Patent ID: 7074919

Claim:
A process for improving the properties of compositions for treating or caring for articles made of textile fibers in aqueous or wet medium, said properties being preventing degradation of the articles, protecting colors of the articles, imparting crease-resistance, or softening, said process comprising the steps of adding to said compositions an effective amount of at least one amphoteric polysaccharide, as an agent for preventing the degradation of said articles, for protecting the colors of said articles, for affording said articles crease-resistance or softening, said amphoteric polysaccharide being a carboxymethyl hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride galactomannan, or a carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl hvdroxvpropvltrimethylammonium chloride galactomannan said amphoteric polysaccharide having a native skeleton which is a polysaccharide formed from: a main chain comprising similar or different anhydrohexose units, and branches comprising at least one neutral or anionic anhydropentose or anhydrohexose unit, the anhydrohexose or anhydropentose units of said amphoteric polysaccharide being substituted or modified with one or more groups bearing at least one anionic charge and one or more groups bearing at least one cationic charge, wherein the anionic and the cationic charges are provided by groups of formula: 2-methyl(3 -sulfopropyl)imidazolium group, (2-sulfobenzyl)imidazolium group, (3 -sulfopropyl)pyridinium group, â€”(CH 2 ) 2 â€”N + (CH 3 ) 2 â€”(CH2) 2 â€”COO âˆ’ ethyl-dimethylammonium betaine group, or â€”(CH 2 ) 2 â€”N 30 (CH 3 ) 2 â€”(CH 2 ) 3 â€”SO 3 31 sulfo-propyl dimethylammonium group and said amphoteric polysaccharide having a degree of substitution or of modification DSi with all said groups bearing ionic charges ranging from 0.01 to less than 3, and with a ratio of the number of anionic charges to the number of cationic charges ranging from 99.5/0.5 to 30/70.