Antistatic and fabric softening laundry wash cycle additive composition

Abstract

An antistatic and fabric softening laundry wash cycle additive article includes an antistatic and fabric softening composition in a filtering container, from which a complex of cationic surfactant and anionic surfactant is released into the wash water through the filtering walls of the container. The particles of the released complex, the size of which are controlled by the sizes of the filtering openings in the container walls, are small enough so that they do not form objectionable greasy deposits on the laundry, such as often results when antistatic and fabric softening cationic surfactant is present with anionic surfactant in a detergent composition, or is added to the wash water with such detergent composition. The cationic surfactant may be present in the filtering container as a complex with anionic surfactant or in mixture with anionic surfactant, in particulate form. It is preferred that it be present as such a mixture and also present may be suitable functional and aesthetic materials, such as: bentonite, builders and fillers, which add bulk to the product and separate the reactive anionic and cationic materials during storage; emulsifiers, which facilitate the production of cationic/anionic complex in finely divided emulsified form after the article is added to the wash water, thereby facilitating passage of such complex in such finely divided, emulsified form through the filtering container, and preventing greasy deposition of such complex on the laundry being washed; and perfume. Also within the invention are processes for simultaneously washing laundry and treating it to soften it and make it antistatic, in which processes the filtering container of this invention, preferably as a heat sealed pouch of nonwoven polyester or other suitable synthetic organic polymer in fibrous form, and containing the cationic/anionic surfactants mixture, is added to the wash water. Preferably, the invented article is also present in the rinse water and is transferred to an automatic laundry dryer with the laundry being dried. The greater advantages of the invented process are obtained when the laundry detergent employed is an anionic detergent but the invented articles may also be used in the wash cycle when nonionic or other types of detergents are employed.