Associative thickener for aqueous fabric softener

A thickened aqueous fabric softener composition comprising at least one cationic surfactant and a polymeric rheology modifier, wherein said polymeric rheology modifier is the polymerization product of

• (i) 5 to 80 weight percent of an alkyl ester of acrylic acid or an alkyl ester of methacrylic acid, wherein the alkyl group has 1 to 18 carbon atoms;
• (ii) 5 to 80 weight percent of a monomer selected from the group consisting of a mono- or di-alkylamino alkyl(meth)acrylate, wherein the alkyl group has 1 to 4 carbon atoms;
• and
• 0.01 to 30 weight percent of an associative monomer selected from the group consisting of (b) an ethylenically unsaturated copolymerizable surfactant monomer obtained by condensing a nonionic surfactant with an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid or the anhydride thereof;
• and
• (iv) 0.01 to 1 weight percent of a cross-linking monomer having at least two ethylenically unsaturated moieties,
• wherein the weight percent of monomers is based on 100 weight percent.