Cleaning compositions containing enzymes and polycarboxylic ethers or thioethers

A method of cleaning limescale from a surface comprising the step of applying a biodegradable aqueous acid cleaning composition to a surface bearing limescale stains, wherein said composition comprises:

• (A) at least one acid selected from the group consisting of:
• i) aspartic acid;
• ii) derivatives selected from N-alkylaryl and N-cycloaliphatic derivatives of iminodiacetic acid;
• iii) derivatives selected from N-alkyl, N-alkylaryl and N-cycloaliphatic derivatives of aspartic acid;
• iv) polycarboxylic acids having a heteroatom in the main chain thereof, said polycarboxylic acids selected from the group consisting of HO2C—CH2—CH2—NH—CH2—CO2H, N(CH2CH2CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2, HN(CH(CO2H)CH2CO2H)2, and HO2—(CH2)a—O—(CH2)b—CO2H, wherein a and b are both integers having a value of at least 1, and the total of a and b is not greater than 10;
• and
• v) mixtures of said acids (i) to (iv);
• (B) a thickener selected from the group consisting of biopolymers, crosslinked polyacrylate, modified polyacrylates;
• and
• (C) a plurality of enzymes selected from the group consisting of carbohydrase enzymes, glucanase enzymes and mixtures thereof, wherein said composition has a pH of 0.1-5.

A method of cleaning limescale from a surface comprising the step of applying a biodegradable aqueous acid cleaning composition to a surface bearing limescale stains, wherein said composition comprises:

• (A) at least one acid selected from the group consisting of:
• i) aspartic acid;
• ii) derivatives selected from N-alkylaryl and N-cycloaliphatic derivatives of iminodiacetic acid;
• iii) derivatives selected from N-alkyl, N-alkylaryl and N-cycloaliphatic derivatives of aspartic acid;
• iv) polycarboxylic acids having a heteroatom in the main chain thereof, said polycarboxylic acids selected from the group consisting of HO2C—CH2—CH2—NH—CH2—CO2H, N(CH2CH2CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2, HN(CH(CO2H)CH2CO2H)2, and HO2—(CH2)a—O—(CH2)b—CO2H, wherein a is greater than or equal to 1 and b is less than or equal to 10;
• and
• v) mixtures of said acids (i) to (iv);
• (B) a thickener selected from the group consisting of biopolymers, crosslinked polyacrylate, modified polyacrylates;
• and
• (C) a plurality of enzymes selected from the group consisting of carbohydrase enzymes, glucanase enzymes and mixtures thereof, wherein said composition has a pH of 0.1-5.