 5-50% of a non-ionic softener, 5-20% of a nonionic dispersing agent, 5-30% of a Cl to C3 alkanol, 5-30% of a liquid glycol, polyglycol or alkyl ether and water and optionally perfume and dyes.

The fabric softener prepared according to this patent is alleged to be easily dispersible in water.

The patent of the United States of America No. 4,569,800 issued to K.D. Stanley et al. Teaches the use of 2-ethylhexyl dimethylammonium tallow alkyl salts dissolved in water and / or ethanol or in isopropanol in fabric softening compositions. These compositions are transparent because they form true solutions.

While the consumer prefers to favor clarity in fabric softening compositions, fabric softeners are preferably placed in contact with the fabric as macroemulsions.

It is an object of this invention to provide a transparent liquid fabric softening composition that is environmentally acceptable.

It is another object to provide such a fabric softening composition as a concentrate in aqueous microemulsion.

It is also an object that the microemulsion composition is physically stable for at least about six weeks.

Another object is to provide a microemulsion which, when diluted as in a washing machine spout, forms a macroemulsion without gelation.

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art of an additional reading of the description.

SYNTHESIS OF THE INVENTION The objects cited above have been satisfied by a transparent fabric softening composition comprising an aqueous microemulsion concentrate of: (A) a quaternary ammonium surfactant fabric softener diester having the formula: R "+ (1) R'-C-O-R-N-R-O-C-R ' (RO) nH R "S04- wherein R is an alkylene radical having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, R 'is an alkyl or an alkenyl group having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, n is an integer having values from 1 to about of 4, and R "is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and / or a diamide ammonium surfactant fabric softener having the formula: O H R, + H O (2) R'-C-N-R-N-R-N-C-R ' (RO) nH X-wherein n, R and R 'are as defined above, R, + is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms or hydrogen and X is RMS04-, Br- or Cl- wherein R "is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms;(B) an organic solvent, (C) an optional water-immiscible oil perfume, and (D) an optional fabric co-softener selected from the group consisting of fatty alcohols, fatty acids, fatty esters, fatty amines, or amine-amides, whereby said microemulsion is convertible to a milky macroemulsion upon dilution with water.

All the ingredients of the composition outlined above, both required and optional, should normally be liquid, for example, liquids at room temperature.

The preferred concentration of softeners in these microemulsions lies between about 40% and about 60%, even though not like 10% can be used.

The microemulsion compositions of this invention may contain about 10% to about 60% of the primary softeners, the diester quaternary ammonium surfactants and the ammonium diamido surfactants, about 5% to about 40% of the organic solvent, from 0 to about 15% of the co-softener and from 0 to about 10% of the oil perfume, and the rest of the water with a base of 100% by weight.

Most of the quaternary ammonium compounds of the prior art, previously designated as Quats, are not environmentally friendly due to their toxicity to aquatic life and / or their poor biodegradability. However, the softeners of this invention both the diester diols and the diamino ammonium compounds are environmentally friendly.

The diester quaternary ammonium surfactant fabric softeners, represented by equation (1) are commercially available from Stepan Co. as Stepantex and from KAO Corp. as Tetranyl but can also be synthesized by the reaction of two moles of a fatty acid with a trialkanolamine followed by alkoxylation and methylation with dimethyl sulfate or an alkyl halide such as ethyl iodide. In a preferred mode the fatty acid is oleic acid and the ethylene oxide is used as the alkoxylation agent. For economic reasons it has been found that soy fatty acids are a practical source for this purpose, consisting of about 3% myristic acid, about 5% palmitic acid, about 5% palmitoleic acid, 1.5% of stearic acid, 72.5% oleic acid and about 13% linoleic acid. Other sources of useful fatty acids are those obtained from the saponification of tallow of meat, butter, corn oil, cottonseed oil, lard oil, olive oil, palm oil, peanut oil, cod liver oil, coconut oil and the like.

A preferred fabric softener of quaternary amino diester surfactant is methyl bis [ethyl (oleyl)] -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate. Other diesters useful in the practice of this invention include: methyl bis- [ethyl (coconut)] -2-sulfate hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl methyl- [ethyl (decyl)] -2-sulfate hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl methyl- [ethyl (dodecyl)] -2-sulfate hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl methyl bis - [ethyl (lauryl)] -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl methyl bis- [ethyl (palmityl)] -2-sulfate hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl bis- [ethyl (soft tallow)] -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium sulfate methyl and the like.

The designation of the terms coconut and soft tallow indicate mixtures of the esters corresponding to the source of fatty acid.

In the preparation of the diester quaternary ammonium surfactants, a certain amount of homologue triester may be produced as an impurity. Unlike the diester, it is not soluble in water and should be considered as an oil to be emulsified.

A preferred ammonium diary surfactant fabric softener is methyl bis- (oleyl amino ethyl) -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate, a quaternary. This can be synthesized by the interaction of an ethylamine mole with two moles of oleic acid followed by ethoxylation with ethylene oxide and methylation with dimethyl sulfate. As in the case of the preparation of the diester compounds given above, the pure fatty acids or in mixtures obtained from the saponification of natural fats and oils can be used in their synthesis. These diamido quaternary ammonium surfactant fabric softeners are also commercially available from Rewo as Rewopo P.

Another preferred diamino amino surfactant fabric softener is dialyzo diamine amine having the structure: O H H O Oleyl-CN- (CH2) 2-N- (CH2) 2-NC-Oleyl I- (C2H4-0-) 2.5-H The term "perfume" is used in its ordinary meaning to refer to and include any mixture or substance fragrant is not soluble in water or a mixture of substances including natural (for example, obtained by the extraction of flowers, flowers or plants), artificial (for example, a mixture of natural oils or oil constituents) and synthetic substances ( for example, a single or a mixture of synthetically produced substances). Typically, perfumes are complex mixtures of combinations of various organic compounds, such as esters, ketones, hydrocarbons, lactones, alcohols, aldehydes, ethers, aromatics, and varying amounts of essential oils (e.g., terpenes) such as from about from 0% to about 80%, usually from about 10% to 70% by weight, the essential oils themselves being volatile odoriferous compounds and also serving to dissolve the other components of the perfume. The precise composition of the perfume does not have a particular effect on the fabric softener as long as it meets the criteria of immiscibility in water and pleasant smell.

Suitable organic solvents for use in this invention include: aliphatic alcohols having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, such as ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, t-butanol, n-pentanol, isopentanol, sec- pentanol, n-hexanol, isohexanol, other isomers and the like; aliphatic polyalcohols, such as, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 2-methyl-pentanediol, triol hexane, tripropylene glycol, pentaerythritol, glycerol, sorbitol, and the like; aliphatic ethers such as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGMBE), diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (DEGMBE), diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, triethylene dimethyl ether, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monethyl ether, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, dirpropylene glycol ether (DPnP) , dipropylene glycol ether (DPnB), tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethoxy methyl butane, and the like; esters, aliphatics such as methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, isopropyl lactate, butyl lactate, dibasic esters of carboxylic acids, ethoxy ethyl acetate, and butoxy ethyl acetate.

Suitable fabric co-softeners include such fatty acids as lauric acid, palmitic acid, mild tallow acid, oleic acid and the like; fatty alcohols such as lauryl alcohol, palmityl alcohol, soft tallow alcohol, oleyl alcohol and the like; fatty esters such as glycerol mono oleate, glyoxerol dioleate, pentaerythritol mono oleate, sorbitan oleate, sucrose oleate, as well as those fatty esters wherein the oleate group is replaced by coconut, lauryl or palmityl groups, and the like; fatty amines such as di- (ethyl-lauryl) -2-hydroxyethyl amine, di- (ethyl-tallow soft) -2-hydroxyethyl amine, and the like; and such to idoamines such as di-coco-amido-ethyl-2-hydroxyethyl amine, di-lauryl-amido-ethyl-2-hydroxyethylamine, mild tallow-amido-ethyl-2-hydroxyethylamine and the like.

The transparent microemulsions of this invention have a particle size between about 10 and about 100 nanometers. These also allow the formulation of the fabric softeners in a concentrated form reaching about 10% to about 60% by weight of the total composition. These microemulsions are stable on the shelf, remaining as such for at least six weeks. After dilution with water, either to obtain a water dispersion of around 4 to about 6% in a bottle or to obtain a rinse glycol containing about 0.2 g of an active softener per liter in the washing machine, these microemulsions are converted to milky microemulsions having a particle size of about 0.1 to about 100 microns in which the shape of the softeners easily smooth the washed articles. The step of the conversion of microemulsion to macroemulsion is achieved without gelation.

No special equipment is required to combine the components of these microemulsions. The mixing equipment known to those skilled in the art is sufficient.

It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the composition described above may additionally contain as optional components such materials as dyes, foam controllers, thickeners and the like.

The invention is further described in the following examples. All parts without percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.

EXAMPLE 1. Preparation of a Softener with Diolßil Diéstßr Quaternary A raicroemulsion was prepared by combining 48.03 parts of water, 21.2 parts of hexylene glycol, 2.5 parts of Dobanol 91-8 (trade name for the nonionic surfactant alkanol having from 9 to 11 carbon atoms and 8 ethoxyl groups from Shell Chemical Co. .), 1.27 parts of a perfume containing oil and methyl bis- [ethyl (oleyl)] -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate represented by the formula: R "+ o C-1? 7"i ^ 34-C-O-R-N-R-O-C-C. 1-7.H" 34 ROH R "S04-where R =» C2H4- and R "= -CH3. The mixing operation was carried out in a beaker equipped with an electric mixer and a 4-blade impeller. A transparent microemulsion was obtained in water which remained stable for at least six weeks and which became a milky macroemulsion with its dilution with water. A dilution of about one part of microemulsion to 1000 parts of water is sufficient.

Example 2 is a repeat of Example 1 with the exception that a perfume containing oil was not charged to the mixer. In this combination the microemulsion was out of phase and did not allow a stable microemulsion.

EXAMPLES 3-6. Influence of the Organic Solvent The procedure described in Example 1 was repeated with varying amounts of the organic solvent component. The relevant data are presented in Table 1 given below with the physical observations of the resulting products.

Table 1 The table given above shows the influence of the organic solvent in a composition containing only Dioleyl Di-ester Quat and water. These data demonstrate the selection of suitable solvents for the preparation of microemulsions of particular combinations of softener and solvent. Here it is demonstrated that hexylene glycol and butanol are preferred solvents. The EGMBE (Example 4) with dilution with water leads to a clear solution instead of the desired result, viz, a microemulsion which is necessary to soften the fabrics. Isopropyl lactate is an unsatisfactory solvent in this system as it causes a phase shift with aging even when it provides a transparent microemulsion and a cloudy macroemulsion.

EXAMPLES 7-10. Effects of Other Organic Solvents The effects of using a lower glycol, an alkanol ether, a higher alkyl lactate and an alkanol with Dioleyl Quat diester to form a microemulsion were studied. The relevant data shown in Table 2 below indicate that these combinations have limitations here.

Table 2 Certain generalizations may be inferred from a comparison within the classes of solvent to which the solvents used in the preceding examples give stable clear microemulsions and which give unstable products with Dioleyl Diester Quat. These are presented in Table 3 given below. In addition, the stability also depends on the levels of solvent and Dioleyl Di-ester Quat used in the examples.

Table 3 Microemulsion Class Microemulsion Solvent Transparent Stable Non-Stable Glycols Hexylene glycol Ethylene glycol Ethers EGMBE Methylmethoxybutanol Esters Isopropyl lactate Butyl lactate Alcandés Ethanol, butanol EXAMPLES 11-13. Effects of Co-Surfactant The preparation of the microemulsions was attempted using the procedure of Example 1 with the addition of a co-surfactant, such as oleyl alcohol. The results are correlated in Table 4 given below.

Table 4 As can be seen from the results given above, the addition of the co-surfactant, of the oleyl alcohol, modifies the selection of solvents used above for the generation of a transparent microemulsion. Thus hexylene glycol leads to a transparent gel not to a microemulsion. Isopropyl lactate is the best of the three while EGMBE is rejected as in Example 4 for not providing a milky macroemulsion with dilution. In a further extension of this invention, it has been found that hexylene glycol can be adapted in Example 11 to provide a transparent microemulsion by the addition of 0.1 part of tri-methylene phosphonic acid nitrile available from Protex Co. as Masquol P320 and having the structure: N m (CH2P03H2) 3 Example 12 demonstrated the need to have a cloudy microemulsion after dilution with water since it showed poor fabric softening. The softening efficiency of these fabrics was measured through the evaluation against the known control substances. The evaluation procedure was carried out in comparison tests in pairs between six judges. Fabrics treated with test substances were compared with against control substances by their presentation to the judges. The judges were asked to rate the difference in softness between the respective samples on a scale of 0 (no difference) to 3 (a big difference). For example, the microemulsion of Example 1 at a liquor concentration of 0.2375 g / L (45%) was found to be equivalent to a known softening reference agent consisting of a dispersion of 0.2 g / L (4.5%) chloride Distearyl dimethyl ammonium using this evaluation technique.

EXAMPLES 14-17. Addition of Co-Softening Agents The co-softening agents were evaluated in the present inventive compositions. The amounts of the ingredients and the physical results are presented in Table 5 given below. Table 5 Examples 14 to 17 relate to the addition of co-softening ingredients to the primary softener, Dioleyl Di-ester Quat. The structure of Glycerol MonoOleate is self-evident from the name, where a glycerol hydroxyl group was esterified with an oleic acid template. Polyethylene Glycol 600-MonoOleate is a polyethylene glycol having an approximate molecular weight of 600 esterified with an oleic acid mold. The cocoato sucrose structure is given below: Sorbitan trioleate is a product obtained by esterifying a sorbitol mold with three moles of oleic acid. All these co-softeners are liquid at room temperature and contain olefinically unsaturated aliphatic chains. The solvent selected herein is isopropyl alcohol and the level of the Diolyl Diester Quat is reduced by taking advantage of the fact that the inclusion of the co-softeners provides synergistic smoothing and an emulsifying effect. Glycerol monoOleate, Polyethylene Glycol 600 monoOleate and sucrose cocoate provide stable microemulsions. If the number of alkyl chains increases (HLB) the system does not lead to a microemulsion but to an unstable macroemulsion.

EXAMPLES 18-21. Emulsification of Dioleyl DiAmino Amine A Dioleyl DiAmido Amina having the structure: OH HO _ Oleyl? -C-N- (CH2) 2-N- (CH2) 2-N-C-Oleyl I- (C2H4-0-) 2.5-H it was emulsified in a microemulsion after conversion to a salt using the procedure of Example 1. The salt was prepared by neutralization of the free amine with hydrochloric acid (25%), maleic acid, or lactic acid respectively. The ingredients used and the physical results are given in Table 6 given below.

Table 6 The neutralizing acid determined whether or not a microemulsification took place. Maleic acid gave good results here while hydrochloric acid and lactic acid did not. When the amine was not neutralized (Example 18) no emulsification took place.

EXAMPLES 22-24. Solvent effect The role of the solvent was demonstrated in a microemulsification study of the maleic acid / dioleyl diamidoamine system. The pertinent data are presented in Table 7 together with the data in Example 20 previously shown.

Table 7 Hexylene glycol and DEGMBE can be seen from the above data as the preferred solvents for this system in relation to the formation and stability of the microemulsion. Tert-butanol and EGMBE do not stabilize the emulsion, which is out of phase.

EXAMPLES 25-28. Stabilization of a Synergistic Mixture.

The examples relate to the stabilization of the synergistic mixture of the Di-ethyloester Quat and Di-Oleyl DiAmidoAmine. The materials investigated are presented in Table 8 given below.

Table 8 In the series presented in Examples 25-28, n-butanol is the preferred solvent. A gel rather than a transparent microemulsion was obtained with hexylene glycol even though the desired effect was obtained with the addition of 0.1 parts of Masquol P320. The addition of Dobanol 91-8 emulsifier did not help to avoid the formation of gels here but rather led to lag.

EXAMPLES 29-32. Use of Quil Dioleyl Diester Softener Examples 29-32 relate to the use of the Diolyl Di-ester Quat with n-butanol as a solvent at various concentration levels. The data obtained are shown in Table 9 given below.

Table 9 These data show that microemulsions in the range of about 10% to about 35% were obtainable with n-butanol and that the level of solvent required to produce a microemulsion is not proportional to the level of active ingredient, but surprisingly the proportion of the dioleyl diester quat solvent decreases when the level of active ingredient increases In Example 32 the ratio is 0.74. In Example 29 the ratio is 0.51.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that not all possible combinations of the various components of this invention fall within the scope of the data ranges that completely satisfy every imaginable end result.

Although the invention has been described with a certain amount of particularity, it is understood that the present description of the preferred embodiments has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (28)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S

1. A concentrated composition in aqueous microemulsion of transparent fabric softener capable of conversion to a macroemulsion with dilution with water comprising: (A) a diester quaternary ammonium surfactant fabric softener having the formula: O R "+ O II I II (1) R '-C-O-R-N-R-O-C-R' (R0) nH R "S04- wherein R is an alkylene radical having from 2 to about 4 carbon atoms, R 'is an alkyl or an alkenyl group having from 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, n is an integer having values from 1 to about 4, and R "is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, and / or a fabric softener of ammonium diamido surfactant having the formula: OHR? + HO II III II (2) R'-CNRNRNCR 'I (RO) nH X- where n, R and R' are as defined above, R, + is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to about of 4 carbon atoms or hydrogen and X is R "S04-, Br- or Cl- wherein R" is a lower alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms; (B) an organic solvent, (C) an optional water-immiscible oil perfume, and (D) an optional fabric co-softener selected from the group consisting of fatty alcohols, fatty acids, fatty esters, fatty amines, or amine-amides, whereby said microemulsion is converted to a milky macroemulsion upon dilution with water.

2. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the fabric softener is a quaternary ammonium diester surfactant.

3. The composition as claimed in clause 2, characterized in that the diester is methyl bis [ethyl (oleyl)] -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate.

4. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the fabric softener is a combination of a quaternary ammonium diester surfactant and an ammonium diamido surfactant.

5. The composition as claimed in clause 4, characterized in that the diamido ammonium surfactant is methyl bis (oleyl amido ethyl) -2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate.

6. The composition as claimed in clause 4, characterized in that the diamido ammonium surfactant is a dioleyl diamine amine salt.

7. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the fabric softener is a diamido ammonium surfactant.

8. The composition as claimed in clause 7, characterized in that the diamido ammonium surfactant is methyl bis (oleyl amido ethyl) -2-sulfate hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl.

9. The composition as claimed in clause 7, characterized in that the diamido ammonium surfactant is a dioleyl diamino amide salt.

10. The composition as claimed in clause 9, characterized in that the salt is a salt of maleic acid.

11. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that said composition contains a water-immiscible oil-perfume.

12. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the organic solvent is a lower alkanol.

13. The composition as claimed in clause 12, characterized in that the alkanol is isopropyl alcohol.

14. The composition as claimed in clause 12, characterized in that the alkanol is a butanol.

15. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the organic solvent is a glycol.

16. The composition as claimed in clause 15, characterized in that the glycol is hexylene glycol.

17. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the organic solvent is an aliphatic ether.

18. The composition as claimed in clause 17, characterized in that the aliphatic ether is ethylene or diethylene glycol monobutyl.

19. The composition as claimed in clause 17, characterized in that the aliphatic ether is dipropylene glycol methyl ether.

20. The composition as claimed in clause 17, characterized in that the aliphatic ether is dipropylene glycol butyl ether.

21. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the fabric co-softener is a fatty alcohol.

22. The composition as claimed in clause 21, characterized in that the fatty alcohol is oleyl alcohol.

23. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the fabric softener is a fatty ester.

24. The composition as claimed in clause 23, characterized in that the fatty ester is glycerol monooleate.

25. The composition as claimed in clause 23, characterized in that the fatty ester is a polyethylene glycol monooleate.

26. The composition as claimed in clause 23, characterized in that the fatty ester is sucrose cocoate.

27. The composition as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that it comprises about 10% to about 60% by weight of a softener (A) and about 5% to about 40% of an organic solvent, with the rest being water

28. The composition as claimed in clause 27, characterized in that it comprises in addition about 15% of a cosurfactant and up to about 10% of an oil-perfume. SUMMARY The transparent fabric softening microemulsion compositions have been developed for use in the rinse cycle comprising a combination of quaternary ammonium diester surfactants, ammonium amide surfactants and selected organic solvents. Fat co-softeners and oil-fragrances can be included as optional ingredients. These microemulsions are converted to macroemulsions with dilution with water in the rinse cycle to provide a fabric softening treatment.