Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the use of a silicone in a laundry composition for anti-aging of clothes.

Background of the Present Invention

It is well known that clothes age over time, due to the various external factors including the washing process and through wear. After a certain degree of aging, consumers judge the clothes to be no longer suitable for wear.

In an age of environmentally conscious consumers, consumers are striving to make their clothes last longer. Clothes lasting longer, reduces the frequency with which consumers buy new clothes. This in turn reduces the strains on the planet's resources and reduces the impact on the environment that the demand for new material causes.

There is a desire for laundry products which provide the benefit of anti-aging.

A culmination of various different factors cause clothes to look aged. Combinations of factors such as: stretching of fabrics, fading, bobbling, changing in drape characteristics, loss of shape etc, are often quoted as reasons why clothes look old. Materials have been identified to prevent individual factors, however there is a need for a material which provides an overall anti-aging benefit to fabrics.

Surprisingly it has been found that silicones can be used to provide an antiaging benefit.

Summary of the Present Invention

In a first aspect of the present invention is provided the use of silicone in a laundry composition for anti-aging of clothes. ln a second aspect of the present invention is provided use of a silicone according as described herein, wherein clothes are treated with a laundry composition comprising the silicone.

Detailed Description of the Present Invention Antiaging

Anti-aging is an effect resulting from preventative measures rather than a reactive measures, i.e. antiaging prevents aging rather than fixes aging once it has occurred. Anti-ageing means the reduction or prevention of ageing. For example anti-aging is the reduction of the speed at which clothes age. This is due to the prevention or reduction of the effects of a combination of stressors causing clothes to look old. Anti-aging may be expressed in various different ways, such as:

Damage Defy

Help keep clothes looking like new for longer

- Reduction or prevention of ageing

Silicones

The silicones of the present invention provide an overall anti-ageing effect to fabrics. Silicones and their chemistry are described in, for example in The Encyclopaedia of Polymer Science, volume 11 , p765.

Silicones suitable for the present invention are fabric softening silicones. Non-limiting examples of such silicones include: non-functionalised silicones such as polydialkylsiloxanes, particularly polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), alkyl (or alkoxy) functionalised silicones, and functionalised silicones or copolymers with one or more different types of functional groups such as amino, phenyl, polyether, acrylate, siliconhydride, carboxy acid, phosphate, betaine, quarternized nitrogen and mixtures thereof. The molecular weight of the silicone is preferably from 1 ,000 to 500,000, more preferably from

2,000 to 250,000 even more preferably from 5,000 to 100,000.

The silicone composition of the current invention may be in the form of an emulsion or as a silicone fluid. In a preferred embodiment the silicone is in the form of a silicone emulsion. When the silicone is in an emulsion, the particle size can be in the range from about 1 nm to 100 microns and preferably from about 10 nm to about 10 microns including microemulsions (< 150 nm), standard emulsions (about 200 nm to about 500 nm) and macroemulsions (about 1 micron to about 20 microns).

The fabric softening silicones may be an emulsion or a fluid, preferably an emulsion.

Compositions according to the current invention preferably comprise silicone at a level of 0.5 to 60 w.t % of the formulation, preferably 1 to 30 w.t. % of the formulation, more preferably 2 to 20 w.t. % of the formulation, most preferably 3 to 16 w.t.%.

Preferred non-functionalised silicones are polydialkylsiloxanes, most preferred non-functionalised silicones are polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Preferred functionalised silicones are an anionic functionalised silicone. Examples of fabric softening anionic silicones suitable for the current invention include silicones containing the following functionalities; carboxylic, sulphate, sulphonic, phosphate and/or phosphonate functionality.

Preferably the anionic silicones of the current invention comprise silicones having a functionality selected from; carboxylic, sulphate, sulphonic, phosphate and/or phosphonate functionality or mixtures thereof. More preferably the anionic silicone of the present invention comprises carboxyl functionalised silicones. Most preferably the anionic silicone of the current invention is a carboxyl silicone. For the purposes of the current invention, the anionic silicone may be in the form of the acid or the anion. For example for a carboxyl functionalised silicone, may be present as a carboxylic acid or carboxylate anion.

An example of a commercially available anionic functional material are: X22-3701 E from Shin Etsu and Pecosil PS-100 from Pheonix Chemical.

Preferably the anionic silicone has an anionic group content of at least 1 mol%, preferably at least 2 mol%. The anionic group(s) on the anionic silicones of the present invention are preferably located in pendent positions on the silicone i.e. the composition comprises anionic silicones wherein the anionic group is located in a position other than at the end of the silicone chain. The terms 'terminal position' and 'at the end of the silicone chain' are used to indicate the terminus of the silicone chain.

When the silicones are linear in nature, there are two ends to the silicone chain. In this case the anionic silicone preferably contains no anionic groups located on a terminal position of the silicone.

When the silicones are branched in nature, the terminal position is deemed to be the two ends of the longest linear silicone chain. Preferably no anionic functionality is not located on the terminus of the longest linear silicone chain.

Preferred anionic silicones are those that comprise the anionic group at a mid-chain position on the silicone. Preferably the anionic group(s) of the anionic silicone are located at least five Si atoms from a terminal position on the silicone. Preferably the anionic groups are distributed randomly along the silicone chain.

Most preferably the silicone of the present invention is selected from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carboxyfunctionalised silicones, preferred carboxy functionalised silicones are described above.

Other ingredients

The silicone comprising laundry compositions of the present invention may further comprise cationic deposition polymers and/or stabilisers.

A cationic polymer refers to polymers having an overall positive charge.

The cationic polymer may be naturally derived or synthetic. Examples of suitable cationic polymers include: acrylate polymers, cationic amino resins, cationic urea resins, and cationic polysaccharides, including: cationic celluloses, cationic guars and cationic starches.

The cationic polymer of the present invention may be categorised as a polysaccharide-based cationic polymer or non-polysaccharide based cationic polymers. Polysaccharide-based cationic polymers:

Polysacchride based cationic polymers include cationic celluloses, cationic guars and cationic starches. Polysaccharides are polymers made up from monosaccharide monomers joined together by glycosidic bonds.

The cationic polysaccharide-based polymers present in the compositions of the invention have a modified polysaccharide backbone, modified in that additional chemical groups have been reacted with some of the free hydroxyl groups of the polysaccharide backbone to give an overall positive charge to the modified cellulosic monomer unit.

Non polysaccharide-based cationic polymers:

A non-polysaccharide-based cationic polymer is comprised of structural units, these structural units may be non-ionic, cationic, anionic or mixtures thereof. The polymer may comprise non-cationic structural units, but the polymer must have a net cationic charge.

The cationic polymer may consists of only one type of structural unit, i.e., the polymer is a homopolymer. The cationic polymer may consists of two types of structural units, i.e., the polymer is a copolymer. The cationic polymer may consists of three types of structural units, i.e., the polymer is a terpolymer. The cationic polymer may comprises two or more types of structural units. The structural units may be described as first structural units, second structural units, third structural units, etc. The structural units, or monomers, may be incorporated in the cationic polymer in a random format or in a block format.

The cationic polymer may comprise a nonionic structural units derived from monomers selected from: (meth)acrylamide, vinyl formamide, N, N-dialkyl acrylamide, N, N-dialkylmethacrylamide, C1- C12 alkyl acrylate, C1-C12 hydroxyalkyl acrylate, polyalkylene glyol acrylate, C1-C12 alkyl methacrylate, C1-C12 hydroxyalkyl methacrylate, polyalkylene glycol methacrylate, vinyl acetate, vinyl alcohol, vinyl formamide, vinyl acetamide, vinyl alkyl ether, vinyl pyridine, vinyl pyrrolidone, vinyl imidazole, vinyl caprolactam, and mixtures thereof.

The cationic polymer may comprise a cationic structural units derived from monomers selected from: N, N-dialkylaminoalkyl methacrylate, N, N-dialkylaminoalkyl acrylate, N, N-dialkylaminoalkyl acrylamide, N, N-dialkylaminoalkylmethacrylamide, methacylamidoalkyl trialkylammonium salts, ac lamidoalkylltrialkylamminium salts, vinylamine, vinylimine, vinyl imidazole, quatemized vinyl imidazole, diallyl dialkyl ammonium salts, and mixtures thereof.

Preferably, the cationic monomer is selected from: diallyl dimethyl ammonium salts (DADMAS), N, N-dimethyl aminoethyl acrylate, Ν,Ν-dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate (DMAM), [2-

(methacryloylamino)ethyl]trl-methylammonium salts, N, N-dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide (DMAPA), N, N-dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide (DMAPMA), acrylamidopropyl trimethyl ammonium salts (APTAS), methacrylamidopropyl trimethylammonium salts (MAPTAS), quatemized vinylimidazole (QVi), and mixtures thereof.

The cationic polymer may comprise a anionic structural units derived from monomers selected from: acrylic acid (AA), methacrylic acid, maleic acid, vinyl sulfonic acid, styrene sulfonic acid, acrylamidopropylmethane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and their salts, and mixtures thereof. Some cationic polymers disclosed herein will require stabilisers i.e. materials which will exhibit a yield stress in the liquid ancillary composition of the present invention. Such stabilisers may be selected from: thread like structuring systems for example hydrogenated castor oil or

trihydroxystearin e.g. Thixcin ex. Elementis Specialties, crosslinked polyacrylic acid for example Carbopol ex. Lubrizol and gums for example carrageenan.

Preferably the cationic polymer is selected from; cationic polysaccharides and acrylate polymers. More preferably the cationic polymer is a cationic polysaccharide.

The molecular weight of the cationic polymer is preferably greater than 20 000 g/mol, more preferably greater than 25 000 g/mol. The molecular weight is preferably less than 2 000 000 g/mol, more preferably less than 1 000 000 g/mol.

Liquid ancillary compositions according to the current invention preferably comprise cationic polymer at a level of 0.25 to 10 w.t % of the formulation, preferably 0.35 to 7.5 w.t. % of the formulation, more preferably 0.5 to 5 w.t. % of the formulation

Laundry Composition

The laundry composition of the present invention may be any composition used in the process of home laundry. Examples of such products include: liquid laundry detergent, powered laundry detergent, laundry capsules, fabric conditioners/softeners, refresh-sprays, laundry pastilles, laundry serums, pre-wash treatments, post wash treatments. The laundry composition is a carrier to deliver the silicone to the clothes.

Preferably the laundry composition is selected from a liquid laundry detergent, fabric

conditioner/softener, refresh-spray, laundry pastilles and laundry serums.

The term laundry serum' is used to refer to a specific format of laundry product. This is a liquid product which is used in addition to the laundry detergent and/or the fabric conditioner to provide an additional or improved benefit to the materials in the wash cycle.

In a simple embodiment, the silicone may be provided in a laundry serum. This is an aqueous carrier for delivering benefit agents to fabrics. A serum may comprise water, silicone and optionally a deposition polymer and a perfume. A serum may comprise further benefit agents. This is a low surfactant product, i.e. less than 4% surfactant.

The laundry compositions comprising the silicone of the present invention are used by the consumer following their normal method of use.

Method

The method of the present invention comprises treating the clothes with a laundry composition comprising silicone.

Examples:

Example compositions: Table 1 : Silicone Serum

Silicone ¹ - Silicone added as a 30% emulsion ex. Wacker Silicone. The silicone comprised a carboxy group in a mid-chain pendent position.

Cationic polymer ² - Ucare™ polymer LR400 ex. Dow

Table 2: Fabric Conditioner Composition

Non-ionic ³ - Genapol C 200 ex.Clariant

Fatty Alcohol ⁴ - Laurex CS ex.Huntsman

Silicone ⁵ - 60,000cSt PDMS (provided as a 60% active emulsion) ex. Dow Coming Silicone ⁶ - lOOcSt PDMS (provided as a 60% active emulsion) ex. Dow Coming Table 3: Detergent Composition

Silicone ¹ - 60,000cSt PDMS (provided as emulsion) ex. Dow Coming

Silicone ⁸ - amino silicone Arristan 64 (provided as emulsion) ex. CHT Beitlich

LR400 ⁹ - cationic hydroxyether cellulose polymer (known as polyquatemium 10) ex. Dow Chemical

Example 1 Test Garments:

5 different garments where selected, to represent a variety of different clothes and materials:

Black woven dress

Black knitted dress

- Black jeans

Yellow skirt

White blouse

Washing conditions:

Using a Miele front loading washing machine, all garments were washed 20 times, with the exception of the black knitted dress, which was washed 10 times. The wash cycle was a 40°C cotton cycle, using 12 litters and 3 rinses. The persil non-bio laundry capsule was placed in the bottom of the drum and the serum (were used) was poured into the fabric conditioner drawer.

Garments were tumble dried between washes 1 , 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 , 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 and line dried between washes 5, 10, 15 and 20. Wash Condition A:

Each item was washed 20 times ^* with a persil non-bio laundry capsule.

* with the exception of the black knitted dress, which was washed 10 times Wash Condition 1 :

Each item was washed 20 times ^* with a persil non-bio laundry capsule and a laundry serum composition of Table 1.

^* with the exception of the black knitted dress, which was washed 10 times Panel Assessment:

20 participants participated in the panel assessment. For each garment in turn, each participant was presented with a new, unwashed garment and informed that this was a new garment. They were then presented with an identical garment washed under Condition A and another identical garment washed under Condition 1. The order of the presentation of the washed garments was randomised.

They were asked out of these two garments:

Which garment looks newer?

Which garment feels newer?

The participants indicated their answers and then moved on to the next garment type.

Table 4: Results

All garments treated with the serum look and feel newer, i.e. aging is prevented.