Fabric conditioning

Abstract

Fabrics, such as those in laundry items, are softened and their tendency to accumulate static charges is lessened by application to them of a foam which includes a foaming agent, a fabric conditioner, to improve fabric softness and/or to diminish static, a normally gaseous propellant and water, after which application the laundry is tumbled, preferably in a dryer. The foam thereby becomes spread over the fabric surfaces, conditioning the laundry during a drying operation. In some products a single material may be both foaming agent and conditioner. In other formulations a foam stabilizer will be incorporated to aid the foaming agent in making a more useful foam. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the conditioning composition is a liquid held under its own pressure in a dispensing container and is discharged from it as a stable foam onto the material to be conditioned, which is in a laundry dryer. In preferred compositions the foaming agent is an anionic or nonionic surface active compound, the fabric conditioner is an amphoteric or cationic surface active agent which is substantive to cotton and permanent press fabrics to be conditioned, and the propellant is a mixture of halogenated hydrocarbons. The disclosure also relates to pressurized compositions, articles comprising pressure-tight vessels containing such compositions, and the foams dispensed, as well as to methods of application of the foams to fabrics and laundry to be conditioned.