KR900009221B1 - Method of conditioning fabrics - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Fabric Conditioning Method

The present invention relates to a method of conditioning a fabric, in particular a method of conditioning the fabric involved in the washing step of the fabric washing process in a washing machine.

Washing fabrics of conventional detergent compositions results in coarse fabrics, which is traditionally recovered by treating the fabrics with fabric softeners. Since most fabric softeners are incompatible with detergent compositions, they are usually treated in a post-washing step, in which the fabric softener is added to the rinse water used for rinsing the fabric. Other fabric conditioning agents, such as antistatic agents and perfumes, are often added.

In the case of a washing machine of the type commonly used in Europe, that is, a washing machine filled with rinse water, efficiently rinsed and rinsed and then rinsed with a textile in a drain bucket, it is either by hand or by an automatic dispersing device. Adding fabric conditioning agents to is a simple matter. Some washing machines, however, are designed to rinse under running water. The addition of conventional fabric conditioning compositions at the beginning of the rinse in such a washing machine has no satisfactory effect and it is also not advisable to add conventional fabric conditioning compositions at the end of the rinse. For example, if the fabric conditioning composition is a liquid or powder, most of the composition is discharged from the washing machine with a flowing rinse water without the opportunity to contact the fabric and contact each other and absorb the conditioning agent while the rinse continues. A slight removal of the conditioning agent from one fabric occurs.

It has been invented a novel method which can condition the fabric in such a washing machine and minimize the loss of the composition from the washing machine. This method is due to the specific physical form of the conditioning material that does not need to add product quality near the end of the flowing rinse.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, there is provided a fabric conditioning method comprising the following steps. In other words,

(i) introducing the fabric into the rinse bucket.

(ii) at least one dimension of at least 1.0 cm and containing a conditioning agent, the interior and exterior of the keg being in contact with the fabric in the presence of a fabric conditioning article having a means of inhibiting the release of the conditioning agent into the water. Continuously supplying rinse water.

The method allows the conditioning composition to remain in the vat even if the rinse water continues to flow and effectively condition the fabric during the rinse process, thereby minimizing the loss of conditioning agent from the vat.

The fabric is generally rinsed as is in a previously washed tub or transferred to a vat for a particular rinse purpose. If you rinse in a bucket that has already been washed, there will be at least a small amount of washing liquid still containing or absorbing the detergent active material in the fabric and the running water will flow out of the washing liquid to the outside of the fabric. It serves to overflow. The flowing rinse water supplied to the keg does not react with virtually any detergent active material.

The fabric used in the present invention may be in any form. However, fabrics made of natural fibers, such as cotton, are effectively treated by this method especially when the conditioning agent is a fabric softener, and fabrics made of synthetic fibers such as nylon are effective when treated by this method when the conditioning agent is an antistatic agent.

The flow rate of the rinse water is determined by the design of the washing machine, but it should be enough to completely change the water from 5 to 50 times per hour, that is, 3.5 to 30 liters per minute if the volume of the bucket is about 35 liters. I found it effective. The washing water temperature may be any temperature, but cold water of 0 ° C to 30 ° C is suitable. The rinse time used is determined in part by the design of the washing machine, ie the rinse efficiency of the washing machine and the desired degree of rinse, but less than 20 minutes, preferably 5 to 15 minutes is effective.

Fabric conditioning articles can take many forms, provided that at least one dimension is greater than 1 cm. If the article is smaller than this, it will be discharged from the washing machine with running water. The article consists of or contains a conditioning composition. Clearly, if the article consists of a composition, it is unlikely that the composition will be in the form of a liquid or fine powder since it does not have the required dimensions of more than 1 cm. However, it is possible for the composition to be in the form of blocks or tablets with the required dimensions, such as disc shaped or spherical blocks having a diameter of 2 to 10 cm.

If the article contains a composition, the article takes the form of a container with at least one dimension of at least 1 cm. The container is prepared in a form having a conditioning composition, in which case the composition can be in any form as long as it is a suitable physical form, including liquid and powder. Such a suitable container is in the form of a bag of square and water-permeable material, with at least 3 cm on one side.

The term fabric condensing agent is used herein in a broad sense throughout all materials, which provides benefits such as, for example, softening, antistatic, fragrance, drape, anti-wrinkling, ease of ironing, or improved bleaching. Softeners or antistatic agents are preferred. The present invention is particularly useful when the fabric conditioning agent is a cationic material. Suitable cationic softeners are water soluble cationic fabric softeners.

The non-water-soluble cationic fabric softener can be any cationic compound which acts on fabrics having a solubility in water of 10 g / l or less at pH = 2.5, 20 ° C.

Particularly preferred materials are quaternary ammonium salts with C ₁₂ -C ₂₄ alkyl of two alkenylchains, which may be optionally substituted or reacted by functional groups such as —OH, —O—, —CONH, —COO— and the like.

A class well known as a substantially non-aqueous quaternary ammonium compound has the following general formula.

Wherein R ₁ and R ₂ represent 12 to 24 hydrocarbyl groups having a single atom, R ₃ and R ₄ represent hydrocarbyl groups having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and X- represents a halide, methyl sulfate and ethyl sulfate group as an anion. It is preferably selected from. Representative examples of such quaternary softeners include ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride, ditallow dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate, dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, di (hydrogenated tallowalkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride, dioctadecyl dimedyl ammonium chloride , Diicosyl dimethylammonium chloride, didocosyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, di (hydrogenated tallow) dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate, dihexadecyl diethyl ammonium chloride, di (coconet alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride, and the like. Ditallow dimethylammonium chloride, di (hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride, di (coconet alkyl) dimethylammonium chloride and di (coconet alkyl) dimethyl ammonium methosulfate are preferred.

Another class of preferred non-water soluble cationic materials is the alkyl imidazolinium salt of the following molecular formula.

Wherein R ₆ is an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group having 1 to 4 preferably 1 or 2 carbon atoms, R ₇ is an alkyl or alkenyl group having 8 to 25 carbon atoms, and R ₈ is an alkyl having 8 to 25 carbon atoms Or an alkenyl group, R ₉ is hydrogen or an alkyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms and A- is preferably an halide, methosulfate or etosulphate as an anion. Preferred imidazolinium salts include 1-methyl-1- (tallowylamido) ethyl-2-tallowyl-4, 5-dihydroimidazolinium metsulfate and 1-methyl-1- (palmitoylamido Ethyl-2-octadecyl-4, 5-dihydroimidazolinium chloride. Other useful imidazolinium materials include 2-heptadecyl-1-methyl-1- (2-stearylamido) ethyl-imidazolinium chloride and 2-lauryl-1-hydroxyethyl-1-ole Mono-imidazolinium chloride. Also suitable for the present invention is the imidazolinium fabric softening component of US Pat. No. 4,127,489, which is incorporated by reference.

Antistatic agents useful in the present invention is a molecular formula _{[R 9, R 10, R} 11, R 12, N] + Y - is a quaternary ammonium salt. Wherein at least one (but not more than two) of R ₉ , R ₁₀ , R ₁₁ and R ₁₂ is an organic group selected from an alkyl phenyl group or an alcohol benzyl group having 10-16 atoms in a C ₁₆ -C ₂₂ aliphatic group or an alkyl chain; And the remaining groups or groups are selected from a hydrocarbyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a C ₂ -C ₄ hydroxy alkyl group and a cyclic structure in which the nitrogen atom forms part of the ring, Y is halide, methylsulfate or ethyl It is an anion such as sulfate.

In connection with the above definition, the hydrophobic portion of the organic group R ₉ (ie, C ₁₆ -C ₂₂ aliphatic group, C ₁₀ -C ₁₆ alkylphenyl or alkylbenzyl group) is attached directly to a quaternary nitrogen or amide, ester, alkoxy Indirectly attached via groups such as ether.

Fabric conditioning articles have a means of suppressing feathers that are released into the water without conditioning the conditioning agent. This means is either physical or chemical. The means of inhibiting the release of the conditioning agent should allow substantially all of the conditioning tax to be released into the rinse liquid during the rinse process and 30% of the conditioning agent, particularly preferably 50%, to be released later in the rinse process.

One method suitable for sufficiently inhibiting the release of the conditioning agent is paraffin wax, cyclic and acyclic mono and polyhydric alcohols, substituted and unsubstituted aliphatic carboxylic acids, esters of the aforementioned alcohols with acids, any of the foregoing The material selected from condensates of materials with C ₁ -C ₄ alkylene oxides and mixtures thereof is either mixed with the conditioning agent or coated with the materials or combined with the materials.

Among these materials tallow alcohols are particularly preferred. Other suitable nonionics have a melting point approximately equal to tallow alcohol ethoxylated with 18 to 25 ethoxylate groups per mole.

A detailed example of such a suitable material can be found in US Pat. No. 39,36537 (Baskerville), in which this material is referred to as a dispersion inhibitor.

The ratio of fabric conditioning agent to release inhibitor in the composition depends on the intended use and the intended product such as the desired rinse time and rinse temperature. The choice of release inhibitor also depends on the temperature of the rinse water.

In particular, when the fabric conditioning composition is in solid form, it is also advantageous to include an electrolyte in the composition to promote dispersion of the conditioning agent after the release inhibitor has reached its effect. As this electrolyte, a water-soluble inorganic salt such as sodium chloride is preferable. The content of the electrolyte in the composition is selected within the range of 1: 0.5 to 1:10 (weight) of fabric conditioning agent to electrolyte.

If the fabric conditioning agent is a surfactant, it is also advantageous to include the antifoam material in the fabric conditioning composition in order to suppress the foam generated during the rinse process. Any known antifoam material may be used but its content should be sufficient to produce the desired effect. Suitable defoamers are granular defoamers described in our European patent specification EP 94250-A.

The fabric conditioning article may be added to the fabric in the bin before the rinse water is introduced into the bin, or simultaneously with the rinse water or in one of the rinse cycles.

Example 1-3

Pouches were made from a 61 g / m 2 melt blown polypropylene laminate (Kimtex SMS from Kimberly-Clark). The bag size was 7 cm x 7 cm. Into this bag was placed 2 g of commercially available atropes TA 100 (powder form), 4 g salt (sodium chloride) and 1 g granule defoamer prepared as a fabric softener which is almost 100% distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride. The bag was heat sealed and a 20 x 0.7 mm (diameter) pinhole was created on each surface. The bag was coated with 1 g tallow alcohol 18 EO (Example 1) or tallow alcohol 25 EO (Example 2) as release control. A comparative uncoated bag (Example 3) was also tested.

Example 4-7

Blocks were prepared by pressing a powdered fabric conditioning composition in a 30 mm die using a hydraulic ram of 1 or 1/2 ton pressure relative to the block surface. Each block was about 1 cm thick and about 3 cm in diameter. Each composition contained 2 g of atropine TA 100, 6 or 11 g of salts (Examples 4 and 5, respectively) and 1 g of a pre-made granular antifoam. The block was coated with 0.3 g tallow alcohol 25EO as a release inhibitor. For comparison purposes the methods of Examples 4 and 5 were repeated without coating the blocks (Examples 6 and 7, respectively).

The products described in Examples 1-7 were tested as follows. A 40-liter twin-tub washer (National NA-W 1018) was used. 1 g / l washing solution dissolved 1.3 kg of cotton / polyester blend seating laundry and washing powder “TOP” available in the Japanese market in water with a hardness of 6 ℉ H (6 × 10 ^-4 free calcium ions per liter) Wash at 35 L for 25 to 10 minutes. After washing the wash liquor was drained from the wash bin. The fabric was taken out and placed in the dehydrator and spun until the wash was no longer removed. The fabric was then placed back into the wash bin and rinsed with 10 liters of water per minute in the presence of the fabric conditioning article to be tested and flowing at 25 ° C. for 10 minutes.

After draining the rinse water, the fabric was taken out, spin-dried and dried on a string at ambient temperature. The softness of the fabric was assessed by hand texture to grade the softness. '8' represents the roughness of untreated cotton terry towels, and '5' represents a turgotometer using an aqueous product composed of 5% AQUAD 2C (commercially available dicoco dimethyl ammonium chloride) at a concentration of 40 g / l. The softness obtained by rinsing the cotton terry towels, which were not fed with a washing solution to fabric ratio of 25: 1 in a laboratory apparatus, for 5 minutes and then tumble drying.

The results obtained are as follows, and the softening degree is excellent.

In this case, 2 g of aroof TA 100 and 6 g of salt mixture were added to the powder at the beginning of the rinse without using any release inhibitor.

The results demonstrate that the present invention is more useful than not using this product and also compared to using a fabric conditioning product without release control measures essential to the present invention. In particular, the results demonstrate the advantages of coating fabric conditioning agents as release inhibitors. Similar results can be obtained when using the following products instead of Arsuf TA 100:

a) Barisoft 818 (Syrex) -modified distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride containing small amounts of dispersion aids.

b) Cationic fabric conditioning agent based on agenogen 442-100P (Leuo) -dimethyl dicured tallow ammonium chloride.

c) Powder cationic conditioning agent based on Qutone 442-SD (Kenobel) -dimethyl dicured tallow ammonium chloride.

Example 8-11

The bag was produced with net x 560 (made by Smead & Nephew). Pouch size was 6 cm x 6 cm. The bag was filled with 5 g of a non-aqueous fabric conditioning composition containing 52% of Alward 2T (commercially available form of ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride supplied as 75% active paste) and 48% isopropyl myristate, followed by heat sealing. The bag was coated with a polyvinyl acetate emulsion zone having a coating level of 120 g / m 2 as a release inhibiting means.

The sheet was made from PBS 6/85 (Camberle), a nonwoven material. This sheet contained the above non-aqueous composition. (Example 9)

Bag and sheet products were tested in the following manner. A 40 L two-wheel washing machine (National NA-W1018) was used. Cotton / polyester blends, Shi putting the laundry 1.3㎏, purchased from the Japanese market available washing powder "TOP" hardness 6 ℉ hH washing of 1g / ℓ dissolved in water (free calcium ion per ℓ 6 × 10 ^-4 water) solution Washed with 35 L at 25 ° C. for 10 minutes. After washing the wash liquor was drained from the wash bin and the fabric was taken out and placed in a dehydrator and spun until the wash liquor was no longer removed. The fabric was then placed back into the wash bin and rinsed with 10 liters of water per minute in the presence of the fabric conditioning article to be tested. The temperature of the rinse water was 10 ° C. The fabric conditioning composition was released into the flowing rinse water for 3-4 minutes after a delay of the first 3-4 minutes when using the bag-shaped product. The fabric conditioning composition was released with rinse water flowing for 3-4 minutes when the sheet type product was used. In this type of product, there was no initial delay before the fabric conditioner was released.

As a comparative experiment (Example 10), the sheet-like product was added to a flowing rinse water for 5 minutes. As another comparative experiment (Example 11), a non-aqueous liquid conditioning composition at a concentration of 5 g / l was administered at the beginning of the rinse process.

After rinsing the fabric for 10 minutes, the rinse water was drained, the fabric was taken out, spin-dried, and hung on a string at ambient temperature to dry. Then, the softness of the fabric was measured by the method described above to obtain the following results.

Claims (6)

A fabric conditioning method comprising the following steps. (i) placing the fabric in a rinse bucket. (ii) a rinse water flowing from inside to outside of the tub to contact the fabric in the presence of a fabric conditioning article with at least one dimension of at least 1.0 cm and containing a conditioning agent and means for inhibiting the release of the conditioning agent into water. Continuously feeding. The method of claim 1 wherein the means for inhibiting the release of the conditioning agent into the water causes 30% of the conditioning agent to be released during the second half of the rinse process. The method of claim 1, wherein the release inhibiting means comprises (i) paraffin wax, (ii) cyclic and acyclic mono and polyhydric alcohols, esters of the alcohols and condensates of the compound with C ₁ -C ₄ alkylene oxide, (iii) substituted and non-substituted aliphatic carboxylic acids, esters of the acids and condensates of the compounds with C ₁ -C ₄ alkylene oxides, and (iv) a fabric selected from a mixture of the above materials Conditioning method. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the release inhibiting means comprises a fabric conditioning article by mixing with or coating the conditioning agent. The method of claim 1 wherein the fabric conditioning article is selected from (i) blocks, (ii) tablets, and (iii) containers containing fabric conditioning agents. The method of claim 1 wherein the fabric conditioning article contains an electrolyte when the conditioning agent is in solid form.