Acidic gel cleaner with improved rinsing from a dried state

An acidic gel cleaner composition consisting essentially of:

• a) from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight of the total composition of an organic acid selected from the group consisting of citric acid, lactic acid, and mixtures thereof;
• b) from about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of an anionic surfactant, based on the total weight of said composition;
• c) from about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of a nonionic surfactant, based on the total weight of said composition;
• d) at least about 80% by weight water, based on the total weight of said composition;
• e) from about 0.1% to about 1% by weight of the total composition of a copolymer selected from the group consisting of diallyldimethylammonium chloride/acrylamide/acrylic acid copolymer, diallyldimethylammonium chloride/acrylic acid/dimethylacrylamide/(meth)acrylamide copolymer, acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/ethyl acrylate copolymer, and mixtures thereof;
• f) from about 0.1% to about 1% by weight of the total composition of a microbially-derived polysaccharide selected from the group consisting of alginate, curdlane, dextran, diutan, gellan, glucan, pullulan, xanthan, and mixtures thereof;
• wherein the weight percent ratio of said copolymer to said microbially-derived polysaccharide is from about 1.5:1 to about 2:1.

A method for improving the ability to rinse off an acidic gel cleaner dried onto a hard surface, said cleaner comprising acid, surfactant, and water, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an acidic mixture of acid, surfactant, and water;
• and
• b) adding to said mixture a combination of two polymers consisting essentially of:
• i) from about 0.1 wt. % to about 1.0 wt. % of a copolymer having at least one quaternized monomer;
• and
• ii) from about 0.1 wt. % to about 1.0 wt. % of a microbially-derived polysaccharide;
• wherein the weight percent ratio of (i) copolymer to (ii) microbially-derived polysaccharide is from about 1.5:1 to about 2:1.