Abstract:
Surfactant mixture comprising 
     33-95 parts by weight of at least one alkoxylated C 9  -C 18  fatty alcohol (component I) having 5 to 30 oxyalkylene groups and 
     5-67 parts by weight of at least one alkoxylated C 9  -C 18  fatty acid (component II) having 5 to 30 oxyalkylene groups or 
     5-67 parts by weight of at least one alkoxylated C 1  -C 6  alcohol (component III) having 5 to 30 oxyalkylene groups or 
     5-67 parts by weight of a mixture of at least one alkoxylated fatty acid (component II) and at least one alkoxylated alcohol (component III).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the invention 
     The use of surfactants, usually anionic or nonionic in kind, in the textile pretreatment of specifically cellulosic fibers is well known. 
     2. Description of the prior art 
     The textile pretreatment of man-made fibers removes the manufacturer&#39;s spin finishes, further-processing finishes and coning oils from the fibers. From wovens specifically of cellulosic fibers the pretreatment removes sizes, inter alia. In the case of knits, including cellulosics, the primary concern is the removal of further-processing finishes and coning oils. 
     All these processes involve a thorough wash in an aqueous medium with surfactants. 
     In a modern finishing operation, the textile pretreatment auxiliaries are metered into the textile pretreatment stage in liquid form by directly pumping the products from the drums in which they were supplied by the textile auxiliaries manufacturer into the washers. 
     For a surfactant to be used in today&#39;s pretreatment it has to be liquid and pumpable. 
     The other properties desired of a textile pretreatment surfactant besides detergency are wettability, emulsifiability, foam control and good released-soil dispersion. 
     With many surfactants good pumpability is frequently achieved by deep dilution with water to an active content of about 20-30%, since nonionic aqueous surfactant mixtures frequently pass through a marked gel phase at an active content of about 40-80%. This gel phase is marked by a high viscosity of at least 200 mPas (measured at 20° C. in a 30% strength by weight aqueous solution), which prevents the metered addition of such surfactant mixtures by pumping. 
     It should be expressly pointed out that with nonionic surfactants good detergency is ascribed to the appearance of pronounced gel phases on dilution with water. For instance, ethoxylated fatty acids have surfactant properties and are usually dilutable with water without gel phases, but are poor detergents; the same is true of alkyl alkoxylates based on short-chain alcohols. Alkoxylated fatty alcohols based on saturated or unsaturated alcohols are frequently pasty, inhomogeneous, pass through pronounced gel phases on dilution with water and hence are difficult to use on their own in textile pretreatment. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a nonionic surfactant mixture which is liquid and readily pumpable, which does not have a pronounced gel phase on dilution with water and which nonetheless possesses the high detergency of a surfactant that does pass through a gel phase. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Surprisingly, it has been found that surfactants that are viscous on their own and pass through pronounced gel phases with water become pumpable, and water-dilutable without pronounced gel phases, on addition of small amounts of additives that on their own do not have a strong surfactant action. 
     The present invention accordingly provides a surfactant mixture comprising 33-95 parts by weight, preferably 60 to 80 parts by weight, of at least one alkoxylated fatty alcohol (component I) of the formula I ##STR1## where R 1  is C 9  -C 18  -alkyl or C 9  -C 18  -alkenyl, 
     R 2  is hydrogen or methyl, and 
     n is from 5 to 30, and 
     5-67 parts by weight, preferably 20-40 parts by weight, of at least one alkoxylated fatty acid (component II) of the formula II ##STR2## where R 1  is C 9  -C 18  -alkyl or C 9  -C 18  -alkenyl, 
     R 2  is hydrogen or methyl, and 
     n is from 5 to 30, or 
     5-67 parts by weight, preferably 20-40 parts by weight, of at least one alkoxylated alcohol (component III) of the formula III ##STR3## where R 3  is C 1  -C 6  -alkyl, 
     R 2  is hydrogen or methyl, and 
     n is from 5 to 30, or 
     5-67 parts by weight, preferably 20-40 parts by weight, of a mixture of at least one alkoxylated fatty acid (component II) and at least one alkoxylated alcohol (component III). 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Component I is an alkoxylated fatty alcohol of the formula I, preferably an alkoxylated fatty alcohol with a pronounced gel phase, of the formula I, where 
     R 1  is C 10  -C 15  -alkyl or C 10  -C 15  -alkenyl and 
     n is from 5 to 8. 
     Particularly suitable alkoxylated fatty alcohols are prepared from alcohols of the type coco fatty alcohol, oleyl alcohol, C 14/15  oxo alcohol, isotridecyl alcohol and C 9/11  oxo alcohol. 
     Component II is an alkoxylated fatty acid of the formula II, preferably an ethoxylated fatty acid that is dilutable with water without gel phase. 
     Component III is an alkoxylated lower alcohol, preferably with a molecular weight above 500. 
     The aforementioned alkoxylated compounds can be used both in the form of block copolymers or in the form of random copolymers. 
     In the case of the use of a mixture, the ratio of alkoxylated fatty acid (component II) to alkoxylated alcohol (component III) is customarily 1-9:9-1. Preferably, the surfactant mixture of this invention comprises 33.3 parts by weight of component I and 66.6 parts by weight of component II or component III or 80 parts by weight of component I and 20 parts by weight of component II or component III. 
     As part of the textile pretreatment, the claimed surfactant mixtures of this invention, which are based on nonionic components, may include other auxiliaries important for the pretreatment, for example, anionic complexing agents for the peroxide bleach, P-free dispersants of anionic provenance, e.g. gluconates, heptagluconates, acrylates, etc., foam inhibitors based on silicone or of the trialkyl phosphate type. Such auxiliaries are customarily included in an amount of up to 30% by weight, preferably 1-25% by weight, based on the surfactant mixture. 
     To intensify the washing process, the claimed nonionic systems may include washing surfactants of the anionic kind, for example alkane- or olefin-sulfonates, preferably linear alkanesulfonates, ethercarboxylates, sarcosides, petroleum sulfonates, alkylbenzenesulfonates, etc. 
     The surfactant mixtures of this invention provide the textile industry with surfactant mixtures for use as textile auxiliaries for man-made fibers and natural fibers, especially for the textile pretreatment of man-made fibers. 
     The hitherto adopted way of rendering nonionic surfactants pumpable, viz. prediluting with water, skipping the gel phases and supplying the textile industry with dilute surfactant systems, has become redundant as a result. 
     The surfactant mixtures of this invention make it possible to use alkoxylated fatty alcohols which are otherwise difficult to accommodate in textile pretreatment. 
     Advantageously, the surfactant mixtures of this invention have high detergency in the textile pretreatment even without gel phases. That is, the above statement that individual surfactants which are dilutable with water without gel phases, such as coco fatty acid ethoxylated with 10 mol of ethylene oxide, have only a moderate detergency in the textile sector, does not apply to the surfactant mixtures of this invention. 
     In addition to good detergency, the surfactant mixtures exhibit excellent foam formation, which is stable over a wide pH range. 
     EXAMPLES 
     A1) The surfactant used was a C 14/15  oxo alcohol with about 8 mol of ethylene oxide (component I). 
     Product data: 
     
         ______________________________________Appearance at 20° C.              white soft pastePour point         about 20° C.Drop point         about 30° C.HLB                about 12Cloud point (DIN 53917)              78 ± 2° C.; not pumpable5 g in 25 cm.sup.3 of 25%strength aqueous BDG______________________________________ 
    
     This surfactant was blended with the following surfactants: 
     
         ______________________________________A:     Coco fatty acid · 10 EO                       (component II)B:     Oleic acid · 5 EO                       (component II)C:     Butanol · 10 EO · 10 PyO (random)                       (component III)D:     C.sub.12/15 oxo alcohol · 7.5 EO · 4                       (component I)E:     C.sub.10/12 Ziegler alcohol                       (component I)  linear · 4 EO · 4 PyO______________________________________ 
    
     The following mixtures were prepared and tested for their pourability at room temperature: 
     
         ______________________________________Surfact-ant       Ratio   Appearance  Viscosities______________________________________A1        pure    paste       1:1 or 1:2 with H.sub.2 OA         1:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowB         1:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowC         1:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowD         1:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowE         1:2                 low, lowA         1:2     clear, liquid                         low, lowC         1:2     clear, liquid                         low, lowD         1:2     clear, liquid                         low, lowE         1:2     clear, liquid                         low, lowA         2:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowB         2:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowC         2:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowD         2:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowE         2:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowA         3:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowB         3:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowC         3:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowD         3:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowE         3:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowA         4:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowC         4:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowD         4:1     clear, liquid                         low, lowE         4:1     clear, liquid                         low, low______________________________________ 
    
     The foam heights and the persistance of the foam after 30, 60 and 120 sec in aqueous solutions were determined for a number of stable, pumpable mixtures having low gel phases (viscosity less than 100 mPas, measured at 20° C., in a 50% strength by weight or 33.3% strength by weight solution) on dilution with water. At the same time the deter-gency was determined in % whitening (reflectance) of cotton test fabrics. 
     
         ______________________________________                  DetergencyFoam height (cm)       (% reflectance)30 sec       60 sec  120 sec   40° C.                                80° C.______________________________________A1acid   21        19      17.5    50.5  51neutral  26        23      20      48.2  58alkaline  26        23      21      48.2  58A1/A 1:2acid   26        23      20      49    53neutral  22        20      18      47    57alkaline  22        21      19      48    47A1/C 1:2acid   30        25      23      48    47neutral  22        20      17      47    49alkaline  26        22      18      48    50A1/D 1:2acid   25        21      17      46    47neutral  20        17      14      47    49alkaline  23        17      15      48    49A1/E 1:2acid   27        22      19      49    47neutral  22        17      14      51    48alkaline  18        14      13      50    49A1/C 4:1acid   24        22      20      50    49neutral  30        26      22      51    50alkaline  22        20      18      50    51A1/E 4:1acid   23        21      18      49    49neutral  28        23      21      50    51alkaline  21        19      16      51    49______________________________________ 
    
     The mixtures of this invention are stable, produce no increase in the foam heights and are similar in detergency to the surfactant used alone.