Claims
- 1. A free-flowing powdery or granular laundry detergent and softener and antistatic composition which consists of
- (A) from about 1 to about 95% by weight of at least one detergent compound selected from the group consisting of anionic synthetic detergent, nonionic synthetic detergent, amphoteric synthetic detergent, zwitterionic synthetic detergent and mixtures thereof;
- (B) from about 1 to about 50% by weight of at least one clay mineral fabric softener;
- (C) from about 2 to about 80% by weight of at least one detergent builder;
- (D) from about 0.2 to 5% by weight of at least one quaternary ammonium compound, said at least one quaternary ammonium compound being a water-soluble diammonium compound antistatic agent having the formula (I) ##STR9## wherein R.sub.1 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon having from about 12 to about 30 carbon atoms,
- each of R.sub.2, R.sub.3 R.sub.4, R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 are independently selected from the group consisting of aliphatic hydrocarbon groups having from 1 to 22 carbon atoms with the proviso that the total number of carbon atoms in all the aliphatic hydrocarbon groups, including R.sub.1, is no more than about 75 and with the further proviso that no more than three of the R.sub.2 -R.sub.6 groups have more than 12 carbon atoms, and alkanol groups of the formula ##STR10## wherein m and n are independently 0 or positive numbers with the sum of m and n from all of the groups R.sub.2 -R.sub.6 being at least 2 but no more than 30, with the still further proviso that at least one of R.sub.2 -R.sub.6 is said alkanol group, and
- R.sub.7 is a divalent linking group of at least 2 but not more than 100 carbon atoms, and
- X is a water-soluble salt forming anion;
- (E) form 0 to 2% by weight enzymes;
- (F) from 0 to 15% by weight corrosion inhibitors;
- (G) from 0 to 15% by weight anti-foam agents and suds suppressors;
- (H) from 0 to 10% by weight soil suspending or antiredeposition agents and anti-yellowing agents;
- (I) from 0 to 2% by weight colorants, perfumes, brighteners and bluing agents;
- (J) from 0 to 5% by weight pH modifiers and pH buffers;
- (K) from 0 to 40% by weight bleaching agent;
- (L) from 0 to 15% by weight of bleach stabilizers and bleach activators; and
- (M) moisture,
- wherein said diammonium compound of formula (I) is present in the composition as a component of a spray-dried bead comprised of said diammonium compound, an anionic surfactant, detergent builder salt and, optionally, pH insensitive and heat stable detergent additives, fillers and mixtures thereof; and said at least one clay fabric softener is solely uniformly blended with said spray-dried beads.
- 2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the formula (I)
- R.sub.1 is a linear or branched alkyl, alkenyl or alkynyl group having from 16 to 22 carbon atoms;
- R.sub.2 -R.sub.6, independently, are selected from the group consisting of alkyl or alkenyl having from 1 to 16 carbon atoms, with the proviso that the total number of carbon atoms in all the aliphatic hydrocarbon groups R.sub.1 -R.sub.6 is no more than about 50, and with the further proviso that no more than 2 of R.sub.2 -R.sub.6 have more than 12 carbon atoms, and alkanol groups of the formula ##STR11## wherein m and n are, independently, 0 or a positive number such that the sum of m+n from all of the alkanol groups R.sub.2 -R.sub.6 is at least 3 but no more than 25, with the proviso that at least one of the groups R.sub.2 to R.sub.6 is said alkanol group.
- 3. The composition of claim 2 wherein R.sub.2 -R.sub.6, independently, are alkyl or alkenyl of from 1 to 6 carbon atoms or said alkanol groups with the provisos that the total number of carbon atoms in all of the aliphatic hydrocarbon groups R.sub.1 -R.sub.6 is no more than about 35 and the sum of m+n from all of the alkanol groups R.sub.2 to R.sub.6 is no more than 15, and R.sub.7 is --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 -- or --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --.
- 4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the diammonium compound antistatic agent is ##STR12##
- 5. The composition of claim 1 wherein said at least one detergent compound comprises an anionic synthetic detergent and said at least one detergent builder comprises an inorganic polyphosphate builder salt.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 158,042, filed Feb. 16, 1988 now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 876,999, filed June 27, 1986, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 758,821, filed July 25, 1985, now abandoned.
This invention relates to a laundry detergent composition based on clay softener and cationic antistatic agent. More particularly, this invention relates to a laundry detergent powder composition containing detergent surfactant, clay softener, and a water-soluble diammonium salt antistatic agent, to the method of preparing the composition and to the use thereof in laundering textile materials.
Powdery detergent compositions containing a detergent surfactant (anionic, nonionic, etc.), with a clay softener and a cationic antistatic agent, such as quaternary ammonium compound, quaternary diammonium compound, etc., are known in the art. Representative of the patent literature in this field are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,862,058 (Nirschl, et al); 3,886,075 (Bernardino); 3,915,882 (Nirschl, et al.); 3,948,790 (Speakman); 4,203,851 (Ramachandran); U.K. Patent Application GB No. 2,141,152A (Ramachandron). Other patent art relating to clay fabric treating compositions include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,594,212 (Ditsch) and 4,062,647 (Storm, et al.). The use of bentonites for softening textiles is known from British Pat. Nos. 401,413 and 461,221.
While satisfactory cleaning and softening performance has been achieved with the known clay softener-detergent compositions, it is generally difficult to achieve a reduction of static charge on laundered fabrics to a sufficiently high level so as to be perceivable by the ordinary consumer.
Generally, attempts to incorporate amounts of antistatic agent which would provide acceptable levels of antistatic performance have resulted in an overall reduction in cleaning, whitening and softening performance. This reduction in overall performance parameters has been observed whether the cationic antistatic agent is added to the formulation under conditions which would result in surface modification of the clay softener or under conditions which would merely result in physical mixtures of the clay, cationic antistatic agent, detergent and other components of the formulation.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a clay softener detergent composition containing a static charge reducing compound.
Another object of the invention is to provide an antistatic laundry detergent composition in the form of spray-dried beads incorporating therein a water-soluble diammonium compound antistatic agent, wherein the spray-dried beads are compatible with clay mineral fabric softener, and a method for preparing the spray-dried beads.
It is another object of this invention to provide a built clay softener detergent powder composition having consumer perceivable antistatic properties without negatively impacting cleaning, whitening or softening performance of the composition.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a clay softener-detergent powder composition in which a water-soluble diammonium salt cationic antistatic agent can be added to the composition as a component of the crutcher mixture to be spray-dried whereby the antistatic agent can be uniformly and homogeneously incorporated into the composition, and the clay softener can be post-added to the spray-dried beads or granules.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
61-152800 |
Jul 1986 |
JPX |
2164657 |
Mar 1986 |
GBX |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
158042 |
Feb 1988 |
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Parent |
876999 |
Jun 1986 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
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758821 |
Jul 1985 |
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