Fabric conditioning with improved composition containing a plasticizer
AssigneeColgate-Palmolive Company
InventorPasquale J. Falivene
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AssigneeColgate-Palmolive Company
InventorPasquale J. Falivene
Estimating the term…
The conditioning of fabrics is effected by compositions which comprise a major proportion of conditioning agent and a minor proportion of a plasticizer. The conditioning agent is preferably a surface active fabric softener and the plasticizer is preferably a water soluble liquid, nonionic poly-lower alkoxy or polyhydroxy compound, which improves the transferability of the conditioning agent to fibrous materials during treatment of such materials, by preventing cracking or flaking of the conditioning agent during the treating operation. Although in some instances the conditioning agent plus plasticizer composition may be used as a solid product alone, without a separate base, it is generally preferred that it be employed as a coating on a base, preferably a form-retaining solid base. Also, it is preferred that the fabric conditioning be practiced on damp laundry in an automatic laundry dryer.
An article for conditioning fibrous materials by treating them with a conditioning composition which comprises a solid base, at least one side of said base coated with a continuous coating of a conditioning composition comprising a major proportion of nonionic, anionic or cationic surface active conditioning agent and from 1/2 to 25% by weight of conditioning composition of plasticizing agent selected from the group consisting of water soluble alkyl phenyl polyoxyethylene ethanols containing from 2 to 20 oxyethylene groups, the alkyl containing from 6 to 12 carbon atoms, water-soluble poly -(C.sub.2 - C.sub.3) - alkylene glycols having from 2 to 20 C.sub.2 - C.sub.3 alkoxy groups per molecule, lower alkyl polyols of 2 to 6 hydroxy groups per molecule and esterified dicarboxylic acid containing substantially terminally located carboxyl groups and an intermediate alkylene chain of from 4 to 10 carbon atoms, said acid being esterified with C.sub.3 - C.sub.10 alcohol and wherein from 10 to 30% of the thickness of said composition penetrates said base said plasticizing agent improving the transferability of the conditioning agent to the fibrous materials by preventing cracking or flaking off of conditioning agent from the base during a conditioning operation in which the conditioning article is in control with tumbling fibrous materials for a time long enough to apply a sufficient amount of conditioning composition to such materials to condition them.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.