Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-20
2002-06-04
Boyer, Charles (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
C510S276000, C510S342000, C510S356000, C510S421000, C510S405000, C510S413000, C510S528000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06399556
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a laundry chemicals and specifically to a pre-spot or a pre-treatment composition that can be contacted with soiled location or a spotted deposit on a fabric item prior to a conventional laundry cleaning step. The aqueous liquid or solid treatment composition is formulated with a surfactant or a combination of organic surfactants that can prepare the soiled areas or spots for cleaning and promote the removal of stubborn hydrophobic greasy or oily soils, including associated organic particulate soils, such as finely divided elemental carbon, in the laundry/cleaning step. The properties of the surfactant or blended surfactant combination is selected to provide enhanced soil removal, preferably in institutional laundry applications.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a solid or liquid pre-treatment or pre-spot composition that can promote the removal of stains or soil from fabric during conventional laundering procedures. Detergent pre-treatment or pre-spotting compositions, solids or sticks are known in the art and are known to commonly use solvent materials and typically nonionic surfactants. For example, DiSalvo, U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,023; Kelly, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,962; Steinhauer et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,644; and Sabol, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,762. Each separately claim pre-treatment or pre-spotting compositions containing a small amount of water and a substantial proportion of solvent, nonionic surfactant and a solidification or gelling agent. Borrello, U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,521 teaches liquid aqueous pre-spot or pre-treatment compositions containing about 35 wt % water and substantial water soluble solvent compositions to create a use solution. Such aqueous and solvent based materials are typically less effective on oily hydrophobic soils due to the nature of the soil and its hydrophobicity with respect to the aqueous formulated materials. The solvent based laundry pre-treatment stick is disclosed in Steinhauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,644, comprises a minor amount of water but relatively large percent of immiscible solvent in separate but combined phases. We are also aware of Klier et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,662 and Yang, U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,829, each relating to similar pre-spot or pre-treatment compositions. One liquid detergent composition having a specialized phosphate ester solubilizer is disclosed in Klajnscek, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,949. The patent discloses preferred formulations for use in a liquid stabilized laundry detergent.
While these prior art pre-spot or pre-treatment compositions have some utility in pre-spotting common household laundry, commercial laundry having large quantities of hydrophobic soils, particularly oily or greasy soils containing substantial quantities of particulate matter, can resist conventional pre-spotting pre-treatments and also resist the effects of conventional laundry detergents even in industrial or commercial laundry machines such as commercial 450 pound wash wheels or tunnel washers. A substantial need exists for improved pre-spotting or pre-treating laundry compositions.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTION
The pre-spot or pre-treatment compositions of the invention are formulated to be useful in preparing garments or fabric items for final laundering in a conventional, typically institutional, laundry machine using conventional laundry detergent materials. We have found a useful laundry pre-treatment or pre-spot blended composition that can be contacted with soiled fabric or garments to promote the removal of hydrophobic soils. The composition can use one unique nonionic surfactant:
R—(OC
2
H
4
)
n
—OH
wherein R is a hydrophobic or fatty residue and n is less than 2. This surfactant can be used in a pretreatment step in a dilute aqueous solution or can be applied as a spray or pre-spot, rub-on solid.
Alternatively, the pre-treatment comprises a blend of at least one relatively hydrophilic (Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance (HLB) greater than 10) nonionic surfactant with at least one relatively hydrophobic (HLB less than 10) nonionic surfactant producing a blended surfactant having an HLB weighted average or HLB total value of about 7 to 12, preferably 8 to 11 and most preferably 9 to 10. More specifically, the composition can comprise a relatively hydrophilic ethoxylate surfactant combined with a relatively hydrophobic alcohol ethoxylate surfactant at proportions that produce the desired HLB value. The hydrophilic surfactant can further comprise a relatively hydrophilic alcohol ethoxylate, a relatively hydrophilic alkyl phenol ethoxylate or mixtures thereof. The relatively hydrophilic ethoxylate surfactant typically comprises one or more surfactant species, each having an HLB value of about 10 to 20. The relatively hydrophobic alcohol ethoxylate surfactant, comprises one or more similar surfactant species, typically a C
6-24
fatty alcohol ethoxylate having less than 2 moles ethylene oxide and an HLB value of less than about 9, preferably about 4 to 9. The HLB system is well known to skilled surfactant chemists and is explained in the literature such as in the publication, “The HLB System,” ICI Americas (1987). This publication recommends that detergents for laundry have an HLB of about 13-15.
An important embodiment of the invention involves a blend of three nonionic surfactants to form the blend with the desired HLB value. The composition comprises a first relatively hydrophilic ethoxylate, preferably an alkyl phenol ethoxylate surfactant having 9 to 10 moles of ethylene oxide with an HLB of 13-14, a second relatively hydrophobic, preferably an alkyl phenol ethoxylate, surfactant having 4-5 moles of ethylene oxide with a HLB of 9-10 and a relatively hydrophobic fatty alcohol ethoxylate surfactant having less than about 2 moles of ethylene oxide. The surfactant has an HLB of less than 7. We have found that either the unique surfactant or the blended surfactant composition, can associate with hydrophobic greasy soils and in particular, hydrophobic greasy soils with a substantial proportion of organic particulates dispersed throughout the greasy soil to form a treated soil. This treated soil then can be readily removed by conventional laundry detergent and equipment.
The surfactant or surfactant blend can operate, without substantial amounts of the conventional solvent typical in common aqueous dilute pretreatment compositions, to soften, dissolve into or associate with or otherwise pre-treat or pre-spot the hydrophobic soils. The presence of the surfactant or blend in a pre-treated soil renders the soils uniquely subject to cleaning and substantially complete removal in institutional laundry machines with conventional laundry detergents. The term “ethoxylate surfactant” means a surfactant that contains at least one block of polymerized ethylene oxide [(EO)
x
, x is a number of 1 to 100] along with any other common surfactant moiety to form a surfactant molecule that provides the HLB needed for the blend. The pre-treatment compositions of the invention can be formed in a concentrated water-free, aqueous, or a thickened aqueous liquid concentrate containing 50 to 100 wt % of the active materials that can be diluted with water and applied or sprayed where needed. The compositions can also be prepared in the form of a pre-spotting or pre-treatment stick or solid block which can be contacted or rubbed into the soil to perform the pre-treatment step. Alternately, the solid pretreatment can be dispensed in a water spray-on dispenser that provides an aqueous or non-aqueous concentrate composition. Both the liquid and solid pre-treatment compositions can contain other conventional laundry builder salts and optional compositions. The inventive compositions, however, are substantially free of any solvent material. The surfactant blends of the invention are generally not considered to be solvents. Typical solvents are aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, ether compounds, fluorocarbon compounds, and other similar low molecular weight genera
Armstrong Carrie L.
Hei Robert D. P.
Levitt Mark
Mattia Paul J.
Smith Kim R.
Boyer Charles
Ecolab Inc.
Merchant & Gould P.C.
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