Self-thickened cleaning compositions

Details Self-thickened cleaning compositions Self-thickened cleaning compositions

1994-05-03

2001-07-17

Einsmann, Margaret (Department: 1751)

Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions

Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing

With oxygen or halogen containing chemical bleach or oxidant...

C510S375000, C510S421000, C510S424000, C510S426000, C510S427000, C510S477000, C510S504000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06262007

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to cleaning compositions. The compositions according to the present invention are self-thickened, in that they do not require the presence of a thickener compound; furthermore, the compositions according to the present invention are physically stable, even at low temperatures. The compositions according to the present invention are useful for instance as hard surface cleaning compositions or as laundry cleaning compositions.
BACKGROUND
Thickened cleaning compositions are well known in the art, and have found various applications for instance in the context of hard surface or laundry cleaning compositions.
The simplest way to make such compositions is to add a thickener on top of a non-viscous product. However, thickeners can be seen as undesirable in many respects, such as processing issues, long term product stability issues as well as other considerations related to formula cost. It is thus desirable to formulate a cleaning composition which is viscous, but does not necessarily contain a thickener.
The art teaches that it is possible to do so by using a system where viscosity is built by combining an anionic surfactant together with an electrolyte in an aqueous medium, wherein the viscosity can be adjusted by balancing both ingredients. This system is very often used in the formulation of shampoos, but has also found application in cleaning compositions. In theory, this solution can be used with any anionic surfactant, but the compositions of the present invention only use an alkyl sulfate anionic surfactant derived from natural coconut oil; indeed, this surfactant provides good performance and is particularly desirable for obvious environmental reasons.
Thus, self-thickened compositions can be made which comprise such an anionic surfactant derived from natural coconut oil and an electrolyte. The viscosity of such a composition is of course sensitive to temperature, and a new technical problem has been identified in that such compositions are not physically stable at low temperature, where the product undergoes phase separation; As a result, the product has an aesthetically unacceptable aspect.
It has now been found that this problem could be solved by using a specific electrolyte and adding to the system above a nonionic surfactant from a selected class.
Canadian patent CA 1 194 381 discloses scouring compositions containing anionic surfactants, an electrolyte and an ethoxylated alcohol surfactant.
European patent EP 116 905 teaches the use of an ethoxylated and/or propoxylated alcohol surfactant to reduce the viscosity of industrial-grade synthetic anionic surfactant concentrates.
European patent application EP 329 209 discloses scouring compositions comprising a surfactant, an electrolyte and a solvent to build viscosity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The compositions according to the present invention are self-thickened aqueous cleaning compositions having a viscosity of from 50 to 700 cps at 60 rpm shear rate at 20° C., which comprise from 1% to 25% by weight of the total composition of an alkyl sulphate anionic surfactant derived from natural coconut oil, from 0.1% to 8% by weight of the total composition of ammonium salts and from 0.5% to 25% by weight of the total composition of a compound of the structure:
R
1
—O—[(R
2
O)
n
(R
3
O)
m
]—R
4,
wherein
R
1
is a C
1-25
alkyl or alkenyl group;
R
2
is a C
2-4
aliphatic hydrocarbon chain;
R
3
is a methyl or ethyl monosubstituted C
2
-C
4
aliphatic hydrocarbon chain;
R
4
is a C
1-25
alkyl or alkenyl or carboxyl chain, or H;
n is an integer of from 1 to 10;
m is an integer of from 0 to 20; or mixtures thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The compositions according to the present invention comprise from 1% to 25% by weight of the total composition, preferably from 2% to 8% by weight of the total composition, most preferably 3% to 5% of an alkyl sulphate anionic surfactant derived from natural coconut oil, or mixtures thereof. Suitable alkyl sulphate anionic surfactants for use herein can be made by the processes well known to the man skilled in the art. Typically, such surfactants are made from coconut alcohol which is sulfated and possibly ethoxylated. Indeed, ethoxylated alkyl sulfate surfactants are also suitable for use herein, but the average degree of ethoxylation of the anionic surfactants to be used herein should not be more than 2.
The neutralizing cation for the alkyl sulfates derived from natural coconut oil to be used herein can be any of the conventional cations used in detergent technology, such as ammonium, potassium or unsubstituted or N-substituted ammonium salts, or mixtures thereof; preferred are the sodium salts.
The viscosity of the compositions according to the invention is obtained by using ammonium salts as an electrolyte; suitable ammonium salts for use in the compositions according to the invention include alkanolammonium salts, ammonium chloride, ammonium acetate, ammonium citrate, ammonium carbonate and the like; it is the electrolyte together with the above described surfactants which builds the viscosity. The viscosity of the composition depends on the proportion of both ingredients, the general rule being that the more electrolyte is added, the more viscosity is obtained. The compositions according to the present invention comprise from 0.1% to 8% by weight of the total composition of ammonium salts, preferably from 0.2% to 6%, most preferably 0.3% to 5%. The ratio of ammonium salts to anionic surfactant is adjusted so as to obtain a composition having a viscosity of from 50 to 700 cps at 60 rpm shear rate at 20,C, more preferably 80 cps to 350 cps. The viscosity of the compositions according to the invention allows to use said compositions on vertical surfaces.
Such a product comprising the surfactant and the electrolyte described herein above could be used as such, however, as described in the background part, physical stability of the product is not satisfactory under all conditions, in that the product undergoes phase separation at low temperatures, around 10° C. and below. It has now been found that this problem could be solved by simply adding to the composition a nonionic surfactant from a selected class. Accordingly, the compositions according to the present invention comprise from 0.5% to 25% by weight of the total composition, preferably from 0.6% to 10% , most preferably from 0.7% to 2% of a compound of the formula:
R
1
—O—[(R
2
O)
n
(R
3
O)
m
]—R
4,
wherein
R
1
is a C
1-25
alkyl or alkenyl chain, preferably C
10-15
, preferably alkyl;
R
2
is a C
2-4
aliphatic hydrocarbon chain, preferably C
2
;
R
3
is a methyl or ethyl monosubstituted C
2
-C
4
aliphatic hydrocarbon chain, preferably a methyl substituted ethylene;
R
4
is a C
1-25
alkyl or alkenyl or carboxyl chain, or H, preferably H;
n is an integer of from 1 to 10, preferably 1 to 5;
m is an integer of from 0 to 20; preferably 0 to 10, most preferably 0 to 3; or mixtures thereof.
It is to be understood that, in the chemical formula above, R
2
O and R
3
O groups may appear in any sequence in the molecule; also, when n and m are greater than 1, different R
2
O and R
3
O groups may appear in a same molecule. These surfactant are commercially available from ICI under the trade name UKANIL FM®, or from BASF under the trade name PLURAFAC LF®. Preferred surfactant where m is 0 are available from SHELL under the trade name DOBANOL® or from BASF under the trade name LUTENSOL®.
The compositions according to the invention are acidic and have a pH of from 1 to 6, preferably 2.5 to 5. The pH of the compositions according to the invention is partially determined by the amount of electrolyte, but the pH of the final composition can be adjusted by the addition of appropriate acidifiers such as organic or inorganic acids, or acidic salts which buffer pH to an acid value. Examples of suitable acidifiers are sulfuric acid, phosphoric acids, although somewhat undesirable from an environmental viewpoint, hydrochloric acid, phosphonic acid, citric acid, acetic acid

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