Patent Application
20050056805
Various compositions have been applied to textiles in an effort to achieve good repellency of such textiles when contacted with liquids, such as oils and water. Thus, it is desirable to provide textiles or fabric with repellency characteristics.
Furthermore, soil or stain release performance of textiles is important to textile consumers. Soil or stain release refers in general to the ability of a textile, once stained, to release the soil or stain upon laundering. In general, oil-based stains tend to remain in the textile within the textile fibers, which is highly undesirable. For example, oils which have not been repelled by the textile surface but have deposited into the textile are sometimes difficult to remove by routine washing procedures.
Stain resistant textile treatments are known. Commercially known products that have been used for such textile treating applications include, for example, Teflon® (produced by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Del.), Scotchgard® (produced by 3M Company of Minneapolis, Minn.), and Nano-Pel® by Burlington Industries of North Carolina. These compositions, when applied to textiles, afford some degree of protection.
What is needed in the industry, however, are improved compositions that facilitate sufficient oil and water repellency in a textile application without sacrificing good soil and stain release from such textiles upon laundering. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a formulation for application to textiles that is capable of affording release of stains such as burned motor oil and transmission fluids, for example. This invention is directed to improved compositions and methods.
Reference now will be made to the embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are set forth below. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not as a limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made the invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
Surprisingly, it has been discovered that certain specific compositions provide excellent repellency and soil/stain release when applied to a textile or fabric. In one embodiment of the invention the composition comprises at least the following: a repellent component, a hydrophilic resin component, a fluorinated soil release component, and a crosslinking component, as will be further described below.
“Water repellency” and “oil repellency” are generally defined as the ability of a substrate to block water and oil from penetrating into the substrate, respectively. For example, the substrate may be a textile substrate which is capable of blocking water and oil from penetrating into the fibers of the textile substrate.
“Stain release” generally refers to the degree to which a stained substrate approaches its original, unstained appearance as a result of a care procedure.
The term “stain or soil resistant composition or stain or soil resistant treatment” as used herein refers to any treatment or composition that imparts stain resistance to fibers, particularly polyamide or cellulosic fibers.
“Durability” is generally defined as the ability of a substrate to retain an acceptable level of a desired function through a reasonable number of standard cleaning cycles. More specifically, durability, as described herein, describes a substrate that maintains adequate properties of stain resistance, water repellency, oil repellency, and soil release. This substrate may be a textile substrate, such as, for example, a polyester textile fabric, or alternatively may be a carpet, or yet another textile material.
The terms “fluorocarbons,” “fluoropolymers,” and “fluorochemicals” may be used interchangeably herein and each represents a polymeric material containing at least one fluorinated segment.
The term “padded” indicates that a liquid coating was applied to a substrate or textile by passing the substrate through a bath and subsequently through squeeze rollers.
“Hydrophilic” is defined as having a strong affinity for or the ability to absorb water.
“Hydrophobic” is defined as lacking affinity for or the ability to absorb water.
There are numerous compositions that may be adapted to serve as the repellent component in the present invention. One that is particularly useful is a fluorochemical composition. Numerous fluorochemical compositions are known to be capable of achieving repellency on a fibrous substrate. The 3M Company produces a product line of fluorochemical compositions, including Scotchgard™ and the like, that can be employed. Furthermore, DuPont's Zonyl™ product line is also a candidate for the repellency component of the invention. Other products distributed by Daikin America, Inc. Chemical Company and Mitsubishi International Corporation, each of Japan could be employed, as well as others. REPEARL® F-8025, manufactured by Mitsubishi International Corporation may be used as well. Fluoroacrylates and urethane derivatives may be employed. Esters, acrylic amides, oligomers, and polymers also may be employed.
Resins of various types may be employed in the application of the invention. These resins are typically hydrophilic, that is, having an affinity for aqueous solution. One group of such resins includes polyvinyl alcohol and derivatives, acrylate and methacrylate (co)polymers, (metha)acrylamide (co)polymers, polysaccharides and derivates, polyurethanes, polyesters, polyethers and combinations thereof. Others could also be employed, depending upon the specific formulation or textile substrate to be treated, including polyurethane-containing compounds and derivatives of anhydrides.
Soil (or stain) release agents, for example, may include ethoxylated polyesters, fluorinated esters, urethanes, acrylates, sulfonated polyesters, ethoxylated nylons, carboxylated acrylics, cellulose ethers or esters, hydrolyzed polymaleic anhydride polymers, polyvinylalcohol polymers, polyacrylamide polymers, fluorinated stain release polymers, ethoxylated silicone polymers, polyoxyethylene polymers, polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene copolymers, and the like, or combinations thereof. Specific commercially available examples of soil release components include, without limitation, Repearl SR-1100® (available from Mitsubishi International Corporation), Baygard SOC™ (Bayer Corporation); Zonyl 7910™, 9200™ (from Ciba Corporation), Unidyne TG-992™ and TG-993™ (Daikin Corporation), FC 248™ and PM 490™ (3M Company).
On the other hand, soil release components which are hydrophobic in nature may include waxes, silicones, certain hydrophobic resins, fluoropolymers, and the like, or combinations thereof. Fluoropolymers sometimes are ideal soil release components. In some applications, a given chemical component may serve as a hydrophilic resin and a soil release component. For example Astroclean 26A, described further below, is a hydrophilic resin and a soil release component.
Cross-linking components also may be employed included in the invention, including those cross-linking components which are essentially insoluble in water, also known as hydrophobic. In other formulations, hydrophilic crosslinkers (sometimes called “extenders”) may be quite useful.
In one embodiment of the invention, the use of crosslinking components comprised of one or more of the following may prove to be quite useful: melamine formaldehydes and derivatives, epoxides, and anhydrides and derivatives thereof. One such composition is EPI-REZ® 5003 W55, available from Shell.
In other embodiments, hydrophobic cross-linking components may include derivatives of isocyanates (such as blocked diisocyanates), polymers containing blocked isocyanates, epoxy containing compounds, and the like, or combinations thereof. Protected diisocyanate containing chemicals may be the suitable cross-linking components. However, chemicals containing two or more blocked isocyanate compounds may be the most preferred cross-linking components. One useful cross-linking component is REPEARL® MF, also available from Mitsubishi Corp. HYDROPHOBOL® XAN is another compound available from DuPont, which may be employed.
The total amount of the chemical composition applied to a substrate, as well as the proportions of each of the chemical components comprising the chemical composition, may vary over a wide range. The total amount of chemical composition applied to a substrate will depend generally on the composition of the substrate, the level of durability required for a given end-use application, and the cost of the chemical composition.
The composition may include ratio(s) of repellent component, hydrophilic resin, soil release component, and crosslinking component, respectively within the following range(s) of [about 1-10]:[about 1-10]:[about 1-10]:[about 1-10]. A more specific ratio that may be used is, respectively; 1-4:1-4:1-4:1-4.
It sometimes may be advantageous to employ a composition having a solids add on rate of between about 0.2% and about 10% by weight of the textile. In other applications, a solids add on rate of about 0.25% to about 2% may be used.
Chemical application may be accomplished by immersion coating, padding, spraying, foam coating, or by any other technique whereby one can apply a controlled amount of a liquid suspension to a textile substrate. Employing one or more of these application techniques may allow the composition to be applied to the textile substrate in a uniform manner. Many chemical treatments can be incorporated simultaneously with the chemical composition of the current invention, or such treatments may be carried out prior to treatment with the chemical composition of the current invention.
Substrates useful for receiving compositions of the present invention include many textile materials including, but not limited to woven, non-woven and knitted fabrics, and yarn or piece dyed upholstery woven fabrics, of natural fibers, synthetic fibers and mixtures of natural and synthetic fibers. Suitable natural fibers include, but are not limited to, fibers of cotton, linen, silk, wool and the like. Suitable synthetic fibers include, but are not limited to, fibers of polyamides (nylon), polyester, polyacrylic, rayon, acetate and the like. Compositions may be applied to either or both sides of the textile or fabric substrate.
Accordingly, it may be desirable optionally to treat the textile substrate with finishes containing additives or other chemicals such as antimicrobial agents, flame retardant agents, durable press resins, catalysts, lubricants, softeners, light stabilizers, antioxidants, coloring agents, antistatic agents, fragrances, and the like, or combinations thereof.
In one specific application of the invention, it may be advantageous to apply a fluorocarbon-containing repellent component, an acrylate or methacrylate-based hydrophilic resin, a fluorocarbon-containing soil release component, and a crosslinking component. The crosslinking component may be a derivative of isocyanate.
Liquid or stain resistant properties of treated textiles may be measured using water and oil repellency tests.
Water Repellency was tested according to the 3M Water Repellency Test II (May, 1992). The rating scale is 0-10, with “0” indicating the poorest degree of repellency (substrates having higher surface energy) and “10” indicating the best degree of repellency (substrates having lower surface energy). The 3M water repellency scale is:
Oil Repellency was tested according to the MTCC Test Method 118-2000. The rating scale is 1-8, with “1” indicating the poorest degree of repellency (substrates having higher surface energy) and “8” indicating the best degree of repellency (substrates having lower surface energy). The oil repellency scale is:
Soil or stain release property was measured using AATCC test method 130-1981. The wash temperature employed 140 Fahrenheit. The drying temperature was adjusted to “high”. 90 grams of Tide® brand detergent was used in the washing procedure.
Developed in 1969 by AATCC Committee RA56; reaffirmed 1970, 1974, 1977. Editorially revised 1978, 1983, 1986; revised 1981.
1.Purpose and Scope
6.7 Remove test specimens from dryer. Rate residual stains within four hours after drying.
7. Evaluation
8.1 Each judging individual should rate each test specimen for residual stain to nearest 0.5 rating according to Table II.
Class 5 represents the best stain removal and Class 1 the poorest stain removal.
9. Report
Astroclean 26A™ is a hydrophilic acrylate copolymer made by Glo-tex Corporation.
For purposes of the Examples below, the catalyst employed is catalyst 531™ (from Omnova, Inc.) which is a aqueous magnesium chloride.
For purposes of the Examples below, Arkophob DAN® is a hydrophobic crosslinking component, which is a protected isocyanate, made by Clariant Corporation.
For purposes of the Examples below, Atebin 1062™ is a polyethylene sewing lubricant sold by Boehme Filatex Corporation.
A piece of woven nylon/cotton textile was immersed in a chemical bath that contains on weight of bath:
The fabric was passed through a nip of two rolls with a wet pickup of about 50-70% under about 40 psi pressure. The fabric was finally heated to 360 Fahrenheit for approximately 4.5 minutes in an oven to remove moisture.
Same as Example 1 except that 2% Astraclean 26A, 4% of Unidyne TG-992 and 1% of Unidyne TG-5010 were used to replace the first three chemicals in Example 1.
Same as Example 1 except that only three substituents: 8% of Permafresh MFX, 2% of Catalyst 531 and 1% of Atebin 1062 were used. This serves as a control for comparative purposes.
Same as Example 1 except that 4.5% Unidyne TG-992, 1% of Repearl F8025, 1.5% of Arkophob DAN, 6% of Permafresh MFX, 1.5% of Catalyst 531 and 1% of Atebin 1062 were used.
Same as Example 1 except that 6% Unidyne TG-992, 1.5% of Arkophob DAN, 6% of Permafresh MFX, 1.5% of Catalyst 531 and 1% of Atebin 1062 were used.
It is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present discussion is a description of exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present invention, which broader aspects are embodied in the exemplary constructions. The invention is shown by example in the appended claims.
