PEROXIDE COMPOSITION

Abstract

A shelf stable laundry or hard surface composition comprising hydrogen peroxide is disclosed. The composition can be in the form of a thickened liquid or a gel that can support solid particles and is stable over a normal product shelf life against both precipitation of the particles and degradation of the peroxide and can tolerate a wide range of additional cleaning ingredients.

Claims

1. A shelf stable laundry or hard surface cleaning composition comprising: 0.1-25% by weight of hydrogen peroxide; 0.1-35% by weight of surfactants; 0.1-80% by weight of water; and 0.1-20% by weight of micro-fibrous cellulose.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the composition is a liquid or a gel.

3. The composition of claim 1 further comprising suspended particles.

4. The composition of claim 3, wherein the particles are further actives incompatible with peroxide and/or surfactants.

5. The composition of claim 3, wherein the particles are decorative.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the surfactants comprise nonionic surfactants or anionic surfactants or mixtures thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises between 1 and 30% by weight surfactants.

8. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises between 1 and 20% by weight hydrogen peroxide.

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises between 5 and 70% by weight water.

10. The composition of claim 1, wherein the micro-fibrous cellulose is supplied in liquid form.

11. The composition of claim 1, wherein the micro-fibrous cellulose is Cellulon L27® cellulose.

12. The composition of claim 1, wherein the pH is less than 7.

13. The composition of claim 1, wherein the pH is between 3 and 6.

14. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has a viscosity of at least 20 cps at 25° C.

15. The composition of claim 1 further comprising an additional thickening agent.

16. The composition of claim 15, wherein the additional thickening agent comprises xanthan gum, guar gum, gelatin, alginates, agar, locust bean gum, carrageenan and mixtures thereof.

17. The composition of claim 15, wherein the additional thickening agent comprises between 0.1 and 10% by weight of the composition.

18. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition is a solid self-supporting gel.

19. A method of cleaning soiled items of clothing or other fabrics comprising adding between 10 g and 200 g of the composition of claim 1 to a collection of soiled clothing or fabrics in an automatic washing machine and carrying out a wash cycle.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the composition of claim 1 is added to the soiled clothing or fabrics prior to the commencement of the wash cycle.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the composition of claim 1 is added to the soiled clothing or fabrics during the wash cycle.

22. A method of using the composition of claim 1 to clean soiled fabric items or hard surfaces.

Description

EXAMPLES

[0079] Viscoelasticity

[0080] Rheology is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a liquid state, but also as “soft solids” or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an applied force. Resistance to deformation (expressed as G* module, |G*| [Pa]) and elasticity (expressed as phase angle, δ1 [°]) are used to study the viscoelasticity of the tested formulations.

[0081] Ideal conditions for suspension are high elasticity (i.e. low δ1) and high stiffness (i.e. high resistance to deformation hence high |G*|). However, too high elasticity or stiffness can play a negative role in the situation where a pourable gel is the targeted functionality. Thus, in order to achieve pourable liquid, elasticity and stiffness need to be balanced.

[0082] OSC Stress Sweep Test

[0083] Two compositions (Formulae A and B) according to the invention and comprising the suspending agent (MFC) were tested and compared to two compositions (Formulae C and D) without the suspending agent.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 Ingredients A B C D Water 53.625 54.69 59.07 60.685 Suspending agent 5 4 0 0 Surfactants 18 18 18.85 20.29 HEDP 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 H.sub.2O.sub.2 (50%) 20 20 18 16 Auxiliary 3.175 3.11 3.88 2.825

[0084] A stress ramp from very low stress (at rest, e.g. on the shelf) to high stress (flowing, e.g. pouring) in oscillatory mode was applied to the samples and the Resistance to Deformation |G*| and the Phase Angle (Elasticity) δ was measured (|G*| and δ being the two components of the viscoelasticity). The results are set out in Table 2 and plotted in FIG. 1.

[0085] Instrument Setting

[0086] Measuring Device: RS1 (RheoStress RS1)

[0087] Temperature Device: DC50 (manual settings)

[0088] Measuring Geometry: PP60 Ti LO09 002 (Crosshatched Plate-Plate)−=60 mm−Gap=1.0 mm

[0089] Test temperature=25 ° C. and 60 ° C.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2 Formulae |G*| δ A (Invention) 13.7 56.4 B (Invention) 12.1 55.8 C (Comparative) 2.7 88.7 D (Comparative) 3.6 89.1

[0090] As shown in Table 2 and FIG. 1, Formulae C and D show poor elasticity and poor resistance to deformation, therefore the conditions do not permit particles to remain suspended through a product's shelf-life.

[0091] Formulae A and B show higher elasticity and higher resistance to deformation vs. Formulae C or D, and thus have the ability to suspend speckles.

[0092] Sedimentation

[0093] To confirm the findings of the viscoelasticity experiments, compositions with (Formula E) and without the suspending agent (Formula F) were tested for their suspensive properties.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3 Ingredients E F Water 54.69 58.69 Suspending agent 4 0 Surfactants 18 18 HEDP 0.2 0.2 H.sub.2O.sub.2 (50%) 20 20 Auxiliary 3.11 3.11

[0094] The two compositions were decanted into a 100 mL measuring cylinder with a particle added at t=0. The distance that the speckle travels down the measuring cylinder was then measured at regular time intervals. The results are presented in Table 4 and plotted in FIG. 2.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 4 Time Dropping distance (mm) (minutes) Formula F Formula E 0 0 0 1 2.5 0 3 7.5 0 4 11 0 7 19.5 0 9 24 0 13 30 0 18 37.5 0 22 43 0 26 48 0 30 54 0 36 61 0 40 67 0 47 76 0 50 80.5 0 54 86 0 57 91 0 60 95 0 80 124 0

[0095] No particle sedimentation is observed for the compositions of the present invention, while the comparative composition demonstrates a significant quantity of sedimentation.

[0096] Stability

[0097] The long-term stability of a composition according to the present invention (Formula G) was tested at a variety of temperatures and humidity.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 5 Formula G % Water 66.654 Suspending agent 4 Surfactants 18 HEDP 0.12 H.sub.2O.sub.2 10 Suspended particles 0.035 Auxiliary 1.191

[0098] The colour and appearance of the compositions were visually ranked from 1 to 5 in terms of the difference from the colour and appearance (such as particle dispersion) at the beginning of the trial. The results are set out in Table 6.

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 6 Weeks Viscosity (cP) pH Colour Appearance 5 ± 2° C. Ambient Humidity 0 1593 4 1 1 1 1653 4.1 1 1 3 1668 4.2 1 1 6 1749 4.1 1 1 9 1654 4.1 1 1 12 1796 4.2 1 1 25 ± 2° C. Ambient Humidity 0 1593 4 1 1 1 1719 4.1 1 1 3 1851 4.1 1 1 6 1734 4.1 1 1 9 1644 4.2 1 1 12 1762 4.2 1 1 30 ± 2° C. 65% Humidity 0 1593 4 1 1 1 1701 4.1 1 1 3 1752 4.2 1 1 6 1674 4.2 1 1 9 1602 4.2 1 1 12 1700 4,3, 1 1 18 1602 4.3 1 1 40 ± 2° C. 70% Humidity 0 1593 4 1 1 1 1782 4.1 1 1 3 1770 4.2 1 1 6 1701 4.2 1 1 9 1618 4.2 1 1 12 1689 4.2 1 1 18 2274 4.2 1 1

[0099] The compositions of the present invention can be seen to demonstrate excellent stability in a range of environments.

[0100] The invention is defined by the claims.