Patent Grant
7049276
The invention relates to the treatment of clothes for dry wrinkle resistance, and in particular in-wear wrinkle resistance. The clothes are treated with an amino silicone, preferably one that comprises an amine comprising a sterically hindered functional group. The silicone is preferably provided to the clothes in a domestic process, preferably during a process of ironing.
Treatments of clothes to confer to them various properties have been extensively discussed in the art. In particular, an area of constant research is the area of wrinkle reduction. That is, worn clothes are generally wrinkled to a lesser or greater degree, and the process of laundering generally increases the wrinkling of clothes. Thus, chemicals have been provided to diminish the wrinkling of clothes. The use of such chemicals, combined with the traditional process of ironing provides for clothes which are clean and dewrinkled.
However, such clean and dewrinkled clothes will re-wrinkle as soon as they are worn, and before that while they are stored waiting to be worn. Thus the dewrinkling of clothes described above is at best a very temporary achievement. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the problem of dry wrinkle formation, i.e. the formation of wrinkles when dry clothes are stored waiting to be worn, and while clothes are worn (i.e. in-wear wrinkle formation).
To our knowledge, the prior art has not addressed this particular problem. Aminosilicones have been described for the treatment of clothes in numerous publications, but only for the benefit of softening clothes or gliding benefit in ironing aids. It is also generally suggested in the art that all fabric softeners have the ability to dewrinkle clothes, but the particular problem of preventing the formation of wrinkles is not discussed. The use of aminosilicones to treat clothes in a domestic context has been disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,062,971, 5,064,543, WO 00/24853, WO/9201773, EP 300 525, EP 150 867, EP 150 872. The use of aminosilicones comprising sterically hindered functional groups to treat textiles in an industrial context has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,952, EP 659 930, WO 00/5315. And processes for the manufacture of such aminosilicones have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,889, WO 96/16110, WO 96/16124, WO 96/16127, WO 96/18667 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,825.
In one embodiment, the present invention encompasses the use of an aminosilicone for the treatment of clothes, for the benefit of dry wrinkle resistance, in particular in-wear wrinkle resistance.
In another embodiment, the present invention encompasses a process for the domestic treatment of clothes where said clothes are treated with an aminosilicone comprising an amine comprising a sterically hindered functional group.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention encompasses compositions for the domestic treatment of clothes where clothes are treated with aminosilicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group.
Finally, the present invention also encompasses an article of manufacture comprising an aminosilicone comprising an amine comprising a sterically hindered functional group, and usage instructions to use said aminosilicone for the treatment of clothes.
The Benefit:
In the present invention, it has been discovered that aminosilicones can be used to treat clothes so as to provide the benefits of dry wrinkle resistance, i.e. the resistance to the formation of wrinkles when fabrics are dry, waiting to be worn, and while fabrics are being worn (i.e. in-wear wrinkle resistance). This benefit is to be distinguished from the well-known and extensively discussed benefit of dewrinkling. Indeed, a particular compound may have the ability to dewrinkle clothes without conferring to fabrics the ability to resist to the formation of new wrinkles, as the dry clothes await to be worn, or while they are worn. In the present invention, a fabric treated with an aminosilicone will show fewer wrinkles than an untreated fabric after storage, and after having been worn.
The Aminosilicones:
In the present invention, any known aminosilicone can be used to treat clothes so as to provide the desired benefit. Aminosilicones used in a domestic context have been described in numerous publications, for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,062,971 and 5,064,543 as ironing aid; in WO 00/24853, WO/9201773 and EP 300 525 in fabric conditioners, EP 150 867 and EP 150 872 in detergents and there is no need to redescribe such aminosilicones herein.
However, a particular problem that arises with most aminosilicones is that they eventually yellow fabrics. The phenomenon for such yellowing is not well understood, but it does create a practical limitation to the use of aminosilicones to treat clothes: amino silicones can be used to treat clothes, but only in limited amounts such that the yellowing phenomenon does not become too visible, thereby limiting the performance of the composition.
It has now been found that there exists a particular class of amino silicones which is suitable for use in a domestic context and which does not yellow fabrics. Such silicones have been discussed in, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,889 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,952, but only for use in an industrial context, and for a different benefit. In particular, in example 3 of those documents, a process is described in which fabrics are immersed in a solution of the amino silicone in white spirit, and the fabrics are subsequently dried at 40° C. for 15 minutes in a ventilated oven and then heated at 160° C. for 30 min. This pad-dry-cure process is a standard process in textile industry, but it cannot be performed in a domestic context. This particular class of amino silicones is referred throughout this description as aminosilicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group. Such aminosilicones have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,952, EP 659 930, WO 00/5315, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,889, WO 96/16110, WO 96/16124, WO 96/16127, WO 96/18667 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,825, the contents of which are incorporated herein.
The present invention utilizes amino silicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group, i.e. polyorganosiloxanes having, per mole, at least one unit of general formula:
in which:
The symbols R are identical or different and represent a monovalent hydrocarbon radical chosen from linear or branched alkyl radicals having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, the phenyl radical, the benzyl radical and the 3,3,3-trifluoropropyl radical;
The symbols X are identical or different and represent a monovalent radical chosen from a hydroxyl group and a linear or branched alkoxy radical having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms;
The symbol Z represents a monovalent group of the formula R1—U—S in which:
R1 is a divalent hydrocarbon radical chosen from:
Such amino silicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group which are suitable for use herein are commercially available from Rhodia under the trade name Rhodorsil®, in particular Rhodorsil® H 21645 or Rhodorsil® H 21650 or Silicex®, in particular Silicex® 263.
In the present invention, thanks to their ability not to yellow fabrics, the aminosilicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group can be provided to the clothes in amounts from 1×10−7 g/g fabric to 0.3 g/g fabric, preferably from 1×10−5 g/g fabric to 0.1 g/g fabric; more preferably from 1×10−3 g/g fabric to 1×10−2 g/g fabric, i.e. in amounts which are greater than the amounts in which other amino silicones can be used. Thus, a greater benefit can be obtained without observing fabric yellowing.
In the present invention, the aminosilicones comprising a sterically hindered functional group are provided to clothes in a domestic treatment.
In a first embodiment of the domestic process, the aminosilicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group herein can be provided in a detergent composition, which will contain conventional detergency ingredients. The detergent can be a granular, solid, i.e. a block or a tablet, or a liquid. It is not necessary to describe here in detail suitable detergency ingredients, in particular detergent surfactants, and detergent compositions comprising conventional aminosilicones have been described in EP 150 867 and EP 150 872. The description of detergent compositions in those two documents is incorporated herein by reference. In this embodiment, the aminosilicone is provided to the fabric during the conventional laundering process. In a detergent composition, the aminosilicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group will be present in amounts ranging from 0.05% to 10%; preferably from 0.1% to 5% so as to be provided to clothes in the required amounts.
In a second embodiment of the domestic process, the aminosilicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group is provided to the clothes together with the last rinse in the laundering process. In this embodiment, the aminosilicone can be added to the rinse water as a standalone product, or it can be added to the rinse water as a component of a fabric conditioner. Fabric conditioners comprising aminosilicones have been disclosed in WO 00/24853, WO/9201773 and EP 300 525. The description of fabric conditioners in those three documents is incorporated herein by reference. In a fabric conditioner, or as a standalone product the amino silicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group will be present in amounts ranging from 0.1% to 25%; preferably from 0.3% to 15%; more preferably from 0.5% to 10% so as to be provided to clothes in the required amounts.
In a third and preferred embodiment of the domestic process, the aminosilicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group is provided to the clothes after the laundering process, when the clothes are wet, damp or dry. In this embodiment, the aminosilicone can be provided to the fabrics by a variety of means, such as brushing, spraying, or releasing from a substrate in an automatic clothes dryer. When sprayed, which is the preferred embodiment herein, the aminosilicones can be sprayed from a sprayer or an aerosol as a standalone product, or from an iron. When dispensed from an iron, the aminosilicone is either introduced in and dispensed from the iron's water tank as in EP 629 736, or from a separate reservoir in the iron as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,160,969, or by means of a cartridge to be inserted in the iron for the dispensing of its content as in WO99/27176. If designed as a standalone product to be used as a spray, the composition will generally comprise the aminosilicone comprising the sterically hindered functional group in amounts from 0.01% to 50%; preferably from 0.1% to 30%; more preferably from 0.5% to 25%. If the amino silicone is to be released from a substrate in an automatic clothes dryer, the substrate will generally comprise the aminosilicone in amounts of from 0.1% to 20%; preferably from 2% to 20%.
It is a preferred embodiment that the aminosilicone be sprayed onto the clothes and that—before and/or during and/or after spraying, the clothes be ironed. In other words, it is preferred that the aminosilicone be used as an ironing product.
In all embodiments, the amino silicone is preferably formulated as an aqueous solution or emulsion. Besides water and amino silicones, and the various ingredients required for the specific embodiment concerned (i.e. detergency surfactants for detergents, fabric softeners for fabric conditioners, etc . . . ), the aqueous dispersion may comprise other ingredients. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the aminosilicone comprising a sterically hindered functional group is formulated in a composition together with an ingredient selected from the group consisting of a shape-retention polymer as in co-pending application EP 99870223.7, or a fabric void filler, or mixtures thereof. By fabric void filler, it is meant herein particles having the size and shape suited to fill the structural defects in cotton, and hereby provide lubricating properties. Cyclodextrins such as those described in WO 99/55950 can be used as void fillers, as well as polyolefin dispersions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,302.
The compositions herein may of course further comprise minor ingredients, mainly perfume.
The present invention also encompasses articles of manufacture comprising the aminosilicone polymer and usage instructions to use the aminosilicone for the benefit of dry wrinkle resistance. Those instructions will depend on the specific embodiment which is chosen. If the aminosilicone composition is used as an ironing product, it is preferably contained in a manual trigger sprayer container, or in an aerosol container, or in an iron. The container is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition during the ironing process. Specifically, the composition is sprayed onto fabrics and the fabrics are ironed. If the aminosilicone is delivered to clothes in the last rinse of a normal laundry cycle, the composition is contained in a container which is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition during the last rinse of a normal laundry cycle, and to secure the clothes in the desired configuration. If the aminosilicone is formulated in a detergent composition, the composition is contained in a container which is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition in a normal laundry cycle, and to secure the clothes in the desired configuration.
The invention is illustrated by the further examples, in which percentages are on a weight basis unless otherwise stated.
Each composition is contained in a manual trigger sprayer container, or in an aerosol container, or in an iron. The container is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition during the ironing process. Specifically, the composition is sprayed onto fabrics and the fabrics are ironed. The fabrics are less prone to dry-wrinkle formation than other fabrics which were ironed without having been sprayed with the exemplified composition.
This composition is contained in a manual trigger sprayer container, or in an aerosol container, or in an iron. The container is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition during the ironing process. Specifically, the composition is sprayed onto fabrics and the fabrics are ironed. The fabrics are less prone to dry-wrinkle formation than other fabrics which were ironed without having been sprayed with the exemplified composition.
This composition is used to treat fabrics in the last rinse of a normal laundry cycle. The composition is contained in a container which is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition during the last rinse of a normal laundry cycle. The fabrics are then dried and ironed. Those fabrics are less prone to dry-wrinkle formation than other fabrics which were ironed without having been conditioned with the exemplified composition, and are less yellowed.
These compositions are used to treat fabrics in a normal laundry cycle. Each composition is contained in a container which is labeled with instructions, or accompanied with a leaflet bearing instructions to use the composition in a normal laundry cycle. The fabrics are then dried and ironed. Those fabrics are less prone to dry-wrinkle formation than other fabrics which were ironed without having been washed with the exemplified detergent composition.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5075403 | Kirk | Dec 1991 | A |
| 5147578 | Kirk | Sep 1992 | A |
| 5277968 | Canivenc | Jan 1994 | A |
| 5540952 | Canivenc et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
| 5688889 | Canivenc et al. | Nov 1997 | A |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 081 271 | Mar 2001 | EP |
| WO 9615309 | May 1996 | WO |
| 9733034 | Sep 1997 | WO |
| WO 9733034 | Sep 1997 | WO |
| WO 9849220 | Nov 1998 | WO |
| WO 0229152 | Apr 2002 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20020137651 A1 | Sep 2002 | US |
