Stepan Company
Detergents for cold-water cleaning

Abstract:

Detergents useful for cold-water cleaning and mid-chain headgroup and alkylene-bridged surfactants useful therein are disclosed. The mid-chain headgroup surfactant has a C.sub.14-C.sub.30 alkyl chain and a polar group bonded to a central zone carbon of the alkyl chain. The alkylene-bridged surfactant has a C.sub.12-C.sub.18 alkyl chain, a polar group, and a C.sub.1-C.sub.2 alkylene group bonded to the polar group and a central zone carbon of the C.sub.12-C.sub.18 alkyl chain. Preferred surfactants in these classes are alcohol sulfates, alcohol ethoxylates, ether sulfates, sulfonates, arylsulfonates, alcohol phosphates, amine oxides, quaterniums, betaines, and sulfobetaines. Surprisingly, detergents formulated with the surfactants provide outstanding cold-water performance in removing greasy stains such as bacon grease, butter, cooked beef fat, or beef tallow from soiled articles.