Laundry detergent compositions having enhanced greasy and oily soil removal performance
AssigneeThe Procter & Gamble Company
InventorAlan P. Murphy
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Abstract
Laundry detergent compositions containing no phosphate or low levels of phosphate materials and specific mixtures of selected nonionic surfactants and selected cationic surfactants are disclosed. The nonionic/cationic surfactant mixtures are formulated to have "cloud point" characteristics and, preferably, reduced cationic monomer concentrations as defined herein. These compositions are unusually effective in removing greasy and oily soils and body soils from fabrics; they are also effective in the removal of particulate soils. A process is disclosed for laundering fabrics using compositions containing nonionic surfactants and cationic surfactants.
Claims37
A detergent composition, having a pH of at least about 6.5 in the aqueous laundry solution, being substantially free of oily hydrocarbon materials and cationic materials containing about 13 or more ethylene oxide groups, and containing from 0 to about 20% phosphate materials, consisting essentially of from about 5% to about 100% of a surfactant mixture consisting essentially of:
- (a) a biodegradable nonionic surfactant having the formula
- R(OC.sub.2 H.sub.4).sub.n OH
- wherein R is a primary or secondary alkyl chain of from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms and n is an average of from about 2 to about 12, and having an HLB of from about 5 to about 17;
- and
- (b) a cationic surfactant, free of hydrazinium groups, having the formula
- R.sub.m.sup.1 R.sub.x.sup.2 Y.sub.L Z
- wherein each R.sup.1 is an organic group containing a straight or branched alkyl or alkenyl group optionally substituted with up to 3 phenyl or hydroxy groups and optionally interrupted by up to 4 structures selected from the group consisting of ##STR25## and mixtures thereof, each R.sup.1 containing from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, and which may additionally contain up to about 12 ethylene oxide groups;
- m is a number from 1 to 3;
- each R.sup.2 is an alkyl or hydroxy alkyl group containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a benzyl group, with no more than one R.sup.2 in a molecule being benzyl;
- x is from 0 to 11, the remainder of any carbon atom positions being filled by hydrogens;
- Y is selected from the group consisting of ##STR26## L is 1 or 2, the Y groups being separated by a moiety selected from the group consisting of R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 analogs having from one to about twenty-two carbon atoms and 2 free carbon single bonds when L is 2;
- Z is an anion in a number sufficient to give electrical neutrality to the molecule;
- said cationic surfactant being at least water-dispersible in admixture with said nonionic sufactant;
- the ratio of said nonionic surfactant to said cationic surfactant being in the range of from 5.1:1 to about 100:1, and said mixture having a cloud point of from about 0.degree. to about 95.degree. C. and the balance being selected from the group consisting of:
- up to about 60% of a detergency builder selected from the group consisting of alkali metal carbonates, tetraborates, bicarbonates, perborates, tripolyphosphates, orthosphosphates, pyrophosphates, hexametaphosphates, silicates, and sulfates, organic alkaline detergency builder salts selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium ethylenediaminetetraacetates, nitrilotriacetates, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)nitrilotriacetates, phytates, ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonates, ethylene diphosphonates, and mellitates and insoluble sodium aluminosilicates having the formula Na.sub.z (AlO.sub.2).sub.z (SiO.sub.2).sub.y.xH.sub.2 O, wherein z and y are integers equal to at least 6, the molar ratio of z to y is in the range of from 1.0:1 to about 0.5:1, and X is an integer from about 15 to about 264, said aluminosilicates having a calcium ion exchange capacity of at least 200 milligrams equivalent/gram and a calcium ion exchange rate of at least about 2 grains/gallon/minute/gram;
- up to about 30% of sources of alkalinity selected from the group consisting of triethanolamine, diethanolamine and monoethanolamine;
- up to about 15% of a suds suppressor selected from the group consisting of long chain fatty acids, silicone suds suppressor additives, microcrystalline waxes, and alkyl phosphate esters;
- water;
- ethanol;
- isopropanol;
- urea;
- sodium chloride;
- and up to about 50% by weight of anionic detergents, zwitterionic detergents of mixtures thereof wherein the anionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of:
- alkali metal, ammonium, alkaline earth metal and alkanolammonium salts of higher fatty acids containing 8 to 24 carbon atoms, organic sulfuric reaction products containing from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms in an alkyl group, from 0 to 30 ethoxy groups and a sulfonate or sulfate group, and up to about 10% by weight of the cationic surfactant of alkyl benzene sulfonates containing from 9 to 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl group, and wherein the zwitterionic surfactant contains an alkyl group with 8 to 18 carbon atoms, a quaternary ammonium, phosphonium or sulfonium group and wherein one of the substituents bears an anionic water solubilizing group;
- up to about 40% by weight of sodium toluene sulfonate by weight of the cationic surfactant;
- and mixtures thereof.
A composition according to claim 29 which contains from about 3 to about 20% of a water-soluble amine oxide surfactant.
A process according to claim 31 wherein said detergent composition may contain anion-producing materials selected from the group consisting of:
- materials having a dissociation constant of at least about 1.times.10.sup.-3, in amounts up to about 40%, by weight, of the cationic surfactant;
- materials having a dissociation constant of at least about 1.times.10.sup.-5 and less than about 1.times.10.sup.-3, in amounts up to about 15%, by weight, of the cationic surfactant;
- and materials having a dissociation constant of less than about 1.times.10.sup.-5, in amounts of up to about 10%, by weight, of the cationic surfactant.
A process according to claim 32 wherein, in the cationic surfactant, Y is ##STR29## wherein the nonionic surfactant has an HLB of from about 9 to about 13;
- and wherein the ratio of nonionic surfactant to cationic surfactant is from 5.1:1 to about 50:1.
A process for cleaning solid surfaces soiled with greasy and/or oily soils in which said surfaces are contacted with an aqueous solution consisting essentially of from about 0.01% to about 0.3% by weight of a mixture of water, a nonionic surfactant and a cationic surfactant, wherein said mixture has a reduced cationic monomer concentration of from about 0.002 to about 0.2, and the temperature of the solution is within about 20.degree. C. of the cloud point of said nonionic/cationic surfactant mixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.