US2423137A - Cleaning and preserving composition - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 1, 1947 UNITED STATE CLEANING AND PRESERVIN G COMPOSITION Glenn P. Beach, Oakland, Calif.

No Drawing. Application August 24, 1944, Serial No. 551,058

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improved cleansing and preserving compositions. More particularly it pertains to concentrates of cleaning agents comprising wax and soap (as hereinafter more fully described), which concentrates may be diluted with many times their volume of water and employed to simultaneously clean and provide a protective coating for a great variety of smooth surfaces such as painted, enamelled, varnished or lacquered wood, plaster, linoleum, tile, marble, terrazzo and other buildin materials of natural or synthetic origin as well as metallic surfaces such as auto bodies, airplane surfaces, etc.

Hitherto various waxes such as esters of relatively high molecular weight acids and alcohols, parafiin waxes, etc. have been used as preservative and polishing agents. However the cleansing or detergent action of such waxes by themselves has been quite limited. Now one of the commonest kinds of detergent action is that produced by water oluble soaps, especially those having some free alkalinity. A disadvantage of such compositions however is that if they are allowed to remain indefinitely in contact with many kinds of surfaces they may attack the less resistant elements of the exposed surface, thereby both marring the appearance and shortening the life of the composition.

For example, linoleum upon continued washing with ordinary soap vor alkaline cleaning powder develops a brittle texture and a rough pitted surface due to leaching out of the oleaginous components of the linoleum by the basic detergents. So seriou is this effect that manufacturers of commercial polishing compositions for linoleum and the like, strive to maintain such compositions neutral in reaction, as by the inclusion of borax or other buffers. Such a composition obviously has much less detergent or cleansing effect than if caustic were included. The compensating advantage however is that the wax deposited on the linoleum or other surface from the washing solution has a certain preservative and polishing effect which benefit would be greatly outweighted if free alkali or soap were also deposited in admixture With the wax. Again, such alkali cleaners when applied to terrazzo and the like may discolor the surface.

. Indeed, so great has been the desire to obtain acting detergent and a wax are combined in a multi-purpose cleaning, preserving and polishing composition in such manner that although the aqueous cleaning liquid has a substantial basic reaction, the deposited wax not only prevents any remaining or sbsequent free alkali from attacking the cleaned surface but also increases the useful life of the material and imparts a nonslippery coating as well.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of the present invention to provide a composition combining both pronounced detergent and highly effective polishing and preservative properties toward surfaces to which they are applied. Another purpose is to produce an aqueous alkaline cleaning composition which will not attack oleaginous constituents of structures on which it is used. A further object is to provide a method for restoring worn surfaces and prolonging the life of fabricated coating materials such as linoleum. Additional objects will be apparent from the present description and claims.

It has now been found that when the saponifiable constituents of waxesthat is, high molecular weight alcohol-acid estersare reacted scouring action without resorting to alkalis that even abrasives have been used in such polishes, since they at least will be chemically inert when left on the surface.

By the present invention, however, a basicwith a small stoichiometrical excess of basic reagent or alkali, the reaction mixture, when applied in aqueous medium, possesses excellent detergent or cleansing action toward a great variety of surfaces. In addition, when the aqueous phase is removed, the remaining waxy film unexpectedly is both non-slippery and non-corrosive. In fact, application of the present composition does much to counteract the effect of previous applications of corrosive detergents such as ordinary soap on such coatings as linoleum referred to earlier. After several applications it can be visibly observed to be filling up the pits or indentations in the linoleum previously produced by washin with caustic cleaners. It is thus seen that the free alkali in the present waxes has just the opposite effect of free alkali in common.fatty acid soaps; in the latter instance it is a corrosive agent, in the former its corrosive (but not its detergent) properties are masked so that the composition containing it has a preservative or rejuvenating effect. Possibly this observed non-corrosive effect with the present compositions may be due to the presence of unsaponiliable or difficultly saponifiable constituentsof the deposited waxes which prevent remaining alkali from attacking the treated surface after removal of the aqueous film. Or it may be that the several components of the present compositions cause the free alkali to concentrate in the aqueous phase and thus be substantially removed by the withdrawal of the water.

The waxy component of the present compositions is composed, at least in major part, of relatively hard non-glyceryl ester waxes. They should have a minimum melting point of about '70-'75 C. Such waxes include carnauba wax, Chinese wax, coca wax, glyceria wax, montan wax and raphia wax. Preferably they have a minimum saponification value of 70-75. Vegetable waxes are the most effective, of which the outstanding example is carnauba wax. Japan wax is a glyceride rather than a true Wax and hence inapplicable.

A minor amount of the waxy component may be somewhat lower melting wax (i. e. having a minimum melting point of about 60 C.) such as beeswax, candelilla wax, flax wax, palm wax, rose wax or sugar cane wax. Synthetic Waxes which contain suitable mixtures of saponifiable and unsaponiiiable constituents and which have appropriate melting points may be used in place of the members of either of the foregoing groups. Ceresine or paraffin waxes, since they contain no saponiiiable components, can be used only in small amounts as a filler. The total amount of wax should be about 40-55% by Weight of the organic constituents of the present composition.

A thinner or organic solvent is generally employed with the waxes. This is usually a member of the class of vegetable drying oils such as linseed, tung, dehydrogenated castor oil, etc. Light petroleum distillates such as kerosene, gasoline or naphtha are generally less efiective but may also be used, as may also synthetic drying oils or unsaturated liquid polymers. The function of such a thinner is to allow the dissolved or suspended waxes to cover the surface evenly and then to deposit in a continuous film by the evaporation and/ or oxidation of the thinner. Linseed oil is particularl effective in the present compositions because it tends to build up or preserve the elasticity of treated linoleum. Amounts of linseed oil or other thinner of from about 20% up to about 50% of the weight of the wax are generally indicated.

It is often desirable to augment the saponifiable portion of the wax with a minor amount of free fatty acid. Such an addition may also serve to adjust the physical consistency of the composition according to whether a plastic or liquid mixture is desired. The two commonest liquid and solid fatty acids used in this connection are oleic and stearic acids respectively; however they ma be replaced in whole or in part by other saturated or unsaturated and/or hydroxy fatty acids containing between about 12 and 24 carbon atoms. Alcohols and acids formed in waxes generally have about 12-30 carbon atoms. Amounts of added fatty acids may be on the order of -20% of the total organic components.

The saponiiiable constituents in the drying oil thinners, together with the saponifiable constituents of the waxes plus the added fatty acids are all saponified by addition of alkali. The total amount of these saponifiable ingredients in the mixture should be such that they are saponified by the addition of about 18 to 22% by weight of added alkali. By alkali is meant the oxides or hydroxides of sodium, potassium and lithium. Any one of these three alkalis can b used alone or they may be used in admixture. The liquidplastic consistenc of the mixture may also be influenced by the alkali used for saponification;

soda tends to produce a solid soap while potash is used for liquid soap. As indicated above, the amount of soap and the presence of a trace of free alkali remaining after saponification have a critical influence on the effectiveness of the present compositions. The pH of the final aqueous cleaning composition should be in the range of about 7.59 although it may even go higher.

The organic composition may be diluted with up to about volumes of water. In order to prevent phase separation of the aqueous composition, a small amount of a water-soluble wetting or emulsifying agent may also be added to the composition. Suitable wetting agents are listed in 35 Ind. 82 Eng. Chem. 126-130 (January 1943). Among those found to be particularly effective in the present compositions are amines and sulfonate salts.

Certain features of the invention may be illustrated by the following non-limiting example, it being understood that the exact proportions and procedural steps are given by way of demonstration only and may be varied considerably, as pointed out in the foregoing description.

Example First, ten fluid ounces of commercial triethanolamine is added to 27 gallons of water'which is ien heated to about 35-40 C. Four pounds of sodium hydroxide and 1% lbs. of potassium hydroxide are then added and the mixture heated to about 80 C. whereupon A lb. of stearlc acid is added. When the stearic acid had melted, there is added one pint of oleic acid mixed with 20 fluid ounces of linseed oil. Eight pounds of carnauba wax are then melted together with 4 lbs. of candelilla wax at a temperature below C. and the melted wax then added to the preceding mixture at about 90 C. together with a mixture of 3 pints of oleic acid and 60 fluid ounces of linseed oil. Th mixture is thereupon brought to a boil and then allowed to cool. Eight fluid ounces of a wetting agent such as sodium, salt of sulfonated lauryl and myristyl collamide (trade name, Intramine) are preferably also added.

By adding two to four teaspoonsful of this preparation to a quart of water, that is, a volume dilution of 48 to 96 times, a composition will be provided which will be extremely efiective in removing stains alike from plaster walls and terrazzo floors, will restore the elasticity and appearance of linoleum which had become rough and brittle from washings with ordinary soap, and will impart a non-slippery protective coating to a great variety of surfaces from wooden floors and walls to marble stairs and automobiles.

I claim:

1. A cleaning and'preserving composition adapted to be dispersed in water, the organic constituents of which comprise about 40-55% by weight of wax, a major portion of which is a non-glyceryl ester wax having a minimum melting point of about Kl-75 C. and a minor portion of which is an ester wax having a minimum melting point of about 60 C., a drying oil in amount about 20- 50% of the total weight of the wax, and about l822% by weight of water soluble fixed alkali, which alkali substantially entirely has combined with fatty acids derived from wax and from the drying oil.

2. Th composition of claim 1 wherein the major wax is carnauba wax, the minor wax is candelilla wax and the drying oil is linseed oil.

GLENN P. BEACH.

(References on following page) REFERENCES CITED FOREIGN PATENTS The following references are of record in the Number Country Date file of this patent: 13,321 Great Britain 1905 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 407,028 Great Brltam Max. 2, 1934 OTHER REFERENCES Number Name Date 2,274,509 Thompson Feb. 24, 1942 Bennett-Chemical Formulary, Vol. IV, 1939, ,9 ,2 9 Pape Mar, 19, 1935 pages 403 and 432. 1,544,224 Darlinton 2 June 30, 1925 10 1,528,456 Tengwald Mar. 3, 1925 1,737,222 Dewey Nov. 26, 1929