Polymer coated wooden surfaces such as floors coated with aqueous or solvent-based polyurethane lacquers are vulnerable to conventional cleaning products and therefore it is often recommended that such coated floors be cleaned only with water.

However, in most cases pure water does not clean satisfactory and therefore the cleaning operation needs to be repeated with short intervals. This problem increases as the floor gets worn and soil adheres more firmly.

Furthermore, as time goes by and the number of cleanings increase, or when the polymer coating on the floor gets so worn out that on some parts the polymer coating has disappeared by the abrasive action of particulate dirt and soil, even the application of pure water cause discoloration marks due to the infiltration of water into those parts.

Thus, there is a need for a mild cleaning system which on the one hand is able to sufficiently remove soil from the floor surface but on the other hand is not aggressive to the polymer coating of the floor. This would reduce the

number of times the floor needs to be cleaned and also reduce the amount of particulate dirt adhering to the floor, which in turn reduces wear of the coating.

Alkyl-polyglycosides are known as detergent surfactants, which are mild, particularly to the human skin. Furthermore it is known that certain alcoholic organic solvents can be used in hard surface cleaners where they can aid in removing fatty and other soil. However organic solvents are generally considered to present a hazard of being aggressive to polymeric coatings and lacquers.

WO00/05330 (Reckitt & Colman) describes a composition comprising a 0.01-3% quaternary ammonium compound together with 0.1-6% of a solvent system of at least two glycol ethers, one of which could be ethylene glycol butyl ether, and a low molecular weight alcohol such as isopropanol and 0.01-5% alkyl-polyglycoside. The compositions are used as hard surface cleaners.

EP444267 (Huls) describes foaming detergent compositions having 3-40% alkyl-polyglycoside and 0-30% solvent such'as isopropanol which are particularly used as dishwashing compositions.

W099/64548 discloses shower and bathtub cleaning compositions of the"shower rinsing"type comprising an alkyl-polyglycoside and a chelating agent necessary for removal of soap scum and scale. Optionally, the compositions may contain an alcohol, (poly) glycol or glycol ether type solvent and/or a quaternary ammonium compound.

EP928829 (Henkel Ecolab) describes a hard surface cleaner, which can be used on floors and comprises 0.1-10% alkyl-

polyglycoside and 5-20% solvent selected from glycols and alcohols. In addition it contains a quaternary ammonium compound and an alkali metal hydroxide or alkanolamine.

EP748864 (Procter & Gamble) discloses cleaning compositions intended for marble and lacquered wood, particularly wooden floors, comprising some surfactant and a builder saturated with divalent cations. A large variety of surfactants are disclosed as being suitable, but the products do not contain any organic solvent.

W099/36501 discloses a process for preparing hard surface cleaning compositions containing a UV absorber, comprising the step of preparing a premix of the UV absorber in a semipolar solvent or solvent mix in order to facilitate incorporation of the UV absorber into the cleaning composition. A number of alkanols and alkylene glycol ethers are mentioned as suitable for this purpose and a mixture of ethylene glycol mono-butyl ether and ethanol is exemplified as particularly suitable. The composition can contain a variety of surfactants, alkyl-polyglycosides being mentioned as one of the many possibilities. There is no information in this document about a specific combination of selected nonionic surfactants and selected organic solvent mixtures which would combine good cleaning properties with mildness to wood coatings.

US5, 906,973 (Henkel-Ecolab) describes hard surface cleaning compositions particularly intended for cleaning vertical or inclined hard surfaces. For that purpose they are given the property of thickening on dilution. They contain a tertiary amine oxide (0.5-10%), an alkyl-polyglycoside and a water- soluble organic solvent, which may be an alkanolamine.

However, the property of thickening on dilution is not

desirable for a floor cleaning composition, which is intended for being used in diluted form.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning composition for wooden floors which is mild to the polymeric floor coating while at the same time providing thorough cleaning.

It is another object of the invention to provide a process for cleaning polymer coated wooden floors which leaves the coating intact.

It has now been found that cleaning compositions suitable for cleaning polymer coated wooden floors, comprising an alkyl-polyglycoside detergent surfactant, an ethylene glycol alkyl ether and a lower alkanol, can be obtained which give good cleaning of the surface while saving the integrity of the polymer coating. The compositions do not thicken on dilution.

All amounts mentioned herein are in percent by weight calculated on the total composition unless specifically indicated otherwise.

Thus, the invention provides cleaning compositions for polymer coated wooden floors comprising 0.5-5.0% of one or more alkyl-polyglycoside detergent surfactants wherein the alkyl group has 8-18 carbon atoms and the polyglycoside group contains 1-4 glycoside units, 0.5-5,0% of an ethylene glycol alkyl ether wherein the alkyl group contains 2-5

carbon atoms, and 0.5-5.0% of a C2-C4 alkanol and which do not contain any quaternary ammonium compounds.

The invention also provides a process for cleaning polymer coated wooden floors, which comprises the step of treating the floor with a cleaning composition according to the invention or with an aqueous solution thereof.

The floor cleaning compositions according to the present invention preferably contain alkyl-polyglycosides in an amount of between 1.0-3.0%. Preferably the alkyl- polyglycosides have 1-3 glycoside units. Suitable alkyl- polyglycosides are e. g. those marketed by Henkel under the trademark GLUCOPON.

As mentioned above, the compositions according to the invention should not contain any quaternary ammonium compounds. Preferably, no other cationic detergent surfactants should be present either. The compositions may contain other detergent surfactants, as long as their total quantity is lower than the amount of alkyl-polyglycosides.

Such detergent surfactants may be chosen from anionic, nonionic or amphoteric surfactants. Preferably the compositions contain only nonionic surfactants, more preferably only alkyl-polyglycosides.

The floor cleaning compositions according to the invention contain as alcoholic solvents an ethylene glycol ether, which acts as a surfactant co-active to provide improved cleaning and degreasing, and an alkanol which reduces surface tension of the cleaning solution on the floor and

thereby improves shine of the floor after cleaning.

Preferably the total amount of both alcoholic solvents together should not exceed 7. 0%, more preferably not exceed 5.0%, but preferably should be at least 1.5%. It holds for both solvents that they should more preferably be present in an amount of between 1.0 and 3.0%. Preferred ethylene glycol alkyl ethers have an alkyl group of 3 or 4 C atoms, more preferably 4 C atoms, with ethylene glycol n-butyl ether being particularly effective. Preferred alkanols are the propanols, with isopropanol being particularly effective.

Preferably, the compositions according to the invention do not contain other organic solvents than those described above and those, which might be present in any perfume, added to the composition.

The compositions according to the invention preferably have pH between 5 and 9, more preferably, between 6 and 8, most preferably 6.5-7.5. The desired pH may be obtained by the addition of small amounts of buffer substances, such as citric acid or citric acid/sodium citrate mixtures. No organic amines or alkanol amines should be used.

The floor cleaning compositions according to the invention may additionally contain other components which are customary in such compositions, such as colorants, preservatives, perfumes, insect repellent and the like.

The compositions may also contain polymers which, when left to dry out on the floor provide an additional protective coating. Suitable polymers are known in the art and e. g.

described in W098/17761, W099/18182, WOOO/12661 and W098/36047 and documents cited therein.

The compositions are suitable for all kinds of polymer coated wooden floors. Particularly, they are suitable for polyurethane coated wooden floors, polyurethane lacquers being very popular for treating wooden floors. Such lacquers are available in solvent-based and water-based varieties. The latter are to be preferred from an environmental point of view, but are more vulnerable to degradation by aqueous floor cleaners. The compositions according to the invention, however, may also be used safely on floors treated with a water-based lacer.

The process according to the invention involves applying a composition according to the invention to the polymer coated wooden floor, either as such (neat) or diluted, as an aqueous solution thereof. Such aqueous solution should contain at least 1 part of the composition per 200 parts of solution, preferably at least 1 part per 100 parts of solution, more preferably at least 1 part per 50 parts of solution. The composition or the solution can be applied with suitable implements known in the art, such as cloths, mobs or similar implements. Floor cleaning mobs comprising a single use replaceable woven or non-woven cloth or paper tissue are popular and particularly suitable for the purpose.

The process is particularly suitable for floors with a polyurethane coating, more particularly water-based polyurethane coating.

Example A cleaning composition according to the invention was prepared having the composition of Table 1 below: TABLE 1 Ingredients Formulation Alkyl polyglucoside 1. 50 Isopropyl alcohol 2. 0 Butyl cellosolve 2) 2. 0 Citric acid 0. 0020 1, 2-benzisotiazolin-3-one 0.016 Perfume 0. 7 Yellow colorant 0. 0002 Redcolorant 0. 0002 Blue colorant 0. 00001 Demineralized water q. s. to 100

1) mixture of decyl and octyl glucoside and C10-C16 alkyl glucopyranoside.

2) Trademark of Dow Chemical for n-butyl ethylene glycol ether.

The composition was prepared according to the following procedure: (i) add water to the mixer at room temperature, by using a pump, and then start the agitation ; (ii) add alkyl-polyglucoside, isopropanol, butyl cellosolve and 1, 2-benzisotiazolin-3-one, in the predefined proportions for the solution ;

(iii) next, prepare a colorant premix by using some water, and then slowly add it to the main mixer containing the alkyl polyglucoside, isopropanol, butyl cellosolve and 1,2- benzisotiazolin-3-one mixture ; (iv) then add the perfume and increase the agitating rate; and finally, (v) adjust the solution to pH to 7.0-7.2 using citric acid.

The efficacy of this cleaning solution was tested in surface damage tests on polyurethane coated wooden floor test pieces in comparison with several products found on the market in Argentina, as indicated in Table 2 below: TABLE 2 Cleaners Solvent base Aqueous base Example of invention above Negative Negative CIFUltra Positive Positive CIFFloors Positive Positive Piexo Pine oil (Clorox) Positive Positive Poett (Clorox) Negative Positive Pinoluz (Clorox) Negative Positive Procenex (Reckitt & Positive Positive Coleman) Odex Libera (Colgate-Positive Positive Palmolive) Echo (S. C. Johnson & Son) Negative Positive Ceramicol Wax (Ceramicol) Positive Positive Polipolish (RHEN Italiana) Negative Positive "Negative"indicates no damage to the floor coating ; "positive"indicates noticeable damage to the coating.

From the table above it can be seen that the composition according to the invention was the only product, which did not give any damage to floors coated with a solvent, based lacer as well as to floors coated with a water-based lacer.