Claims
- 1. The process for removing graffiti from a painted surface without damaging underlying paint on the surface comprising contacting the painted surface with a terpene-free hard surface cleaning composition containing:(a) from about 0.2 to about 10% by weight of a nonionic surfactant component; (b) from about 0.5 to about 10% by weight of an anionic surfactant component; (c) from about 15 to about 50% by weight of a primary solvent consisting of a C6-C14 methyl ester component; (d) providing from about 0.5 to about 10% by weight of a short-chain cosurfactant component; (e) providing remainder, water; and (f) combining components (a)-(e) to form the composition, all weights being based on the total weight of the composition.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the nonionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl polyglycoside, an alcohol ethoxylate, a nonyl phenol ethoxylate, an ethylene oxide/propylene oxide copolymer, an alkyl alkoxylate, and mixtures thereof.
- 3. The process of claim 1 wherein the nonionic surfactant is an alkyl polyglycoside of formula I:R1O(R2O)b(Z)a I wherein R1 is a monovalent organic radical having from about 8 to about 16 carbon atoms; R2 is a divalent alkylene radical having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms; Z is a saccharide residue having 5 or 6 carbon atoms; b is zero; a is a number having a value from about 1.4 to about 1.6.
- 4. The process of claim 1 wherein the nonionic surfactant is present in the composition in an amount of from about 2 to about 5% by weight, based on the weight of the composition.
- 5. The process of claim 1 wherein the anionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkali metal salts of fatty acids, organic base salts of fatty acids, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulfates, alkyl aromatic sulfonates, alkyl sulfonates, alpha olefin sulfonates, sulfosuccinates, and mixtures thereof.
- 6. The process of claim 5 wherein the anionic surfactant is the monoethanolamine salt of tall oil fatty acid.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the anionic surfactant is present in the composition in an amount of from about 4 to about 8% by weight, based on the weight of the composition.
- 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the primary solvent is a C8-C10 methyl ester.
- 9. The process of claim 1 wherein the painted surface from which graffiti is to be removed is contacted with the composition over a dwell-time ranging from about 2 to about 20 minutes.
- 10. The process of claim 1 wherein the short-chain cosolvent is selected from the group consisting of C3-C6 alcohols, glycols, glycol ethers, pyrrolidones, glycol ether esters, and mixtures thereof.
- 11. The process of claim 1 wherein the short-chain cosolvent is n-butyl alcohol.
- 12. The process of claim 1 wherein the short-chain cosurfactant is present in the composition in an amount of from about 4 to about 8% by weight, based on the weight of the composition.
- 13. The process of claim 1 wherein the composition has a pH value of less than about 9.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/869,361, filed Jun. 3, 1997 abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/869361 |
Jun 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/246349 |
|
US |