NZ204067A

NZ204067A - Fabric softening compositions containing cationic softener and paraffin sulphonate

Info

Publication number: NZ204067A
Application number: NZ204067A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: A Jacques; J-P Grandmaire
Original assignee: Colgate Palmolive Co
Priority date: 1982-05-10
Filing date: 1983-05-02
Publication date: 1986-09-10
Also published as: MX158719A; NO169729B; PT76663B; AU1440083A; GB2123043A; ES522202A0; FR2526441B1; BE896706A; SE8302633L; AU556171B2; NO831630L; BR8302399A; CH655146A5; HK16991A; GR78260B; IT8348250A0; NL8301673A; DK207683A; PH25256A; FR2526441A1

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> New Zealand Paient Spedficaiion for Paient Number £04067 2 040 6 7 Priority Oate(s): . J. P., .SV.fc?, Complete Specification Filed: r?;.C' & CI»SS: f,np.iL4K. Publicat ion Dote: H.1^ P.O. Journal, No: ... Patents Form No. 5 Number PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FABRIC SOFTENING COMPOSITION //We OOLGATE-PAIMDLIVE COMPANY of 300 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022, United States of America, a corporation organised under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America do hereby declare the invention for which //we pray that a Patent may be granted to me/us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 FABRIC SOFTENING COMPOSITION. * 040 6 7 The present invention relates to improved, highly efficacious, fabric softening compositions utilizing on the one hand a cationic fabric softening compound or mixture of such compounds and on the other hand a higher alkyl sulfonate which by itself does not provide any softening effect to the laundry materials, and process for making and using such compositions. The unique and synergistic effect of the combination of cationic and paraffin sulfonate permits the formulation of softening compositions of lower active ingredient levels (A.I.) than when using straight cationic material to obtain comparable i i softening effect. This permits wider latitude in preparing the compositions ; as well as significant monetary savings. ' BACKGROUND OF INVENTION. Empirically it has been determined that for a normal wash load (e.g. 8 to 10 lbs) in the usual washing machine utilizing about 35 liters of water, about 30 to 60 grams of a 6% active cationic conditioner results in very acceptable softening. On a scale of 1 to 10 of softness rating, this means a rating of about 9 to 10. At 6 and above there is to the consumer a perceptible difference between i values of 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. ! From 1 to 5, the wash is totally unsatisfactory being very harsh and "boardy" in feel. At these levels the consumer generally cannot perceive any differences.; Of course, the expert, with more experience and sophistication can discern differences among all these numerical ratings. j 2 040 67 The 6% active cationic level has been the general industry-wide standard ! I since higher concentrations in aqueous systems are often difficult to formulate j the stability may be poor, pourability deficient, gel-formation a serious problem, and dispersibility in the laundry water difficult leading to poor i softening and/or staining. In U.S. patent 4 000 077 there are described improved fabric softening i compositions combining a cationic softener with a long chain aliphatic alcohol sulfate (including ethoxylated alcohol sulfates). It is clear in this patent and it has been empirically established that lower levels of | total actives (i.e. below 6 %) can give softening equivalent to 6% cationic i alone. j In U.S. patent 3 997 453 fabric softening compositions of improved cold water dispersibility are obtained by the conjoint use of minor amounts of specified anionic sulfonates. Ratios of cationic to anionic of from 80:1 ' to 3:1, 50:1 to 4:1 and 40:1 to 5:1 are disclosed. Among the disclosed ' I sulfonates are the Cg to C2Q paraffin sulfonates. In its broadest description the invention relates to a fabric j I softening composition which comprises an aqueous dispersion of a [ cationic fabric softener and a long-chain paraffin sulfonate in a weight ratio of from 5:1 to 12:1 (softener: sulfonate). ; i In a more specific aspect the invention relates to an aqueous fabric softening composition comprising from 2% to 5% of a cationii softener and from 0.2% to 1% of a to C22 paraffin sulfonate in a Weight ratio of about 5:1 to 12:1. ■ In a further aspect the invention relates to a process for preparing an aqueous fabric softening composition comprising fromj 2% to 5% of a cationic softner and from 0.2% to 1% of a C-^ to C22' paraffin sulfonate in a weight ratio of about 5:1 to 12:1, the j process comprising adding a liquid premix of the cationic and ' paraffin sulfonate at a temperature of about 40 to 70°C to a ! J major amount of the formula weight of water which has been j i 1 1 1 I 2 04 0 61 preheated to a temperature of from about 35°C to about 75°C and mixing to obtain a homogeneous dispersion of the actives in the water. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION. The cationic softeners useful herein are the conventional quaternary ammonium fabric softeners and particularly the water dispersible di-longchain, di-shortchain quaternary ammonium salts and the 2-long-chain imidazolinium salts. Of particular preference are the di-C^ to C^q alkyl, di-C^ to alkyi quaternary ammonium salts (e.g. chloride, sulfate, methosulfate, acetate, : etc.) and the 2-C13 to C30 alkyl, 1,1-disubstituted imidazolinium salts (anion similarly as above). Generally the foregoing compounds may be represented by the following formulae for the imidazolinium softeners (A and AA) and quaternary salts (B) Formula A h2c ch 2 N n —- r. •3 x C R, '2 R 1 10 15 20 25 2 04067 Wherein : Rj is a Cg to C30 aliphatic radical and preferably a to alkyl or alkenyl; R2 and R3 independently may be any of Rj or preferably, lower alkyl or substituted alkyl of to C4 such as haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, acylamino-alkyl and the like; ! X is a water-solubilizing anion such as chloride, bromide, iodide, fluoride, sulfate, methosulfate, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, and carboxylate, (e.g. ' acetate, adipate, phthalate, benzoate, oleate, etc.); I The preferred compounds have the formula (AA) I h2c ch2 v\ c r / n c2h4 —' n t Wherein : R^ is as defined in Formula (A) ; R2 may be any of Rj or preferably lower alkyl or substituted alkyl of Cj to such as haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl and the like; R4 may be hydrogen or Cj to alkyl or substituted alkyl; R5 may be any of Rj and R2, preferably Cg to C3g aliphatic and more preferably Cj^ to Cjg alkyl or alkenyl; and X is as defined in Formula (A) The quaternary ammonium compound has the general formula (B) - 5 - f 204067 wherein the R groups are selected from to C^q aliphatic, preferably ' alkyl or alkenyl, aryl (e.g. phenul, tolyl, cumyl, etc.); aralkyl (e.g. ' I benzyl, phenethyl, etc.); and the halo, amide, hydroxyl, and carboxy j substituents thereof; with the proviso that at least two R's are to j C3Q and preferably to C22 and the others are lower alkyl and more j preferably at least two R's are to C^g and the others are lower alkyl ; of Cj to (and most "preferably methyl or ethyl) and Y is an anion as i i defined for X in Formula (A). \ j Typical imidazolinium softeners include the following within the above formula (A) 2-heptadecyl-l-methyl-l-oleylamidoethyl imidazolinium ethosulfate J I 2-heptadecyl-l-methyl-l- (2-stearoylamido)ethyl - imidazolinium sulfate, i j 2-heptadecylrl-methyl-cl- (2-stearoylamido)ethyl - imidazolinium chloride, j 2-coco-l-(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-benzyl imidazolinium chloride, j 2-coco-l-(hydroxyethyl)-l-(4-chlorobutyl)-imidazolinium chloride, J ! 2-coco-l-(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-octadecenyl imidazolinium chloride, J 2-tall oil fatty-l-(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-benzyl imidazolinium chloride, | 2-tall oil fatty-l-(2 hydroxyethyl)-l-(4-chlorobutyl)-imidazolinium chloride i 2-heptadecenyl-l-(2-hydroxyethl)-l-(4-chlorobutyl)-imidazolinium chloride j 2-heptadecenyl-l-(2-hydroxyethyl)l-benzyl imidazolinium chloride. j 2-heptadecyl-l-(hydroxyethyl)-l-octadecyl imidazolinium ethyl sulfate. | Typical cationics of formula (B) include the following : j distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride j ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride - 6 - a04067 dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride distearyl dimethyl ammonium bromide di(hydrogenated tallow) diemethyl armionium bromide distearyl, di(isopropyl) ammonium chloride distearyl dimethyl ammonium methosulfate. In addition to the cationic softening component of the present invention, there may be also included in the aqueous compositions numerous conventional, supplemental materials or optional components which do not adversely affect the stability and/or functional characteristics of the present invention. Thus, for example, there may be present minor amounts of various surfactant materials and in particular certain surfactant phosphate esters which may be desirable to effect anti-static control of the laundered goods. Such conventional additional components also include perfumes, dyes, pigments, germicides, optical brighteners, anti-corrosion agents (sodium silicate) and the like. Where used, each of these may comprise e.g. 1% by weight of the instant compositions. It may also be desirable to supplement and/or modify the viscosity features of the composition of this invention by the addition of electrolyte material such as calcium chloride, sodium nitrate, sodium formate and the like in amounts from about 0.05 to about 5% by weight. Minor proportions of other components may also be included such as the lower alkanols, e.g. ethyl f and isopropyl alcohol as well as the conventional opacifiers particularly of the resin emulsion types so well known in this art. It is of course understood that npst commercial materials contain a mixture of moieties. Thus the long chain substituents on the cationics may not only be. a single carbon length chain but more probably a mixture. In this regard a particularly useful quaternary salt wherein the alkyl substituents are derived from tallow may contain a mixture about 355! C^g and 60% Cjg and minor amounts of C^. Similarly the paraffin sulfonate may be a single chain length product but, again, more generally a mixture, and preferably - 7 - 2 040 6 7J such a mixture could be a mixed Cj^ to C17 (e.g. 26% C-^; 32% C15; 25% C16; j 14% C17; 4% C13; 1.5% C18 arid 0.5% C12). Other mixed alkyls can of course ! be used but the preferred ones contain at least about 90% in the to range. , In general, the aqueous compositions of this invention contain from 2% to 5% of the cationic compound and from 0.2% to 1% of the paraffin sulfonate with the ratio of cationic to sulfonate ranging from 5:1 to 12:1. The preferred compositions have a total actives content (i.e. cationic plus sulfonate) of from about 4% to about 6% with from 4% to 5.5% most preferred and a > most preferred ratio of cationic to sulfonate of about 10:1 ; The preferred general process for making the compositions of this invention depends upon whether a batch or continuous technique is used. In a batch process about 2/3 of the formula amount of water is heated to about 35-50°C. Separately the cationic and paraffin sulfonate are combined to form a fluid mixture (generally heating to 50-55°C). The latter is then added to the j preheated water and mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Thereafter the remaining water is added with mixing. In a continuous process the premix of cationic and paraffin sulfonate (at 50-55°C) is added to the total formula amount of water which has been heated to about 70°C. The following examples will serve to illustrate the present invention without being deemed limitative thereof. : Parts, where given, are by weight, unless otherwise indicated. ! ( EXAMPLE 1. A. A 40 x 40 cm cotton towel prewashed six times to remove all material which may be in the towel is rinsed in tap water at room temperature and after air-drying 1s cut into 5 pieces. Each piece is treated with 1.5 grams of an aqueous composition containing 4% distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride(DSDMAC) 2 040 67 The softened towel pieces are evaluated through a paired comparison method against the following compositions used also to treat towels as above (B) 1.5 grams aqueous softener containing 3.75% DSDMAC and 0.14% sodium paraffin sulfonate (SAS) (C) 1.5 grams aqueous softener containing 3.50%DSDMAC and 0.285! SAS (D) 1.5 grams aqueous softener containing 3.25% DSDMAC and 0.43% SAS The results of the evaluation indicate that (C) is the best with (D) next, followed by (A) and then (B). It should be noted that (C) and (D) contain significantly less cationic and even less total actives than (A) (cationic alone) and yet give better softening. In the case of (B) the amount of SAS is too low to give the synergistic effects shown by (C) and (D) which are examples of the present invention. Further examples of aqueous compositions of this invention are as follows : % DSDMAC % SAS Ex. 2 3.67 0.52 3 4.40 0.425 4 4.40 0.90 5 4.00 0.33 The DSDMAC of the foregoing examples has a molecular weight of about 575 and includes in addition to Cjg alkyl some C^g alkyl as well. The paraffin sulfonate has a molecular weight of about 328 according to the Epton method. Example 6 Each of the foregoing examples IB, 1C, ID, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is repeated utilizing the following cationics and paraffin sulfonates with comparable results A. di-octadecyl, diethyl ammonium methosulfate. B. di-hexadecyl di-isopropyl ammonium acetate - 9 - </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> 2040 67 C-. di-eicosyl dimethyl ammonium bromide. D. 2-heptadecyl-l-methyl-l-oleylamidoethyl imidazolinium ethosulfate. E. 2-coco-l-(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-benzyl imidazolinium chloride. F. distearyl, hydroxypropyl methyl ammonium chloride. 6. C^g paraffin sulfonate H. Clg paraffin sulfonate. The aqueous softening compositions of this invention are generally applicable as other such compositions, particularly useful in the rinse cycle of an automatic laundry machine. In such operations as well as in any other desired method of treating clothes, the compositions are usually employed to provide generally an actives concentration of from about 0.005% to 0.3% based on the weight of clothes treated preferably 0.007% to about 0.2% and most preferably from about 0.01% to about 0.15 % --10 - 204067 WHAT WE CLAIM IS

1. An aqueous fabric softening composition comprising from 2% to 5% of a cationic softener and from 0.2% to 1% of a C^ to C22 paraffin sulfonate in a weight ratio of 5:1 to 12:1.

2. A composition as defined in claim 1 wherein the cationic ' is distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride and the paraffin sulfonate is a C^-C^ paraffin sulfonate.

3. A composition as defined in claim 2 wherein weight ratio of cationic to sulfonate is about 10:1.

4. A process for preparing a composition as defined in claim 1 which comprises adding a liquid premix of the cationic and paraffin sulfonate at a temperature of 40 to 70°C to a major amount of the formula weight of water which has been preheated to a temperature of from 35°C to 75°C and mixing to obtain an homogenous dispersion of the actives in the water.

5. A process for treating clothes to soften them which com-prises adding to the clothes in water sufficient of a composition as define3 in claim 1 to provide a concentration of 0.005^ " ft to 0.3% thereof based on the weight of clothes. WEST-WALKER, McCAESE ATTORNEYS FO.'i THE APPLICANT ' *--.1 t ."WJ- -11- </div>