DEAS 1143 : 2023 
ICS 71.100.40  
© EA C 2023                                                                                                                       First Edition 2023 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Household fabric softeners — Specification   
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 DEAS 1143 : 2023 
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the  EAC standard s developm ent process is permitted without prior permission from EAC, 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permissio n to repro duce  this document for the purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community  2023 — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096  
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8  
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2504255  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be p ersecuted  DEAS 1143 : 2023 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Developm ent of the Ea st African  Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are enco untered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is c omposed of re presentati ves of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards 
are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards  Bodies in th e Partner States. The comments 
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the procedures 
of the Community.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances . Users of th e East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
DEAS 1143 :2023 was prepared by the Technical Committee Technical Committee EASC/TC 074, Surface 
active agen ts 
Attention is dr awn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 1143 : 2023 
iv © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Introduction  
 
Household fabric softeners are s table aqueous dispersions of cationic materials used for providing fabric 
softening and static control benefits during laundering. Rinse -added fabric softening composit ions contain, as 
the active  component, di -hardened tallow dimethylammonium chloride and imidazolinium compounds 
substituted with two tallow groups. These materials are normally prepared in the form of a dispersion in water.  
 
The dispersion of the base mate rial contains other additiv es such as preservatives, colourant (dyes) and 
fragrances. Ot her fabric rin ses contain additives to prevent or control foaming and electrolyte salts such as 
calcium chloride and thickener materials to control the viscosity. Other  ingredients are added to m odify the 
rheology and/or flow of the dispersion.  
 DRAF T EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1143 :2023 
 
© EAC 2023 – All rig hts reserved  1 
 Household  fabric soften ers — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft  East Afr ican Standard prescribes the requirements, sampling and test methods for household fabric 
softeners . 
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are in dispensab le for the a pplication of this doc ument. For dated 
references, only  the edition ci ted applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 862, Surface active agents — Vocabulary  
ISO 2871 -1, Surface  active agents — Detergent s — Determination of cationic active matter content — Part 
1: High -molecular -mass cationic active matter  
ISO 2871 -2, Surface active agents — Detergents — Determination of cationic active matter content — Part 
2: Cationic a ctive matter  of low molecular mass  (between 200 and 500)  
ISO 4316, Surface active agents — Determination of pH of aqueous solution — Potentiometric method  
EAS 217 -1-1, Methods for the microbiological examination of foods — Part 1 -1: General proce dures and  
techniques  
EAS 794, Determination of the microbial inhibition of cosmetic soap bars and liquid hand and body wa shes  
— Test method  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the p urposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 862  and the following apply.  
ISO and IE C maintain terminologi cal databases for use in stan dardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsin g platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
 
3.1 
fabric  softener  
laundry auxiliary product or laundry detergent ingredient t hat gives fabrics a soft feel, freshening, smooth 
surface and  reduces static electr icity 
 
3.2 
laundering  
cleaning and r estoring of textile materials to a servic eable condition using the washing and drying equipment 
commonly found in households  DEAS 1143 :2023 
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 4 Requiremen ts 
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  The household fabric softener  shall have  uniform  dispersion with no l umps or phase separation , and  
shall not contain ingredients in quantities tha t are toxic to human beings.  
 
4.1.2 The household fa bric softener  shall be uniform in colour with no un -dissolved or precipitated dyes that 
may stain the treated  fabrics.  
 
 
4.1.4 The household fabric softener , both as received and when dissolved in water, shall possess a pleasant, 
fresh odour and shall not develop an objectionab le odour during storage at ambi ent temperature.  
 
4.1.5 The household fabric softener  shall remain stable for the  declared shel f life without breaking the 
dispersion (phase separati on), changes in colour and deterioration of the odour.  
 
4.1.6 The household fabric softener  shall disperse effectively or easil y in standard hard water  (total 
hardness 150 ppm ± 20 ppm) at 30  °C. 
 
4.1.7 The household fabric s oftener  shall influence the properties of the fabric  to improved wet-ability,  softness  
and reduced static ch arge.  
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1  The house hold fabric softener shall comply with the specific requirements given in T able 1 when 
tested in  accordance with the test method s specified therein . 
Table  1 — Specific requireme nts for household  fabric softene r 
 
Sl no. Property  Requirement  Test method  
i) Cationic  surfactant  content , % w/w, min 2.5 ISO 2871  
ii) pH, neat 2.0 – 7.0 ISO 4316  
iii) Total viabl e counts , c.f.u/g , max. 2 x 102 EAS 217 -1-1 
iv) Antibacterial activity* To pass the test EAS 794  
v) E. coli            Not detected  ISO 21150  
vi) P. aeruginosa          Not detected  ISO 22717  
*Applicable to fabric softeners to which antibacterial claims are made.  
 
5 Packaging   
The household  fabric softener  shall be packaged i n suitable containers that withstand normal usage and  
transportation and  that prevent leaking, drying out and contamination of the product.   DEAS 114 3:2022  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 6 Labelling   
Each container and bulk package shall be securely closed , legibly and indelibly  labelled in English and /or any 
other official languag e (French, Kiswahili, etc) used in the importing East African Partner State  with the 
following information:  
a) name of the product as "Fabric softener ”  
b) manufacturer’s name and physi cal address;  
c) batch or code number;  
d) list of i ngredients  
e) net conte nt; 
f) country  of origin;  
g) instructi ons for storage, use and disposal ; 
h) date of manufacture ”; and  
i) best before date . 
j) safety precaution s/warning s 
 
NOTE The name, physical address of the distributor/supplier and trade mark may be added.  
7 Sampling  
Sampling shall  be done in  accordance with Annex A. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 1143 :2023 
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
  
Annex A 
(norma tive) 
 
Sampling  
A.1 Requirements  
A.1.1 In drawing , preparing, st oring and hand ling sampl es, the precautions in A.1.2 – A.1.7 shall be observed.  
A.1.2 Samples shall not be taken from place s exposed to d amp air, dust o r soot.  
A.1.3 The sampling instruments shall be clean and dry when used.  
A.1.4 The sample s, the mat erial being sampled , the  sampling instruments and the containers for samples 
shall be pr otect ed from adventiti ous contamination.  
A.1.5 The sam ples shall be p laced in clean an d dry glass containers. The sample containers shall be of such 
a size th at they a re almost completely  filled by the sample.  
A.1.6 Each container shall be sealed airtight after filling, and mar ked with full details of samplin g which 
include , date of samplin g, batch or lot number, name of manufacturer, and other important partic ulars of  the 
consignment.  
A.1.7 The samples shall be stored in such a manner that the temperature of the material does n ot vary unduly 
from the normal t emperature, and  that they are pr otected from light.  
A.2 Scale of sampling  
A.2.1 In a single consignment,  all the packages containing products of the same type and form, and drawn 
from the same batch of manuf acture, shall con stitute a lot. If the consignmen t consists of p ackages containin g 
products of different types and forms, then the packages containing pr oduct s of the same type, form  and 
batch of manufacture shall be grouped together, and such group s hall constitute a sepa rate lot.  
A.2.2 For ascertaining  the conformity  of the lot to th e requirements prescribed in this standard, tests shall be 
carried out o n each lot separately. The n umber (n) of packages to be selected for drawing the samples shall 
depend u pon the size (N) of the lot and shall be in accor dance with Tabl e A.1. 
Table A.1 — Scale of sampling  
No. of packages in the lot  
(N) No. of packages to be  selected  
(n) 
4 – 15 3 
16 – 40 4 
41 – 65 5 
66 – 110 7 
111 and above  10 
NOTE  When the size of  the lot is three  pack ages or less, the number of cont ainers to be se lected and 
the cr iteria for judging the conformity of the lot to the specifications shoul d be as agreed on between the 
purchaser /inspector  and the supplier.  
 DEAS 114 3:2022  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 A.2.3 The packages shall be selec ted at random and  to ensure randomness of selecti on, a random num ber 
table shall be used. In case such tables are not available, the procedure given below  may be adopted.  
Starting  from any package, count all the packages in one order as 1, 2, 3,…, up to r and so on, where r is the 
integral part of N/n, (N being the lot size and n the n umber of packages to be selected). Every rth package thus 
counted shall b e withdrawn to give a sam ple for the purposes of test.  
A.3 Preparation of gross samples, test sam ple a nd reference samp le 
A.3.1 Gross sample  
From each one of the packa ges selected as in A.2, draw at random one or more containers. The material in 
the cont ainers so chosen shall b e nearl y thrice the quantity required for purpose of test as indicated in A.4. 
A.3.2 Test sample  
A.3.2.1  From the gross represent ing each form of  synthetic deter gent take a small but equal quantity of 
material and mix thoroughly into a composite sample which shou ld be of a size sufficient to carry out triplicate 
testing for all t he ch aracteristics spe cified under A.4. The composite samples represen ting each form a nd type 
of the product  shall be divided into three equal parts, one  for the purchaser /inspe ctor, anoth er for the supplier, 
and the third for the referee.  
A.3.2.2  The rema ining  portion of the m aterial in each of the gross sam ples shall be di vided into three  equal 
pans, each forming an individual sample. One set of individ ual sam ples, representin g the n selected packages 
shall be for the purchaser /inspector , another for the suppl ier, and the thir d for refere nce. 
A.3.2.3  All the composite and i ndividual sample s shall be transferred to separate containers. These containers 
shall the n be sealed airt ight with sto ppers, and labelled with full particulars of identification given in  A.1.6. 
A.3.3 Refere nce samples  
A.3.3.1  The refere nce samples shall co nsist of a compo site sample and a set of individual samples. All the 
containers  shall bea r the seals of  both the purch aser/inspector  and the supplier, and shall be kept at a place 
agreed  to between the two pa rties.  
A.3.3.2  Refere nce samples  shall be used i n case of any di spute between the purchaser /inspector  and the 
supplier.  CD/TC 074/001 : 2023 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  
  
 Bibliography  
[1] TZ 1818 : 201 6 Household fabric softener  – Specification  
[2] KS 1797:2014 Household fabric soft eners  – Specification   
[3] RS 403: 201 9 Household fabr ic softener – Specification