Lever Brothers Company

Ronald M Morris

Stuart Keith Pratley

Reginald Vear Scowen

David Paul Bishop

Peter M Duggleby

Horst Poeselt

Hermann Rabitsch

Bernhard Kueter

A process for washing fabrics includes contacting the fabrics with a liquor containing an orthophosphate material and, at least one minute thereafter, contacting the fabrics with a liquor containing a pyrophosphate material free of polymer phosphate. Each liquor contains a detergent active material and has a pH between about 8 and about 12. The delayed contact with the pyrophosphate reduces the level of deposition on the fabrics and the use of a combination of orthophophate and pyrophosphate enables compositions for use in the process to contain lower than conventional total levels of phosphorus. The pyrophosphate containing liquor may be separate from the orthophosphate containing liquor, or it may be the same liquor to which the pyrophosphate is added with a suitable delay. This delay may be achieved by the separate addition of the pyrophosphate material, by the use of a two compartment sachet, by coating, encapsulation or co-granulating the pyrophosphate, or by selecting a particle size for the pyrophosphate which will sufficiently reduce its rate of dissolution.

Fabric washing process and detergent composition for use therein

A particulate detergent composition for fabric conditioning includes, in addition to a detergency active material, from 10-40% of a mixture of tripolyphosphate and orthophosphate in the ratio of 20:1 to 3:1 together with 2-25% of a mixture of soap and an anionic polyelectrolyte in the ratio of 10:1 to 1:1. Any pyrophosphate present must be kept below 5%. The soap and polyelectrolyte result in reduced deposition of inorganic materials onto the fabrics. The preferred polyelectrolyte is sodium polyacrylate with a molecular weight of about 27,000. The composition may also include conventional additional ingredients.

Detergent compositions

A soil-release composition for the treatment of textile fabrics comprises a complex of a nonionic detergent and a polycarboxylate polymer, together with an organic quaternary ammonium surfactant compound in a concentrated aqueous solution with an acid pH.

Soil-release compositions

This invention relates to compositions comprising a class of new chemical compounds which can be applied to a textile material preferably composed of fibers of cellulose, regenerated cellulose or a cellulose ester or ether, to contribute an attractive softening effect. The new compounds possess a hydrophilic solubilising group linked to each of two triazine rings and an average of two hydrophobic groups and two halogen substituents per molecule. After impregnation with the compositions of the invention the compounds are fixed to the textile material by heating at 100.degree.-150.degree.C.

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Wirral, United Kingdom

Ronald M Morris