MXPA99010831A - Wet cleaning of delicate, non-structured garments with minimized wrinkling, shrinkage and color damage - Google Patents

Abstract

Se describe un método para el lavado de prendas no estructuradas hechas de telas delicadas, dicho método utiliza una solución de remojo acuosa;las prendas se remojan de 5 a 30 minutos en esta solución de remojo no agitada y no calentada que contiene agente tensioactivo no iónico tal como alcohol etoxilato y un coagente tensioactivo aniónico o catiónico;las prendas remojadas son enjuagadas, deshidratadas y secadas para proveer prendas lavadas que sustancialmente no han encogido y no han sido arrugadas o decoloradas.

Description

WET CLEANING OF NON-STRUCTURED DELICATE CLOTHES WITH REDUCTION, SHRINKLING AND COLOR DAMAGE REDUCED TO MINIMUM FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method for washing delicate garments made of fabrics that can be damaged by conventional laundry operations. Said method comprises the soaking of the garments in a certain type of aqueous solution containing surfactant under specific conditions, followed by the steps of rinsing, water run-off and drying.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The washing of soiled or stained garments using aqueous solutions for washing containing surfactants has been carried out for centuries. Said operation generally comprises contacting the soiled / soiled garments to be cleaned with a washing solution in order to solubilize or otherwise detach and remove the material that produces dirt or stains on the fabric of the garment. The washing step is generally followed by the rinsing step of the clothes washed in water to remove the washing solution containing surfactant. After rinsing one or more times, the rinsing solution is removed from the garments by one or more types of drying steps. Currently, the washing, rinsing and some water removal steps of the laundry procedure have generally been carried out in automatic washing machines. The washing machines use a mechanical stirrer to produce agitation of the washing and rinsing solutions. The automatic washing machines are also adapted with means to control the temperature of the washing and rinsing water and the duration of the washing and rinsing. Automatic washing machines can also provide means to form and remove washing and rinsing solutions when using filling and draining devices and filling, drainage and / or rotation cycles. The removal of dirt and stains from garments can generally be improved by shaking the wash solution while it is in contact with the garment to be cleaned. The elevated temperatures of washing and prolonged contact of the garments with the washing solution also facilitate the removal of dirt and stains. The rinsing agitated, at high temperatures and prolonged, can also improve the effectiveness of washing the garment. Unfortunately, conditions and procedures that increase the effectiveness of removal of dirt and stains during conventional garment washing can also damage the structural integrity and appearance of certain types of garments being washed. Garments that are formed from fabrics such as silk, wool, rayon, acetate or ramin tend to wrinkle, shrink, fade or lose color when subjected to prolonged, agitated or high temperature washing conditions, and subsequently dry. Also, garments made from such fabrics are often labeled as "dry only" or "hand washed only" and therefore require special procedures for cleaning. For example, garments with a "dry-only" requirement are generally cleaned by dry-cleaning operations that employ non-aqueous cleaning solvents and are generally performed professionally outside the home. This can be, of course, a consumption of time, a way of producing alterations and an expensive way of cleaning these garments, especially if such garments should be washed frequently. Given the above, there is clearly a continuous and progressive need to develop simple, aqueous laundry procedures for delicate garments that can be damaged and for such procedures to achieve an appropriate balance between an effective removal of dirt and stains and minimization of damage, discoloration and shrinkage of the fabric. Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the aqueous washing of delicate garments that are generally not suitable for washing with water. It is the further object of the invention to provide a method that effectively cleans such garments but without causing wrinkles, shrinkage or alteration to the unacceptable color.

It is the further object of the invention to provide a method that can be carried out at home using automatic washing machines and conventional methods. These objects can be achieved by means of the five-step method described herein and quoted below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for washing unstructured garments that are generally not suitable for washing with water.

These garments are usually those made of wool, silk, acetate, ramin or rayon. These can be cleaned without wrinkling, shrinking or altering the color by means of a method of five specific steps. In the first step of the present method, an aqueous soaking solution is formed having a pH ranging from about 4 to 9 and comprising several essential ingredients. In the second step of the method, the garments to be cleaned are soaked without stirring in soaking solution at a temperature of about 5 ° C to 20 ° C for a period of about 5 to 30 minutes. In the third step of the method, the soaking solution is drained from the garments without agitation and replaced with aqueous rinse water. In the fourth step of the method, the aqueous rinse solution is drained from the garments without agitation, and the water is removed from them so that the garments have a retained water content of about 5% to 25% by weight. Finally, in the fifth step of the method, the drained garments of water are hung or extended to allow substantially all the remaining water to evaporate from them. The aqueous soaking solution, which is the key to the practice of the present method, comprises about 50 to 450 ppm of certain types of nonionic surfactants, from about 50 to 350 ppm of certain types of surfactant co-surfactants and of about 5 to 40 ppm of one or more functional additives. The nonionic surfactants essentially used in the soaking solution are ethoxylated alcohol of Ca-is having from about 1 to 15 moles of ethylene oxide per molecule, polyhydroxy fatty acid amides of Cs-is or semi-polar surfactants of sodium oxide. C8-18 amine Combinations of these nonionic surfactants may also be employed. The surfactant coagent used to form the soaking solution used in the method herein may comprise certain anionic surfactants, certain cationic surfactants, or both. Usable anionic surfactants include C8-18 aminosilylates, C8-18 alkyl ether sulfates having from about 1 to 6 moles of ethylene oxide per molecule, and C9-? 6 alkybenzenesulfonates. The cationic surfactants which can be used as the surfactant coagents in the aqueous steeping solution comprise quaternized C6-12 surfactant amines such as amidopropylamines or quaternary mono- or di-alkylammonium salts of Cs-22- The functional additives which are used in the aqueous soaking solution may be builders, protease enzymes, other detergent enzymes, soil and clay dispersing agents, dye transfer inhibiting agents and / or optical brighteners. By using an aqueous soaking solution together with the process steps described hereinabove, delicate garments can be cleaned more effectively without causing wrinkles, shrinkage or color damage that are not acceptable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The five steps in the garment washing method of the present invention are described in detail in the following manner. All concentrations and relationships provided are on a weight basis by hand that is specified otherwise.

A) Formation of the aqueous soaking solution The first step in the wet cleaning method herein comprises the formation of an aqueous soaking solution in which the clothes to be cleaned first are soaked. The aqueous soaking solution will contain certain specific nonionic surfactants, certain specific surfactant coagents and one or more additional functional additives. 1) Nonionic Surfactants The nonionic surfactant component will comprise from about 50 to 450 ppm of the aqueous soaking solution. Most preferably, the nonionic surfactant will comprise from about 100 to 400 ppm of the aqueous soaking solution. The nonionic surfactants employed are selected from certain ethoxylated alcohols, polyhydroxy fatty acid amines, semipolar non-ionic amine oxide surfactants and combinations of these types of nonionic surfactant. The ethoxylated alcohols useful for forming the aqueous soaking solution are those corresponding to the general formula: R1-O- (C2H4O) nSO3M where R 1 is a C 8 -C 8 alkyl group and n varies from about 1 to 15. Preferably R 1 is an alkyl group, which may be primary or secondary, containing from about 9 to 15 carbon atoms, most preferably from around 10 to 14 carbon atoms. Preferably the ethoxylated fatty alcohols will contain from about 2 to 12 portions of ethylene oxide per molecule, most preferably from about 8 to 12 portions of ethylene oxide per molecule. The non-ionic ethoxylated fatty alcohol surfactant component of the aqueous soaking solution will often have a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) ranging from about 6 to 15, most preferably from about 10 to 15. Examples of alcohol Fatty ethoxylate useful as the nonionic surfactant component of the aqueous steeping solution used herein will include those which are made from alcohols of 12 to 15 carbon atoms and which contain about 7 moles of ethylene oxide. These materials have been sold under the tradenames Neodol 25-7 and Neodoi 23-6.5 by Shell Chemical Company. Other useful neodoles include Neodol 1-5, ethoxylated fatty alcohol with an average of 1 1 carbon atoms in its alkyl chain with about 5 moles of ethylene oxide; Neodol 23-9, an ethoxylated primary C12-C13 alcohol having about 9 moles of ethylene oxide and Neodol 91-10, a ethoxylated Cg-Cn primary alcohol having about 10 moles of ethylene oxide. Ethoxylated alcohols of this type have also been sold by Shell Chemical Company under the tradename Dobanol. Dobanol 91-5 is a fatty alcohol of C9-C11 ethoxylated with an average of 5 moles of ethylene oxide and Dobanol 25-7 is a fatty alcohol of C12-C15 ethoxylated with an average of 7 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of fatty alcohol. Other examples of suitable ethoxylated alcohol nonionic surfactants include Tergitol 15-S-7 and Tergitol 15-S-9, both of which are secondary ethoxylated alcohols which have been marketed by Union Carbide Corporation. The above is a mixed ethoxylation product of linear secondary alkanols of Cu to C15 with 7 moles of ethylene oxide and the latter is a similar product but with 9 moles of ethylene oxide in reaction. Other types of nonionic surfactants of useful ethoxylated alcohols forming the aqueous steeping solution used in the invention are surfactants with a higher molecular weight, such as Neodol 45-1 1, which are similar condensation products of ethylene oxide. , of higher fatty alcohols, the higher fatty alcohol being 14-15 carbon atoms and 1 1 being the number of ethylene oxide groups per mole. These products have also been marketed by Shell Chemical Company. Another type of nonionic surfactant which can be incorporated into the aqueous soaking solution used herein comprises polyhydroxy fatty acid amides of C8-18, preferably C-IO-IT. These materials are described in greater detail in Pan / Gosselink: US patent 5,332,528; issued on July 26, 1994, which is incorporated herein by reference. These polyhydroxy fatty acid amides have a general structure of the formula: O R1 - II I R2- C- N- Z where R1 is H, CrC4 hydrocarbyl, 2-hydroxyethyl, 2-hydroxypropyl, or a mixture thereof; R 2 is C 8 -C 8 hydrocarbyl; and Z is a polyhydroxylhydrocarbyl having a linear hydrocarbon chain with at least three hydroxyls directly connected to the chain, or an alkoxylated derivative thereof. Examples of such surfactants include N-methylglucamides or N-hydroxypropylglucamides of C? 0-C? 8. The C12-C16 glucamides from N-propyl to N-hexyl can be used to make less foam while forming the aqueous soaking solution. Another type of nonionic surfactant which can be used in the aqueous steeping solution herein, comprises semi-active nonionic surfactants of amine oxide. These materials have the formula: where R1 is an alkyl, 2-hydroxylalkyl, 3-hydroxyalkyl or 3-alkoxy-2-hydroxypropyl radical in which alkyl and alkoxy, respectively, contain from about 8 about 18 carbon atoms, R2 and R3 are each methyl , ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, 2-hydroxyethyl, 2-hydroxypropyl, or 3-hydroxypropyl, and n is about 0 about 10. Particularly preferred are amine oxides of the formula: where Ri is a C 12-16 alkyl and R 2 and R 3 are methyl or ethyl. The above semipolar amine oxides are described in greater detail in the US patent. 4,316,824, incorporated herein by reference. 2) Anionic / cationic surfactant coagents In addition to the nonionic surfactants described hereinabove, the aqueous soaking solution will also contain a surfactant coagent which may be anionic or cationic in nature. The surfactant coagent component can also comprise combinations of anionic and cationic surfactants. This surfactant coagent will be present in the aqueous soaking solution to the point of about 50 to 350 ppm. Most preferably, the surfactant coagent will be present to the extent of about 100 to 300 ppm in the aqueous soaking solution. The surfactant coagent can be an anionic surfactant. Alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulphates and alkyl benzene sulphates are useful anionic surfactant materials which can be employed. The anionic alkyl sulfate surfactants can be primary or secondary materials produced by sulfation of higher C8-? 8 fatty alcohols. The conventional primary alkyl sulfate surfactants have the general formula: ROSO3"M + where R is typically a linear C8-? 8 hydrocarbyl group, which may be a straight chain or branched chain, and M is a water solubilizing cation, preferably R is a C10-15 alkyl, and M is an alkali metal, most preferably R is C 12-14 and M is sodium Conventional secondary alkyl sulfates can also be used Secondary alkyl sulphates are described in greater detail in Dauderman et al., US Patent 5,587,356, issued December 24, 1996 This patent is incorporated herein by reference Anionic surfactant coagents useful for forming the aqueous steeping solution also include alkyl ether sulfates Alkyl ether sulfates are also known as polyethoxylated alkyl sulphates These ethoxylated alkyl sulphates are those corresponding to the formula: R, -O- (C2H4O) nSO3M where R is a C8-C18 alkyl group, n is about 1 to 6, and M is a salt-forming cation. Preferably, R is C10-16 alkyl. n is around 1 to 4, and M is sodium, potassium, ammonium, aikammonium, or alkanolammonium. Most preferably, R is C? 2-C? 6, n is about 1 to 3 and M is sodium. The alkyl ether sulphates will generally be used in the form of mixtures comprising varying R chain lengths and varying degrees of ethoxylation. Often such mixtures will inevitably contain some non-ethoxylated alkyl sulfate materials, ie surfactants of the above ethoxylated alkyl sulfate formula where n = 0. The anionic surfactant coagents useful for forming the soak accuser solution also include the alkylbenzene sulfonates. These are alkali metal salts of alkylbenzenesulfonic acids in which the alkyl group contains from about 9 to 16 carbon atoms, in straight chain or branched chain configuration, (see US Pat. Nos. 2,220,099 and 2,477,383 incorporated herein by reference) . Sodium and potassium linear straight chain alkyl benzenesulfonates (LAS) in which the average number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group is about 1 to 14 are especially preferred. Sodium Cu-Cu LAS are especially preferred. The surfactant coagent components that are used in the aqueous soaking solution may also comprise a cationic surfactant. Suitable cationic surfactants include certain quaternized surfactant amines and certain long chain mono- or di-ammonium quaternary ammonium salts. The amines of surfactant useful as a cationic surfactant in the aqueous steeping solution herein are described by the formula: R3 RrX- (CH2) n-NR, where Ri is an alkyl group of C6-C1; n is about 2 to about 4, X is a bridging group that is selected from NH, CONH, COO, or O or X may be absent; and R3 and R4 are individually selected from H, CrC4 alkyl, or (CH2-CH2-O (R5)) where R is H or methyl. Preferred surfactant amines include the following: R1- (CH2) 2-NH2. R1-0- (CH2) 2-NH2, R1-C (0) -NH- (CH2) 3-N (CH3) 2; Y where R1 is a C6-C2 alkyl group and R5 is H or CH3. In a more preferred embodiment, the surfactant amine is described by the formula: where R1 is C8-Ci2 alkyl. Particularly preferred surfactant amines include those selected from a group consisting of octylamine, hexylamine, decylamine, dodecylamines, C8-C12 bis (hydroxyethyl) amine, C8-C2 bis- (hydroxyisopropyl) amine and amidopropyl dimethylamine. of C8-C6, preferably C8-Ci2, and mixtures of these amines. The amines of surfactant described above, hereinabove, will generally be quaternized, for example, will be protonated, in the aqueous soaking solutions used in the cleaning method of this invention. Therefore, these amines of surfactant are characterized herein as cationic in nature. Other cationic surfactants that can be employed as surfactant coagents in the aqueous steeping solution herein are the cationic quaternary ammonium surfactants of the formula: where Ri and R2 are individually selected from a group consisting of C? -C4 alkyl, hydroxyalkyl of C? -C4, and - (C2H4O) xH where x have a value of 2 to 5; X is an anion; and (1) R3 and R4 are each C8-C4 alkyl or (2) R4 is a C8-C22 alkyl and R3 is selected from a group consisting of C? -C10 alkyl, C1- hydroxyalkyl C10, y - (C2H O) xH where x has the value of 2 to 5. Of the above, the long chain quaternary monoalkylammonium surfactants are preferred where the above formula Ri, R2) and R3 are each methyl, and R it is a C8-C18 alkyl. The most preferred quaternary ammonium surfactants are the C 8 -C 6 alkyltrimethylammonium salts of chloride, bromide and methylsulfate and salts of C 8 -C 6 alkyldi (hydroxyethyl) -methyl ammonium salts. Of the foregoing, lauryltrimethylammonium chloride, myristyltrimethylammonium chloride and cocotrimethylammonium chloride and methyl sulfate are particularly preferred. ADOGEN 412 ™, a lauryltrimethylammonium chloride commercially available from Witco, is a preferred quaternary ammonium cationic surfactant. 3) Functional Additives The aqueous soaking solution that was used in the method of the invention will also contain one or more conditional functional additives. These additives can be detergency builders, protease enzymes or other detergent enzymes, dirt and clay dispersing agents, dye transfer inhibiting agents and / or optical brighteners. The functional additives will generally be present in the aqueous soaking solution to the point of about 5 to 40 ppm, most preferably about 5 to 35 ppm. Each type of these additional functional additives is described in detail as follows: a) Detergency builders Suitable organic builders include alkali metal citrates, succinates, malonates, carboxymethyl succinates, carboxylates, polycarboxylates and polyacetyl carboxylates. Specific examples include sodium, potassium and lithium salts of oxydisuccinic acid, melific acid, benzene polycarboxylic acids, C10-C22 fatty acids and citric acid. Other examples are organic phosphate sequestering agents such as those sold by Monsanto under the trade name Dequest® alkanohydrophosphonates. More preferred are citrate salts and C12-C18 fatty acid soaps. Other suitable organic builders include high molecular weight polymers and known copolymers having builder properties. For example, such materials include polyacrylic acid, polymaleic acid, and polyacrylic / polymaleic acid copolymers and their salts, such as those sold by BASF under the trademark Sokalan®. Suitable inorganic detergency builders include alkali metal phosphates, carbonates, borates, silicates, and aluminosilicates. Sodium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium aluminosilicates are preferred. b) Protease Enzyme Suitable examples of protease enzymes are subtilisins which are obtained from particular strains of B. subtilis and B. licheniforms. Said protease enzymes are described in greater detail in GB 1, 243,784; EP 130,756A; EP 303,761 A; WO 97/18140A; WO 93/03529A; WO 95/10591 A; WO 95.07791; and WO 94/25583. All of these patent publications are incorporated herein by reference. Suitable protease materials are sold under the trade names Esperase® (Novo), Alcalase® (Novo, Savinase® (Novo) and Maxatase® (International Bio-Synthetics). c) Other detergent enzymes Other types of detergent enzymes are well known and can also be used as one of the functional additives incorporated into the aqueous soaking solutions herein. These types of enzymes other than protease include amylases, cellulases, lipases and peroxidases. Amylases (a and ß) can be used for removal of carbohydrate-based stains. These amylase enzymes can be of any subtilisin origin such as plants, animals, bacteria, fungi or yeast origin. Amylase enzymes are described in greater detail in WO 95/26397A; GB 1, 296,839; WO 94/02597A; WO 94/18314; And WO 95/09909A. All of these patent publications are incorporated herein by reference. Suitable amylase materials are sold under the tradenames Termamyl® (Novo), Fungamyl® (Novo), BAN® (Novo), Rapidase® (International Bio-Synthetics) and Duramyl® (Novo). The ceiulase enzymes usable in the aqueous soaking solution include both bacterial and fungal cellulases. Preferably, they will have an optimum pH between 5 and 9.5. Suitable cellulases are described in the US patent. 4,435,307, Barbesgoard et al., Issued March 6, 1984. This patent is incorporated herein by reference. Describes cellulases of fungi produced from Humicola insolens and strain DSM1800 of Humicola or a cellulase-producing fungus belonging to the genus Aeromonas, and cellulase that is extracted from hepatopancreas of a marine mollusk (Dolabella Auricular Solande). Suitable cellulases are also described in GB-A-2,075,028, GB-A-2,095,275 and DE-OS-2,247,832 CAREZYME® (Novo) is an especially useful cellulase. d) Dirt and clay dispersing agents Useful soil and clay dispersing agents include water-soluble ethoxylated amines having removal of dirt and clay and anti-redeposition properties. The most preferred soil / clay removal / anti-redeposition agent is ethoxylated tetraethylenepentamine. Exemplary ethoxylated amines are further described in VanderMeer; patent of E.U.A. 4,597,898; issued July 1, 1986. Another group of preferred soil and clay removal / anti-redeposition agents comprises the cationic compounds described in Oh and Gosselink; European Patent Publication EP-A-1 1 1, 965; published June 27, 1984. Other agents include the ethoxylated amine polymers described in Grosselink; European Patent Publication EP-A-11 1, 984; published June 27, 1984. All of these patent publications are incorporated herein by reference. Other useful dispersants include the polyacrylates described in Diehl, U.S. Patent No. 3,308,067; issued on March 17, 1967 and acrylate / maleate co-polymers described in European Patent Publication EP-A-066,915, published December 15, 1982. e) Dye transfer inhibiting agents The dye transfer inhibiting agents (DTI) useful in the aqueous soaking solutions of the invention are effective materials for inhibiting the transfer of dyes from one fabric to another during the soaking step of the method in the present. Generally, such agents that inhibit dye transfer include polyvinyl pyrrolidone polymers, polyamine N-oxide polymers, copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone and N-vinylimidazole, manganese phthalocyanine, peroxidases, and mixtures thereof. Preferred DTI agents include poly (4-vinylpyridine) N-oxide having a molecular weight of about 50,000 and a molar ratio of an amine to an amine N-oxide of about 1: 4 (known as "PVNO") and copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone and N-vinylmidazole (known as "PVPVI"). These materials are described in greater detail in Fredj et al., U.S. Patent. 5,458,809; issued on October 17, 1995 and in White; patent of E.U.A. 5,451, 341; issued on September 19, 1995 both incorporated herein by reference. f) Optical brighteners Optical brighteners or bleaching agents may also be included in the aqueous soaking solutions herein. Commercial optical brighteners that may be useful in the present invention may be classified into subgroups, including, but not necessarily limited to, stilbene, pyrazoline, coumarin derivatives. carboxylic acid, metincyanines, 5,5-dibenzotifen dioxide, azoles, 5- and 6-membered ring heterocycles, and various other agents. Examples of such brighteners are described in "The Production and Application of Fluorescent Brightening Agents," M. Zahradnik, published by John Wiley & Sons, New York (1982) and in the patent of E.U.A. 4,790,856, issued to Wixon on December 13, 1988. Both publications are incorporated herein by reference. 4) pH of the soaking solution The aqueous soaking solution used in the garment cleaning method herein, should be maintained at a pH between about 4 and 9. Most preferably, the pH of the soaking solution will be found around from 4.5 to 7.5. To achieve the required pH conditions, materials that adjust or maintain the pH of the solution, for example, NaOH or sodium carbonate, should be added.

) Preparation of the soaking solution The aqueous soaking solutions used herein can be prepared by simply adding to the water the ingredients described above, in amounts sufficient to provide the required concentration of each ingredient in the soaking solution. These components can be added to the individual soaking solutions and separately. However, most preferably, several components of the soaking solution to be prepared will be combined in a concentrated product before addition to the water to form the aqueous soaking solution. Said concentrated products may be in granular or liquid form. These products should contain the ingredients of the soaking solution in concentrations and ratios so that the required concentrations of all ingredients are provided in the soaking solution when said concentrated precursor products are added to the water. Aqueous soaking solutions can be formed in any suitable container that will contain enough solution to soak the number and type of garments to be cleaned. In this way, the soaking solution can be formed in a washing tub, a laundry tub, a sink or bath tub. However, most preferably, the aqueous soaking solutions herein will be formed in the tub of a homemade automatic washing machine. The agitator of the washing machine can be subsequently used to mix the components of the solution completely with water to form the soaking solution for use in the method herein. Typical amounts of the soaking solution formed will vary from 20 to 60 liters, most preferably from about 30 to 50 liters.

B) Soak step of the garment The aqueous soaking solution that was formed in step A as described hereinabove is used to soak the unstructured garments to be cleaned using the method herein. For purposes of this invention, unstructured garments of those without lining are otherwise mixed material structures made of more than one type of fabric. In this way, for example, non-structured garments will not include sports jackets or jackets or skirts with lining. The unstructured garments will include sweaters with lining, blouses, shirts, skirts, pants, sports pants and the like. Garments that are best suited for cleaning by the method herein are those that are made from fabrics that are susceptible to alterations by more conventional laundry methods. In this way they include garments made of silk, wool, acetate, ramin or rayon. The garments to be cleaned are brought into contact with the aqueous soaking solution described above, for a period of about 5 to 30 minutes. Most preferably, a soaking period of about 10 to 15 minutes is used. During the soaking step, relatively low soaking solution temperatures are employed. In this way, the temperature of the aqueous soaking solution is generally maintained between about 5 ° C and 20 ° C. Most preferably, the temperature of the soaking solution will remain between about 12 ° C and 15 ° C. During the soaking step, it is important that the soaking solution containing the garments does not agitate or mix excessively. Agitation or mixing may damage the fibers, the finish and / or color of the types of garments used in the method herein. Thus, although the aqueous soaking solution must be stirred to effect its preparation, the soaking solution during the soaking step must remain substantially free of agitation. Also during the soaking step, it may be convenient to place the garments to be cleaned in a water permeable bag, such as a nylon mesh bag, or other rigid or flexible container. This serves to further reduce the forces detrimental to the fabrics to which they must be subjected during the soaking step or subsequent steps of the method described hereinafter. The aqueous soaking solution is preferably used in the soaking step in a ratio of soaking solution to the garments of about 15: 1 to 1: 1. Most preferably a solution-to-pledge ratio of about 10: 1 to 1: 1 is used.

C) Solution draining / rinsing step of the garment After the soaking step B was carried out for the required period of time, the aqueous soaking solution is drained from the soaking garments without agitation and subsequently Replace with an aqueous rinse solution. Drain of the soaking solution from step A of the soaking garments should be carried out by simply pouring the soaking solution out of the soaking vessel, allowing the soaking solution to drain from the soaking vessel through a soaking hole. Drain the underside of the soaker or carefully remove the soaking garments from the soaking container and place them in a separate rinse container. If the soaking vessel used is the tub of an automatic washing machine, the draining of the soaking solution should also be carried out by operating the machine through a short rotation cycle (0.5 to 2 minutes). Once the soaking solution is drained from the garments, it is replaced with an aqueous rinse solution. Frequently, this will include replacing the soaking solution with an equivalent amount of rinse water. The rinse step should be carried out only once, however it is possible to repeat the drain and rinse steps more than once to have several rinse cycles. During the rinsing step, the temperature of the rinsing solution should be around 5 ° C to 20 ° C. The rinse water can be brought into contact with the garments for a period of about 2 to 5 minutes. The garments to be cleaned are preferably kept in a flexible and water permeable retention bag or other shrinkable container during this garment solution / rinse drain step.

D) Drain after rinsing After the solution drain and garment rinse step (step C) is completed, the rinse water is subsequently drained from the items to be washed. The drainage of the rinsing solution is carried out without substantial agitation, as in the solution drainage / garment rinse stage. The rinse water should be removed from the garments by any of the same steps from which the soaking solution can be removed from the garments as in step C. Preferably, the garments to be cleaned in an automatic washing machine will undergo a cycle. of smooth rotation. Also, the garments should be removed from the rinse solution and gently squeezed with the hands. On the other hand, during all drainage procedures after rinsing, the garments should be kept in a water-permeable retention bag or other suitable container. In this draining step after rinsing D, the garments to be cleaned should be subjected to procedures that remove water to the extent that the garments have a water content of about 5% to 25%. Most preferably, at the conclusion of this drainage step D after rinsing, the garments will have a residual water content of about 10% to 20%.

E) Drying of the garment without applying efforts After the conclusion of the step D of drainage after rinsing, the drained garments are subjected to conditions that serve to complete the drying of the garments while the garments are subjected substantially to no stirring forces, compression or effort beyond gravity. In this way, the garments to be dried will generally be placed on clothes hangers or they will be laid, for example on clotheslines, to allow the substantially complete removal of water therefrom by means of evaporation. The temperatures during the garment drying step should generally not exceed 25 ° C. The method of this invention provides a method for cleaning garments at home, which would otherwise need to be cleaned at the dry cleaner's. The following example illustrates the domestic wet cleaning method of the present invention.

EXAMPLE A liquid wet cleaning formulation is prepared having the following composition: Approximately 30 ml of this liquid wet cleaning product is added to the Kenmore automatic washing machine that contains 12 gallons (45.4 liters) of water. This provides an aqueous soaking solution in the washing tub. Said solution contains 350 ppm of ethoxylated alcohol and 40 ppm of quaternary ammonium salt. This soaking solution has a pH of 5. The garments that were previously used and therefore soiled with the body are selected for use in the wet cleaning method. The garments that are used include a rayon blouse, silk blouse and a wool sweater. These garments have a total weight of 3 pounds (1.5 kg). The garments are folded into a mesh garment bag so that garments remain folded. Subsequently, the bag with the garments is immersed in the soaking solution and kept there without agitation for approximately 15 minutes. The soaking solution is at room temperature (20 ° C). After 15 minutes, the soaking solution is drained from the tub of the washing machine and the clean rinse solution is replaced. After two minutes, the clean rinse solution is drained, and the machine is placed in the rotation cycle to remove excess water so that the concentration of water retained in the garments is approximately 20 ° C. The garments are removed from the bag and spread out to dry. The garments are substantially clean, not shrunken and do not discolor. A minimum contact of the plate is required.

Claims (1)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A method for washing unstructured garments that are generally not suitable for washing with water and that have to be cleaned without causing wrinkles, shrinkage or alteration of unacceptable color, said method characterized by: A) forming an aqueous soaking solution having a PH of about 4 to 9 and characterized by: 1) from 50 ppm to 450 ppm of a nonionic surfactant selected from a) Cß-18 ethoxylated alcohol having from 1 to 15 moles of ethylene oxide per molecule; b) polyhydroxyl fatty acid amines of Cs-iß; c) semipolar nonionic surfactants of C8-? 8 amine oxide; and d) combinations of said nonionic surfactants; 2) from 50 ppm to 350 ppm of a surfactant coagent selected from a) anionic surfactants selected from a group consisting of i) C 8 - 8 alkylsulfates; I) C8-? 8 alkyl ether sulfates having from 1 to 6 moles of ethylene oxide per molecule; and iii) Cg-iß alkylbenzenesulfonates; b) cationic surfactants selected from a group consisting of i) amines of quaternary C6-12 surfactants; I) mono- or di-quaternary alkylammonium salts of C8-2; and c) combinations of said anionic and cationic surfactant coagents; and 3) from 5 ppm to 40 ppm of one or more functional additives selected from detergency builders, protease enzymes, or other detergent enzymes, soil and clay dispersing agents, dye transfer inhibitors and optical brighteners; B) soaking unstructured clothing of wool, silk, acetate, ramin or rayon to be cleaned in the non-agitated soaking solution that was formed in step A at a temperature of about 5 ° C to 20 ° C for a period of about from 5 to 30 minutes; C) draining said solution from soaking said garments without agitation and replacing said drained soaking solution with aqueous rinse solution; D) draining said aqueous rinse solution from said garments without agitation to remove water to the point that said garments have a retained water content of about 5% to 25% by weight; and E) hanging or laying said garments to allow substantially all of the remaining water to evaporate from the garment.