New method for direct incorporation and stabilization of silicone polymers in fabric softeners

Rinse cycle fabric softeners aim to deliver softness, fragrance, static control, ease of ironing, fiber protection thus maintaining or restoring the initial feel of fabric during the rinse cycle of the wash cycle. Even if the main usage of silicone in the detergent industry is to provide effective foam control in consumer washing machines this material has also largely been introduced to bring extra fabric care benefits when used in combination with classical fabric softeners. Indeed, it has been shown that when used in combination with fabric conditioning agents, softness improvements, ease of ironing, water absorbency and to a lesser extent, antiwrinkle characteric benefits have been demonstrated and commercially implemented. Hence addition of silicone emulsions to fabric softeners have been used to deliver a variety of "care benefits". They are easy to handle and formulate and proved to be effective. However their cost tends to prevent them from being broadly used in this application. Thus, with increased competition and higher raw material costs, fabric softener producers are looking for a more cost effective way to formulate silicones into their products. To address this issue, we have been working on direct incorporation of silicone polymers into quaternaries microstructure and has found way to obtain stable silicone entrapment while keeping application performance constant and final fabric softener physical properties acceptable.