NL8700231A - LIQUID SOFTERGENT WITH IMPROVED CLEANING PROPERTIES CONTAINING ALKYL GLYCOSIDE. - Google Patents

Description

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Ln / 9017

Title: Liquid softening agent with improved cleaning properties / containing alkyl glycide

The present invention relates to novel liquid softening agent compositions for use in fabric washing comprising an alkyl glycoside in an amount effective to improve the cleaning properties and fabric softening properties in the presence of quaternary ammonium fabric softener compounds and anionic and non-ionic surfactants.

The use of various and diverse chemical materials and in particular cationic quaternary ammonium compounds as fabric softeners for textile products is well known per se. It is also known to use such materials because of their fabric softening effects during the washing operations and especially in the rinse cycle of the washing process. This latter technique is necessitated by the fact that the previously mentioned previously mentioned quaternary compounds, which are essentially cationic in nature, were not compatible with the anionic detergents, one of the major types of detergents used in the wash cycle. Furthermore, cationic quaternary compounds are relatively ineffective in the presence of nonionic detergents.

It is also known that there is a tendency for washed products to yellow or discolour when treated with said quaternary compounds.

Another drawback associated with the use of the cationic agents in washing fabrics therewith is that they interfere with the deposition on the fabrics of optical brighteners, thereby causing the optical brightening properties of a detergent composition containing the optical brightener, be reduced.

Yet another drawback of the anti-static cationic quaternary ammonium fabric softeners is that they interfere with the detergent's cleaning properties by decreasing the removal of soil from the detergent, resulting in less effective washing. The presence of the anionic detergent material greatly nullifies the fabric softening properties of the cationic quaternary ammonium compounds.

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Thus, the aforementioned quaternaries have been combined with various compounds which were intended to counteract their poor cleaning properties, or the quaternary fabric softeners have been replaced by other fabric softeners to improve the cleaning performance.

Higher alkyl mono- and poly-glucosides, useful as detergents, fabric softeners, surfactants, gelling agents, food emulsifiers and lubricants, as well as methods for their preparation are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,865. 3,707,535; 3,838,318; 3,772,269; and 3,219,656.

Higher alkyl polyglycosides have been used as nonionic surfactants in various detergent compositions, together with anionic surfactants, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,633 and European Pat. Nos. 0,070,074; 0.070,075? 0.070,076; 0,092,877; and together with an anionic and another nonionic surfactant as shown in U.S. Patents 4,483,779? 4,483,780; 4,483,787, European Patents 0,075,994; 0,075,995; 0.075.996 and 0.105.556 to obtain good cleaning properties.

The prior art also discloses detergent compositions containing an alkyl polyglycoside, a conventional nonionic surfactant, and a cationic fabric softening compound to achieve both fabric softening and cleaning properties during washing, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,494 .773, and European Patents Nos. 094,118 and 0,106,692. However, these patents explicitly omitted the use of anionic surfactants because they would be harmful to the composition.

US Pat. No. 4,014,808 discloses an aqueous detergent composition for cleaning hard surfaces such as floors, which composition is basic builders, a mixture of higher alkyl mono- and polyglycosides, a nonionic ethoxylate or any anionically modified ethoxylate in acidic form, as well as a cationic flocculant such as polydiallyldimethyl ammonium chloride, which causes agglomeration of dirt to float flakes, and optionally includes a flotation agent which is sodium alkylaryl sulfonate.

However, none of the aforementioned publications disclose a liquid softening agent composition for simultaneously cleaning and softening fabrics, which composition comprises four essential ingredients, an effective amount of an alkyl glycoside to improve the cleaning performance and the fabric softening properties in the presence of a quaternary ammonium fabric softening compound and anionic and nonionic surfactants.

It has now been found that the addition of an alkyl polyglycoside surfactant to a liquid soft agent composition containing a cationic quaternary fabric softening compound in a nonionic anionic surfactant system enhances the cleaning performance and imparts more softening properties to fabrics treated therewith.

Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a liquid detergent composition with better cleaning performance in the presence of cationic quaternary ammonium fabric softeners.

Another object of the invention is to provide a liquid detergent composition which simultaneously cleans and softens fabrics during the washing process and an alkyl glycoside, a quaternary ammonium fabric softener compound, a nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant as the four essential ingredients.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a liquid softening agent composition with better cleaning and fabric softening properties, due to the presence of an alkyl glycoside in a detergent composition containing a mixture of anionic, nonionic and cationic surfactants.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description below, in part apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the description below, or from the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention can be realized and achieved with the aid of the regulations and combinations which are particularly indicated in the appended claims.

In order to accomplish the above-mentioned and other purposes 8700231 J · ΐ -4- and in accordance with the present invention as broadly described and illustrated herein, the liquid fabric detergent composition of the invention comprises four essential ingredients, one effective amount of an alkyl glycoside to improve the cleaning performance and fabric softening properties in the presence of a quaternary ammonium fabric softener compound, an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant in an aqueous carrier; and the method of simultaneously cleaning and softening fabrics without diminishing the brightening and cleaning properties comprises treating fabrics with the said composition during the wash cycle of the wash operation.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a stable liquid soft-agent composition comprising a C 1 -C 30 alkyl mono- or polyglycoside in an amount sufficient to compensate for the decrease in cleaning performance due to the quaternary ammonium compound, which amount is approximately 2-25 wt%, as well as about 2-8 wt% of a quaternary ammonium fabric softener compound, about 8-25 wt% of a non-ionic surfactant and about 1-12 wt% of an anionic surfactant in an aqueous carrier.

The alkyl glycoside compounds act as a fabric softener and enhance fabric softening in the presence of cationic surfactants. The alkyl glycosides are believed to coat the surface of the fabric and / or alter the fabric structure, thereby providing beneficial softening. The alkyl glycosides are believed to interfere with hydrogen bonding, thereby increasing fabric softening properties.

The alkyl glycosides do not interfere with the cleaning action and / or the deposition of brighteners which is another problem of soft gents.

The alkyl glycosides used in the present new softer gents can be defined as a compound having one or more hydrophobic groups having 1 to 30 carbon atoms per hydrophobic group, preferably 35 8-15 carbon atoms, as well as a hydrophilic glycoside group having 1 - about 10 and at preferably about 1-3 saccharide groups.

The alkyl glycosides can be represented by the general formula: 8700231-5-* RO (R'O) xZn, where R represents an alkyl group of 1-30 carbon atoms, (R'0) an ethoxy, propoxy or glyceryl group, X has a numerical value of 0-10 and preferably 0, Z represents a reducing saccharide with 5 or 6 carbon atoms and n has a numerical value of 5 1 - 10 and preferably 1.0-3. The hydrophobic alkyl group can be saturated or unsaturated, branched or straight, preferably saturated and linear, contains 1 - 30, preferably 8 - 23 carbon atoms, suitable alkyl polyglycosides include methyl, ethyl, propyl, octyl, nonyl, decyl, undecyl, dodecyl , tridecyl, tetradecyl, hexadecyl, heptadecyl, octadecyl and mixtures thereof, monoglycosides, diglycosides, triglycosides, tetraglycosides, penta-glycosides, hexaglycosides etc. The glycoside units can be glucose, galactose, mannose, lactose and / or fructose. Methods for preparing said glycosides are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,865, * 3,707,535; 3,839,318; 3,772,269; 3,219,656, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The addition of the alkyl glycoside to the soft agent improves its cleaning performance.

The amount of glycoside should be sufficient to counteract the loss of cleaning performance due to the presence of the cationic quaternary ammonium fabric softeners in the softening agent. Therefore, the glycoside content improves the cleaning performance in the softering agent composition, and makes up about 1 - 30% and preferably 2-25% by weight of the composition.

The cationic quaternary fabric softeners are commercially known and include quaternary ammonium compounds wherein typically at least one of the four groups bonded to the nitrogen atom is an alkyl group having about 10 to 20 carbon atoms and at least 2 of the nitrogen bonded groups alkyl groups are with 1-3 carbon atoms and the fourth group may be either another C 1-20 alkyl group or a C 1-3 group, further comprising an anion such as halogen, acetate, methosulfate, etc.

Typical quaternary ammonium compounds are ethyl dimethyl stearyl ammonium chloride, trimethyl stearyl ammonium chloride, trimethyl cetyl ammonium bromide, dimethyl ethyl dilauryl ammonium chloride, dimethyl propyl myristyl ammonium chloride, tallow trimethyl ammonium chloride, di-hydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride, dicocodimethyl ammonium chloride, distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, octadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride, dodecyl trimethyl or triethyl ammonium chloride, as well as the corresponding methosulfates and acetates.

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Other suitable quaternary compounds include duaquats, imidazolinium quats, polyethoxy quats and amidoalkoxy quats.

Preferably, the amount of the quaternary ammonium fabric softener used in the present softening agent composition is about 2-8% by weight of the softering agent composition.

According to the present invention, the nonionic surfactants for use as the tissue detergent are also commercially known and include the primary aliphatic alcohol ethoxylates, secondary aliphatic alcohol ethoxylates, alkyl phenol ethoxylates and the alcohol ethylene oxide-propylene oxide condensates such as Plurafacs (Wyandotte) and mixtures thereof .

The nonionic synthetic organic detergents are generally the condensation product of an organic aliphatic or alkyl aromatic hydrophobic compound and hydrophilic ethylene oxide groups. In practice, any hydrophobic compound with a carboxyl-hydroxyl-amido or amino group with a free hydrogen bonded to the nitrogen can be condensed with the ethylene oxide or with its polyhydration product, polyethylene glycol, to form a nonionic detergent. Furthermore, the length of the polyethanoxy chain can be adjusted to achieve the desired ratio between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic elements.

The nonionic detergents include the 1 mole polyethylene oxide condensate. alkyl phenol of about 6-12 carbon atoms in a straight or branched configuration, with about 5-30 moles of ethylene oxide, e.g. nonyl phenol condensed with 9 moles of ethylene oxide, dodekyl phenol condensed with 15 moles of ethylene oxide. Condensation products of the corresponding alkylthiophenols with 5-30 moles of ethylene oxide are also suitable.

The class of nonionic detergents also includes the condensation products of a higher alcohol (e.g., an alkanol of about 8-18 carbon atoms in a straight or branched configuration) condensed with about 5-30 moles of ethylene oxide, e.g. lauryl myristyl alcohol condensed with about 16 moles of ethylene oxide.

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A preferred group of nonionic surfactants are the Neodol ethoxylates (Shell Co.), which are higher aliphatic alcohol ethoxylates with about 5 to 20 ethyleneoxy groups per mole of aliphatic alcohol with about 10-18 carbon atoms, e.g.

5 C12-13 alkanol condensed with 6.5 moles ethylene oxide, 0 ^ 2-15 alkanol condensed with 12 moles ethylene oxide, C] _ 4 _] _ 5 alkanol condensed with 13 moles ethylene oxide, etc. Ethoxanation with an HLB (hydrophobic lipophilic balance) value of about 8-15 give good 0 / W emulsification while ethoxaners with low HLB values (below 8) contain less than 5 ethylene oxy groups and are bad emulsifiers and bad nonionic detergents. This non-ionic surfactant is present in the soft agent composition in an amount equal to or greater than the alkyl polyglycoside content, and is about 8-25% by weight. The total amount of non-ionic surfactant, ie the glycoside, which is also a non-ionic surfactant and the above-defined non-ionic alcohol ethoxylates, constitutes the predominant detergent component in this soft agent, about 25-40% and preferably 30 -40% by weight of the composition.

The anionic surfactants used in the softening agent of the invention are commercially known and include alkylbenzenesulfonic acid and its salts, eg compounds of the formula alkyl-phenyl-SO3-M, wherein alkyl is an alkyl group having 8-22 carbon atoms and preferably 10- 18 represents carbon atoms and M is hydrogen or an alkali metal, which compounds comprise a well-known class of anionic detergents, examples of which are sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, potassium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium laurylbenzene sulfonate, sodium acetylbenzene sulfonate. Other options include paraffin sulfonates, alkyl sulfates, alcohol ether sulfates, olefin sulfonates and the alkylphenol ethoxylate sulfates (eg sodium dinonylphenoxynonaethoxyethanol sulfate) and other equivalent water-soluble salts, especially of the alkali metal series.

Of the above alkylbenzene sulfonic acids and salts thereof, those compounds are preferred which are biodegradable and which are particularly characterized by a linear alkyl substituent of 10-22 and preferably 12-15 carbon atoms.

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It is to be understood, of course, that the carbon chain length represents a generally average chain length, because alkylation reagents of mixed chain length are usually used in the process of preparing such products. It is clear, however, that substantially pure olefins as well as alkylation compounds used in other techniques can give and give alkylated benzene sulfonates in which the alkyl group has substantially (ie at least 99%) one particular chain length, ie C - C] - 2 <C13 'c14' ^ -15. The linear alkylbenzene sulfonates are further characterized by the position of the benzene ring in the linear alkyl chain, each of the positional isomers (ie, alpha to omega) being workable and included.

In addition to the benzene sulfonates, the lower alkyl (C 1-4) analogs of benzene such as toluene, xylene, the trimethylbenzenes, ethylbenzene, isopropylbenzene and the like can also be used. The sulfonates are generally used in the form of water-soluble salts, which include as cation the alkali metals, ammonium and low amine and alkanolamine cations.

Examples of suitable linear alkylbenzene sulfonates 20 are: n-decyl benzene sulfonate n-dodecyl benzene sulfonate n-tetradecyl benzene sulfonate n-pentadecyl benzene sulfonate n-hexadecyl benzene sulfonate and the corresponding lower alkyl substituted benzene homologs as well as the salts of the aforementioned cations. Mixtures of these sulfonates may of course also be used with mixtures which may include compounds in which the linear alkyl chain is less than or greater than 30 herein, provided that the average chain length in the mixture meets the specific requirements of Ciq_22: The linear paraffin sulfonates are also a well-known group of compounds and contain water-soluble salts (alkali metal, amine, alkanol amine, and ammonium of: 35 1-decane sulfonic acid 1-dodecane sulfonic acid 1-tridecane sulfonic acid 1-tetradecan sulfonic acid 8 7 0 0 2 3 1 '-9 1-pentadecane sulfonic acid 1-hexadecane sulfonic acid as well as the other positional isomers of the sulfonic acid group.

In addition to the above-illustrated paraffin sulfonates, others with the general range of C 1-8 -22 alkyl groups can be used, the most preferred range being 12-20 carbon atoms.

. The linear alkyl sulfates contemplated in the present invention encompass the range of 10-20 carbon atoms. Specific examples include sodium n-decyl sulfate, sodium n-dodecyl sulfate; sodium n-hexadecyl sulfate, sodium n-hectadecyl sulfate, sodium n-octadecyl sulfate; and the ethoxylated (1-100 mol ethylene oxide) derivatives, such as the ethoxylated alcohol sulfates and of course the other water-soluble salt-forming cations mentioned above.

The group of anionic detergents described above as being suitable for the present invention includes the olefin sulfates including long chain olefin sulfonates, long chain hydroxyalkane sulfonates and disulfonates.

Examples of suitable olefin sulfonates which are intended to illustrate the general class only include sodium dodecenyl-1-sulfonate, sodium tetradecenyl-1-sulfonate, sodium hexadecenyl-1-sulfonate, and sodium octadecenyl-1-sulfonate. The compositions used in the present composition amount of anionic surfactant is less than 25% by weight than the content of the nonionic (ethoxylated aliphatic alcohol) surfactant and is preferably less than 50% by weight of the total content of nonionic surfactant (alkylglycoside + ethoxylated aliphatic alcohol) , and constitutes about 1-12% by weight of the composition.

The soft agent composition of the present invention may also include conventional detergent additives such as optical brighteners, germicides, soil suspending agents, anti-redeposition agents, antioxidants, coloring materials (dyes and pigments), perfumes, water-soluble alcohols, foam builders, hydrotropic substances such as sodium and potassium xylene sulfonates, sodium and potassium toluene sulfonates, cumene sulfonates, ethyl benzene sulfonates and the like, enzymes and enzyme stabilizers, provided they do not interfere with the cleaning and fabric softening action of the composition.

The following examples are illustrative of the invention only and should not be construed to limit it.

Example I

Softergent 15% Cj_2-15 alcohol: 7 moles ethylene oxide 15% alkyl polyglycoside, C] _2-13: 3 moles glycoside (Staley Industrial Products) 10 0.25% triethanolamine 8.0% Monoalkyltrimethyl ammonium chloride * 12% Cj_2-15 alcohol : 3 moles ethylene oxide sulfate, sodium 4.0% sodium xylene sulfonate 0.5% brightener 15 QS water * tallow trimethyl ammonium chloride.

The liquid detergent is prepared by mixing the above-mentioned ingredients until homogeneous to form a stable liquid composition.

The cleaning performance of this product was tested in a tergotometer containing 1 liter of water with 150 ppm calcium at temperatures of 49 ° C and 21 ° C, with a softening agent concentration of 0.18%, and compared to commercial detergent products, which the alkyl glycoside ingredients. A fabric load of standard 25 soiled samples of test fabric nylon (TFN) and cotton (TFC) contains a 65-35% blend of polyester cotton (PC) and 50: 50% dacron: cotton (DCj and EMPA 101 cloth, was washed with the tested detergents and dried in electric tumble dryers. The contaminated samples showed the reflectance as a measure of the cleaning effect 30 (Rd). The dirt removal (SR) is obtained by adding the Rd values of all samples and the soil removal index (SRI) is the average of the total Rd values divided by the number of samples.

Table I

Alternator SOLO Example I Vlb / TIDE BOLD 3 35 49 «C 212.5 202.2 220.9 219.5 181.3 SR Total 21 ° C 194.5. 183.8 198.7 202.5 193.8 SR Total 8700 231 -11-

Example I shows superior cleaning performance over Dynamo, Solo and Bold 3. No statistically significant difference in cleaning performance was observed between Example 12 and liquid TIDE at temperatures of 49 and 21 ° C

£ Sebum dirt removal at 49 ° C was equal to liquid TIDE and cotton and D / C 50/50 and better than most competitors at D / C 50 / 50. At 21 ° C, TIDE was slightly better while most other competitors were equal to Example I.

Table II

10 Dynamo SOLO example of TIDE BOLD *

49 ° C

Sebum dirt removal cotton 75.3 71.5 76.5 74.0 72.3 15 D / C 50/50 67.8 66.5 70.6 71.2 62.4

21 ° C

Sebum dirt removal cotton 76.4 71.9 76.2 80.5 73.3 20 D / C 50/50 68.0 65.2 68.2 70.4 65.5

A multi-stain test at 49 ° C and 21 ° C gave the following results using liquid TIDE as a control.

Table III

49 ° C Example 1 SOLO BOLD 3 25 Significant Profit 2 1 0

Not significant 7 7 2

Significant loss 13 14 20

21 ° C

Significant Profit 53 0 30 Not Significant 9 3 5

Significant 8 16 17 49 ° C Example 1 Example TIDE SOLO BOLD 3

Total Rd for all 1407 1522 1368 1202 22 samples

35-21 ° C

Total Rd for all 1351 1390 1240 1215 22 samples 8700 231 -12-

The most significant cleaning losses compared to liquid TIDE occurred in the case of the enzyme at 49 ° C. This could be expected because the composition of Example I contains no enzymes. However, losses were also observed with the oxidizable spots (grape juice and cranberry juice). Example I showed a strong gain at DDK in the case of oily dirt (barbecue sauce and French dressing). At 21 ° C, the losses due to enzyme stains were significantly reduced. This is due to the fact that enzymes are generally more effective at higher temperatures. At 21 ° C, Example I is a much more effective detergent than liquid TIDE in the case of oily dirt (Spangler Sebum / particles, Barbecue Sauce, Red Crisco Shortening and French Dressing).

BOLD 3 and SOLO did no better at any temperature.

The 5 cycle fabric softening / static charge / brightener 15 test gave the following results:

Fluorescence of the cotton samples was read as a measure of brightening effectiveness (Rb).

Table IV

Rb value 20 Example I 269.94

Liquid TIDE 255.44 SOLO 120.80 DYNAMO 245.53 BOLD 3 '224.56 The composition of Example I was equivalent to BOLD 3 in controlling static sticking and better than SOLO. Example I was judged slightly less effectively in fabric softening properties than SOLO, but showed better fabric softening compared to the composition of Example I minus the alkyl glycoside.

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Example II Softergent 21% Neodol 25-7 * 6% sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate 5 4% tallow trimethyl quaternary ammonium sulfate 2% methyl glucoside 0.4% clear man 8% ethanol 5% sodium xylene sulfonate 10 0.5% dye Q.S. water * c12 ~ c15 alcohol: 7 moles of ethylene oxide

Example III Softergent 15 21% Neodol 25-7 4% sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate 4% tallow trimethyl ammonium sulfate 2% methyl glycoside 0.4% brightener 20 8% ethanol 5% sodium xylene sulfonate 0.5% dye Q.S. water

This composition was tested in a 5-cycle softness test with 2.7 kg clean load, using SOLO as control with the greatest softness (10). The softness score of the present composition, which is 6.8 (the average of these values after the first, third and fifth cycles), compares favorably with SOLO. The softness score ranges from 1 30 (loudest) to 10 (softest). Addition of 3% of a tallow amine: ethylene oxide to this composition lowers the softness score 8700231-14 to 6.0. Omitting the quaternary compound and increasing the methyl glycoside amount to 6% increases the softness score to 7.2.

Table IV below summarizes the brightness and 5 static charge results of the 5-cycle tests on 5 test products and 2 control products.

Table V

Products Controls DYNAMO SOLO vlb.Det. vlb Det. Soft Soft. Soft.

6/6 5/5 / 6E 4/4 / 3E / 4/4 / 3E / 4/0 / 6MG

10 _2MG 2MG_

Static moderate light very light light very light light moderate control heavy very light very light very light heavy brightness 188 5 102.9 214.7 211.1 216.3 227.7 228.5 15 1st wash 3rd wash 223.1 95, 9 240.4 .228.2 241.9 253.2 254.2 5th wash 209.7 90.5 222.4 228.9 237.4 251.4 257.0 softness 1 10 5.9 5.8 6 .0 6.8 7.2 SRI - 171.5 186.1 190.2 186.6 193.4 184.1 20 1.6% dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DS) / 6% tallow trimethyl quat (quat) 2.5% DBS / 5% quat / 6% tallow amine-15 ethylene oxide (TAEO) 3.4% DBS / 4% quat / 3% TAEO / 2% methyl glycoside (MG)

4.4% DBS / 4% quat / 2% MG

5.4% DBS / 0% quat / 6% MG

The above results demonstrate that methylglycoside imparts a favorable softness to tissue. The laboratory tests also indicate that the glucoside confers favorable clarity in liquid formulations. In the absence of quat, however, no control of the static charge is realized.

The softer gents containing an alkyl glycoside have surprisingly been found to overcome not only the reduction in the cleaning action due to the presence of the quaternary fabric softener but also the cleaning and fabric softening properties of the improved softergent composition.

This is clearly shown in Table V by product 4 containing only 5 2% methyl glycoside, (Example 3) having a greater degree of softness (6.8) than products 1, 5.9), 2 (5.8) and 3 (6.0) without alkyl glycoside. Also, product 4 exhibits greater clarity after the first, third and fifth wash cycles than products 1, 2 and 3, as well as a higher SRI value compared to products not containing alkyl glycosides. Amounts as low as 2% alkyl glycoside are effective to improve both the cleaning and fabric softening properties of a fabric detergent composition used in fabric washing. In addition, the present compositions exhibit better cleaning and fabric softening efficacy than other surfactant and / or fabric softener combinations currently on the market, as can be seen from the comparative results in Tables I, II, IV and V.

H. ____; ______ __ 8700231

Claims (16)

The composition of claim 1, wherein the amount of alkyl glycoside is sufficient to offset the decrease in cleaning performance due to the presence of the quaternary ammonium compound content, and constitutes about 2-25% by weight of the composition. 3. A composition according to claim 1, wherein the alkyl glycoside has one or more hydrophobic groups with 1-30 carbon atoms per hydrophobic group, and a hydrophilic glycoside group with 1-10 reducing saccharide groups. The composition of claim 1, wherein the alkyl glycoside is an alkyl monoglycoside or polyglycoside. The composition of claim 4, wherein the alkyl gly coside 20 is a C12-13 alpha triglycoside. The composition of claim 4, wherein the glycoside is methyl monoglycoside. 7. A composition according to claim 1, wherein in the quaternary ammonium compound at least 1 of the four groups bonded to the nitrogen atom is a C 1-20 alkyl group and at least 2 of the groups C 1-3 are alkyl groups and the fourth group is either a C 1-20 alkyl group or a C 1-3 alkyl group. The composition of claim 7, wherein the quaternary compound accounts for about 2-8% by weight of the composition. The composition of claim 1, wherein the non-ionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of primary aliphatic alcohol ethoxylates, secondary aliphatic alcohol ethoxylates, alkylphenol ethoxylates, alcohol ethylene oxide propylene oxide condensates, and mixtures thereof. 35 8700231 ~ i- -m -17- The composition of claim 9, wherein the nonionic surfactant constitutes about 8-25% by weight. 11. The composition of claim 9, wherein the total nonionic surfactant content consisting of the combination of the alcohol ethoxylate and the alkyl glycoside constitutes the predominant detergent component in an amount of about 25-40% by weight of the composition . The composition of claim 9, wherein the nonionic surfactant is a C 1-2-15 aliphatic alcohol with 7 ethylene oxy groups per mole of alcohol. The composition of claim 1, wherein the anionic surfactant is selected from a group consisting of alkylbenzene sulfonates, alcohol ether sulfates, olefin sulfonates, paraffin sulfonates, alkyl sulfates and ethoxylated alcohol sulfates. The composition of claim 13, wherein the anionic surfactant content is less than the nonionic surfactant content, and constitutes an amount of about 1-12% by weight. The composition of claim 13, wherein the anionic surfactant is the sodium salt of ethoxylated O 2-15 alcohol sulfate 20 with 3 moles ethylene oxide per mole alcohol. The composition of claim 13, wherein the anionic surfactant is sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate. 17. A method of simultaneously cleaning and softening fabrics without reducing the brightening and cleaning properties, comprising treating fabrics with the composition of claim 1 in the wash cycle of the washing operation. ; ________ 8700231