US2904514A - Textile cleaning solution - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent TEXTILE CLEANING SOLUTION Joseph Niisslein, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to Metallgesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft, Frankfurt, Germany, a corporation of Germany N0 Drawing. Application July 3, 1952 Serial No. 297,163

Claims priority, application Germany July 6, 1951 1 Claim. (Cl. 252-171) This invention relates to means and methods for cleaning textiles and particularly articles of clothing; the invention particularly serves the removal of oil and paint or pigment stains.

The removal of this type of stains from the textiles and from the clothing, suits, coats, covers, curtains, rugs, is generally effected by the application of cleaning gasoline; this particularly applies to the removal of oil, paint, street dirt, soot and the like. It is a Well established experience that the customary cleaning media such as cleaning gasoline and similar organic solvents, for instance, certain chlorinated hydrocarbons do not operate satisfactorily. Repeated washing of the treated articles is therefore required to completely remove the stains and this greatly prolongs and complicates the work. Moreover, the treated articles undergo by the repeated treatment a reduction of the color, the wearing capacity and the shape.

Many attempts have been made to improve the cleaning capacity of gasoline by the admixture to the same of acid olein soaps and the like substances; these attempts have not been successful. Moreover, the presence of the named substances in the textiles is most undesirable, as they are not water soluble and actually increase the danger of quick soiling.

This invention is based on the recognition that the removal of stains and particularly of oil, pigments and paint stains from textiles and clothing may be greatly facilitated and accelerated if certain organic derivatives of the phosphoric acid and particularly of the orthophosphoric acid being soluble in the gasoline and having a satisfactory wetting property for pigment dirt are dissolved in the same; these admixtures increase the cleaning and stain removing capacity of the gasoline in a surprisingly effective manner; they have in addition other advantages which will become apparent, as this specification proceeds; since they are water soluble they can be easily removed by water-washing. If not removed they are not harmful; moreover, they impart to the treated goods a welcome softness; they also enable the admixture of a small quantity of water to the gasoline, which is often highly welcome.

The textiles to be cleaned may be entered into the gasoline solution of the organic phosphorous compounds without preliminary drying and having its natural moisture content; even the stain containing portions of the goods still being moist from a pretreatment need not to be carefully dried.

Moreover, the danger that the gasoline may be ignited due to electrostatic loading is greatly reduced by the presence of the organic phosphorous compounds and salts thereof.

The phosphorous compounds most advantageously usable for a dissolution in the gasoline are organic compounds of the phosphoric and particularly of the orthophosphoric acid which contain at least one surface active radical or residue per molecule. This radical may be of an aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aromatic, mixed aliphaticaromatic or heterocyclic type and must contain at least 4 C-atoms; it may be bound to the phosphorous through the intermediary of a carbon, sulfur, nitrogen or oxygen atom.

When two or three surface active radicals are present in the same molecule they may be equal 0; different and they may be bound to the phosphorous equally or difierently.

The application of the above described type of organic groups which are adapted to accumulate or introduce Water is particularly desirable. If such groups for instance one or several glycol radicals are entered into the phosphoric acid ester molecule, for instance, as polyglycol ethers, care must be taken that the solubility of the phosphorous compounds in the gasoline is preserved, as the same may be reduced by a concentrated accumulation of glycol residues or radicals.

The phosphorous compounds are for the purposes of this invention preferably used as free acids, salts thereof or mixtures of the salts and the acids.

Also tertiary phosphorous compounds that is compounds where all the hydrogen atoms of the phosphoric acid are substituted may be used for the instant purposes. Also in this case the introduction of hydrophilic groups into phosphoric acid molecule increases the usability of the instant cleaning liquids and this particularly if a small amount of Water is present in the gasoline solution.

The admixture of the phosphoric acid derivatives to the gasoline should be preferably made Within 0.5 to 25 parts by Weight of the latter to about parts of the gasoline.

Example 1 Two kilograms of a teritary ester of the orthophosphoric acid are dissolved in 100 liters of a commercial cleaning gasoline, the ester having been produced from 1 mol octadecyl alcohol, 2 mols of an octadecyl tetraglycol ether and 1 mol of (POCl The moistened soiled clothing is cleaned by means of this solution in the customary manner.

A small quantity of about 0.5 to 1 liter water may be added to the phosphoric acid ester or the water may be added to the gasoline solution.

Clothing having paint and pigment stains can be completely and quickly cleansed by the application of this cleaning solution.

Example 2 4 kilograms of a 50 percent solution in gasoline of a phosphorous oxychloride primary ester of the orthophosphoric acid with cetyl alcohol, prepared at a slightly elevated' temperature, 1 liter of water are dissolved in 100 liters of gasoline.

This solution may be effectively used to remove not only oil and paint stains but also stains resulting from metal working articles.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as ilustrative and not in a imiting sense.

Having ths described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

A cleaning agent, particularly for the removal of oil and paint stains from textiles. and articles of. clothing comprising a solution of about 100. parts by. weight of and gasoline, 2 parts by weight of tertiary orthophosphoric acid ester made with onernol of octadecyl alcoholl and two mols of octadecyl tetraglycol ether.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,869,312 Granger July 26, 1932 2,091,121 Lenher et a1. Aug. 24, 1937 2,327,182 Flett Aug. 17, 1943 2,550,982 Eberz May 1, 1951 2,718,550 Rudel et a1 Sept. 20, 1955 2,728,643 Vaughn Dec. 27, 1955 FOREIGN-: PATENTS 354,300 Great Britain Nov. 18, 1930