JPH0192476A - Production of concentration type softening finish agent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a concentrated softener excellent in storage stability by dispersingly adding a previously mixed and adjusted mixture of a quaternary ammonium salt, isopropanol and water into warm water. CONSTITUTION: This concentrated softener is obtained by dispersingly adding a mixture into warm water (such amount of water as making the softener to be a concentrated type having 15 wt.% quaternary ammonium salt concentration or so in the softener) wherein the mixture is previously prepared and includes 50-70 wt.% asymmetric quaternary ammonium salt represented by the formula (R1 is a 10-14C alkyl; R2 is a 16-24C alkyl; R3 and R4 are each a 1-2C alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, benzyl or the like; X is a halogen or the like), 5-20 wt.% isopropanol and 17-40 wt.% water and the warm water includes an antigelling agent e.g. a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether as the essential component. This concentrated softener has suppressed thickening tendency with age and is excellent in storage stability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method for producing a concentrated fabric softener that exhibits little thickening over time.

[Conventional technology]

When clothing is repeatedly worn and washed, the fiber treatment agent may be washed off, or the fibers themselves may become hard due to deterioration, resulting in an undesirable feel. Therefore,
In recent years, fabric softeners that can impart flexibility and antistatic properties to fibers have been widely used in many households.

Currently, the commercially available household fabric softeners are:
Most of them are based on cationic surfactants having one or two long-chain alkyl groups in the molecule, especially di(hardened tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium salts.

Soft bases containing these quaternary ammonium salts as main components are poorly soluble in water and are usually produced in the form of 3 to 5% by weight aqueous dispersions or emulsions.

Such fabric softeners are generally produced by adding and dispersing a liquid quaternary ammonium salt in heated water, but they tend to thicken during or after production. In order to solve this problem, additives such as water-soluble cationic activators, higher alcohols, ethylene oxide adducts such as alkylphenols, lower alcohols, ethylene glycol, urea, water-soluble organic salts, etc.
Studies have been conducted on the addition of anti-gelling agents such as inorganic salts and low-temperature stability improvers.

On the other hand, in terms of manufacturing methods, there is a method in which a liquid quaternary ammonium salt is sprayed and dispersed in water (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1988-8837), a liquid quaternary ammonium salt is dispersed in a stirring tank or a stirring blade of a line mixer, etc. Method of adding or supplying to a nearby position (JP-A-50-105997, JP-A-57-5797,
1. A method of supplying a quaternary ammonium salt liquid immediately before a slit valve provided in a pipe through which water flows (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-160524), Method of irradiation (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-11539
Various efforts have been made, such as the following:

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In recent years, with the increase in the number of garments that use fabric softeners, concentrated clothing containing highly concentrated aqueous dispersions has been developed with the aim of reducing distribution costs, packaging costs, and inventory space at homes and retail stores. There is a strong demand for fabric softeners.

However, when the concentration exceeds 5% by weight, the aqueous dispersion described above significantly thickens, causing various troubles in handling.

When the concentration of the quaternary ammonium salt is 30% by weight or less, thickening during production and in the initial stage can be suppressed by selecting an antigelation agent, a low-temperature stability improver, or by using the various production methods described above. However, concentrated fabric softeners tend to increase in viscosity over time, which poses a major problem when they are put to practical use in the home at room temperature.

[Means for solving problems]

Under these circumstances, the inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive research on manufacturing methods to solve the above problems, and have found that if a liquid quaternary ammonium compound added to hot water is used as a premix of a specific composition, The present invention was completed based on the knowledge that thickening over time can be significantly suppressed.

That is, the present invention provides a method for producing a concentrated fabric softener containing an antigelation agent, in which a quaternary ammonium compound 50
~70% by weight, 5-20% by weight of isopropanol, 1% by weight of water
Provided is a method for producing a concentrated fabric softener, characterized in that a premix containing 7 to 40% by weight is prepared in advance, and the premix is added and dispersed in hot water.

In the conventional method, the liquid form of the quaternary ammonium compound added to hot water is either melted into a liquid state by melting the quaternary ammonium compound itself, or mixed with lower alcohol, ethylene glycol, or a nonionic active material that becomes liquid upon heating. agent,
It was used as a liquid premix by heating and mixing with higher alcohols. The water content in the premix is usually very low, at most about 10 to about 15% by weight or less. The present invention was completed based on the discovery of the surprising phenomenon that by increasing the water content in the premix, the tendency of the resulting concentrated fabric softener to thicken over time is significantly suppressed.

The reason for the above phenomenon is not clear, but it is possible to first generate a hydrate of a quaternary ammonium compound, and then cut this stable hydrate structure by shearing force in a subsequent process and make it into fine particles. This is thought to be because the hydrate of the quaternary ammonium compound can exist in a stable state.

The quaternary ammonium compound used in the production method of the present invention is not particularly limited. Any material having a softening effect can be applied. Quaternary ammonium salts represented by di-hardened beef tallow alkyl dimethyl ammonium salts, 1-
Imidazolinium salts represented by methyl-2-talo-3-tallowamidoethyl imidazolinium salts, ester types represented by di-stearoyloxyethyl dimethylammonium salts, myristoyloxymethylsteryl dimethyl ammonium salts Examples include quaternary ammonium salts.

The production method of the present invention is not only effective for the commonly used quaternary compounds as described above, but also
It exhibits particularly excellent effects on asymmetric quaternary ammonium salts represented by the following general formula.

[In the formula, R1 is a CIO to 14 alkyl group, R, is C0
-24 alkyl groups, R,, R, are each C1-3 alkyl group or hydroxyalkyl group, benzyl group or +CzHnO+-H (however, n is 1-3), X
represents a halogen or an alkyl sulfate of Cl-3] The premix in the present invention includes 50 to 70% by weight of the quaternary ammonium compound, 17 to 40% by weight of water, and 5 to 20% by weight of isopropanol at 20 to 70°C. It is obtained by stirring until homogeneous.

In the production method of the present invention, a premix having the above composition is preferably added and dispersed in hot water of 20 to 60°C, and a fourth
grade ammonium salting degree of 7 to 30%, preferably 10 to 30%
By adjusting the concentration to 20%, a concentrated fabric softener is obtained.

Dispersion means include blade agitation, line mixer, high-pressure injection, etc., but are not particularly limited, and any means that can efficiently and uniformly agitate may be used. In the case of blade stirring, the best stirring efficiency is achieved by injecting the premix near the stirring blades.

It is essential to add an anti-gelling agent to concentrated fabric softeners.
Usually 0.1 to 5% is added. Anti-gelling agents include nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene alkyl ether and polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ether, polymeric dispersants such as polyethylene glycol and polyethylene imine, and water-soluble agents such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and ammonium chloride. Examples include inorganic salts. It is desirable to use a water-soluble inorganic salt in combination with another anti-gelling agent. These anti-gelling agents may be added in advance to the premix or hot water.

Alternatively, the premix may be added after being added and dispersed in warm water, and in this case, the addition position is preferably injected near the stirring blade, similar to the premix.

The concentrated fabric softener obtained by the production method of the present invention contains, for example, low-temperature stabilizers such as ethanol, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol, fragrances, pigments, silicone compounds, and antibacterial agents that are used in ordinary fabric softeners. Agents, etc. can be added, and the order of adding them can be at any point, just like the anti-gelling agent (there is no particular restriction).

In this way, a concentrated type fabric softener is obtained, but if the composition of the premix is outside the range of the present invention, the initial viscosity may become high or the thickening over time may not be sufficiently suppressed.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 A quaternary ammonium salt having the composition shown in Table 1, water and isopropanol were uniformly stirred at 50 to 70°C to obtain a premix. A water-soluble inorganic salt (Table 1 in the fabric softener) is added to the amount of water necessary to make the degree of quaternary ammonium salting in the fabric softener 15% by dispersing the above premix in water. Dissolve i> necessary to obtain the concentration shown in and heat at 50°C.
The premix was heated to 700 rpm and stirred at 700 rpm.The premix was supplied into the warm water at a position 2 cm from the stirring blade.
Stirring was continued until uniformly dispersed to obtain a concentrated fabric softener.

Initial viscosity of the obtained concentrated softener and -10°C
The viscosity was measured after storage at room temperature and 50°C for 20 days. The results are shown in Table-1.

Example 2 Coconut alkyl cured beef tallow alkyl dimethyl ammonium chloride 15 g 1 tetraethylene pentamine polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene adduct (PO/EO
Molar ratio 10/90, MW 15000) 1g to 5g 1 water
A premix was obtained by mixing with 3 g of isopropanol at 50°C. This premix was added to 74 g of water at 40°C,
After stirring, 2 g of an aqueous solution of 1 g of 10% CaC was added to obtain a concentrated fabric softener containing 15% of quaternary ammonium salt.

Initial viscosity 180cps, -10℃, room temperature, 20℃ at 50℃
The viscosity after storage for days is 190.184.210c, respectively.
It was ps.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for producing a concentrated fabric softener containing an antigelation agent, comprising: 50 to 70% by weight of a quaternary ammonium compound, 5 to 20% by weight of isopropanol, and 17 to 10% by weight of water.
A method for producing a concentrated fabric softener, comprising preparing a premix containing 40% by weight in advance, and adding and dispersing the premix in hot water. 2. The method for producing a concentrated fabric softener according to claim 1, wherein the quaternary ammonium compound is an asymmetric quaternary ammonium salt represented by the following general formula (1). ▲There are mathematical formulas, chemical formulas, tables, etc.▼(1) [In the formula, R_1 is an alkyl group of C_1_0_ to _1_4, R_2 is an alkyl group of C_1_6_ to _2_4, R_
3, R_4 is an alkyl group of C_1_ to_3, a hydroxyalkyl group, a benzyl group or ■C_2H_
4O ■_nH, where n is 1 to 3), X is halogen or C
Indicates the alkyl sulfate of _1_ to _3]