Patent ID: 8703108

Claim:
A cleansing composition, comprising: a mixture of alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts thereof, each having a structure according to formula (1): R 1 —O—(CH 2 CH 2 O) n —CH 2 —COOM (1) where: R 1 is an alkyl group having 4 to 22 carbon atoms; n is a number of from 0 to 20; and M is a hydrogen atom, alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, NH 4 ± , or organic ammonium; wherein: the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts having at least two different alkyl groups R 1 ; an average carbon number of alkyl groups R 1 of alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in the mixture is from 10.8 to 12.5; the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=0 in an amount of from 8 to 27% by weight based on a total weight of the mixture; the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=1 and alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n=2 in a total amount of from 28 to 38% by weight based on the total weight of the mixture; and the mixture includes alkyl ether carboxylic acids and/or salts in which n≧6 in an amount of at least 10% by weight based on the total weight of the mixture.