Textile care composition

Abstract

A process for the treatment of non-keratinaceous textiles, preferably cellulosic fibres, which comprises the step of treating the textiles with a composition comprising: a polymer comprising at least one protected thiol group, wherein the protecting group is labile under domestic washing conditions, and a textile compatible carrier. Under domestic washing conditions the polymer forms reactive thiol groups which are capable of causing covalent cross-linking of the polymer. Preferably, the thiol group is protected as an isothiouronium group.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to textile care compositions and, in particular, to the use of the textile care compositions in a domestic laundering process to reduce fibre damage and / or improve textile dimensional stability.BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART[0002] The laundry process generally has several benefits for textiles, the most common being to remove dirt and stains from the textile during the wash cycle and to soften the textile during the rinse cycle. However, there are numerous disadvantages associated with repeated use of conventional laundry treatment compositions and / or the actual laundry process; one of these being a fairly harsh mechanical and / or chemical treatment of textiles in the laundry process.[0003] Textiles can be damaged in several ways as a result of repeated laundering and / or wear. Textile pilling and loss of textile surface appearance e.g. fuzzing, shrinkage (or expansion), loss of colour from the textile or running of colour on the textile (usually termed `dye tr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014] Without being limited by any theory of operation, it is believed that the upon loss of the protecting group the thiol groups cross-link without reaction with the textile. It is believed that this forms a structure which restricts relative movement of the textile fibres and consequently reduces damage to the textile fibres during the laundering process. It is believed that this reduces pilling and provides shrink resistance.

[0015] It is further believed that the structure prevents apparent colour loss by retarding damage to the fibres leading to a rough fibre surface which would give the appearance of colour loss due to a modification of the manner in which light is scattered from the fibre surface.

[0020] Use of an isothiouronium containing polymer, or other thiol group protected by a suitably labile leaving group, in a composition which further comprises a textile compatible carrier is therefore believed to reduce fibre damage and / or improve the dimensional stability of cellulosic textiles following domestic laundry.

Problems solved by technology

However, there are numerous disadvantages associated with repeated use of conventional laundry treatment compositions and / or the actual laundry process; one of these being a fairly harsh mechanical and / or chemical treatment of textiles in the laundry process.

Textiles can be damaged in several ways as a result of repeated laundering and / or wear.

Textile pilling and loss of textile surface appearance e.g. fuzzing, shrinkage (or expansion), loss of colour from the textile or running of colour on the textile (usually termed `dye transfer`) are some of the common problems associated with repeated laundering.

These problems will occur from repeated hand washing as well as the more vigorous machine washing process.

While such polymers terminated with such groups have previously been used for the treatment of wool and blends of wool with other materials, it is surprising that they are effective in the treatment of non-keratinaceous materials such as cotton and other cellulosic fibres in a domestic laundry process.

Preferably, the molecular weight of the polymers used is such that any unpleasant odour component associated with the thiol intermediate is not sufficiently volatile to affect the efficacy of the textile care composition.

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