Patent ID: 6727214
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: C11D

Abstract:
A process for cleaning at least partially solid unwanted material that includes at least one of intermediate length carboxylic acids and salts thereof from a surface of an underlying solid substrate that is not damaged by contact with water, said process comprising contacting said unwanted material with a homogeneous aqueous liquid cleaning composition that interacts with said unwanted material to cause transfer of the unwanted material from the surface of said solid substrate to dispersion, solution, or both dispersion and solution in said aqueous liquid cleaning composition or to a solid phase physically separated from said solid substrate, wherein the improvement comprises utilizing in said process an aqueous liquid cleaning composition that causes at least the anions of said intermediate length carboxylic acids and salts thereof to segregate themselves into a distinct solid phase that floats on the surface of said aqueous liquid cleaning composition until removed therefrom, so that the used aqueous liquid cleaning composition has a Babcock Test Value that is not more than 0.075.