CA2152465A1 - A neutral self-shine emulsion for the care of floors (ii) - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns an emulsion which, in the undiluted state, has a pH between 5 and 9 and which contains, in addition to an at least partly water-insoluble polymer with a minimum film-formation temperature between 0 and 70 °C, a monoalkyl diethylene glycol ether with 1 to 4 C-atoms in the alkyl group. The emulsion is used above all in the undiluted state.

Description

A neutral self-shine emulsion for the care of floor~ (II) This invention relates to a floor-care formulation in the form of a dispersion which dries leaving a shine on the floor. Formulations such as these are also known as self-shine emulsions.
Nowadays, new previously untreated floors and floors which have been subjected to thorough cleaning are mainly treated with self-shine emulsions to protect them against soiling and damage. These emulsions, which contain wax and/or film-forming polymers in varying amounts, form continuous, glossy and soil-repellent films on the floors after drying. Films with a high percentage wax content can easily be polished and, when necessary, are also easy to remove from the surfaces whereas films consisting pre-dominantly or completely of film-forming polymers are particularly resistant to mechanical stressing. A prob-lem affecting all self-shine emulsions, which has not yet been completely solved, is that the emulsions or disper-sions have to dry extremely uniformly on the surfaces if a completely continuous protective film is to be formed.
It is very often found that the initially continuous film of the aqueous dispersion breaks up on drying and, in some cases, even contracts to form individual droplets so that the floor-care film formed is patchy in appearance.
This effect is particularly noticeable in the case of the dispersions with a substantially neutral pH value which are preferred today. One of the problems addressed by the present invention was to provide an improvement in this regard. Another problem addressed by the invention was to improve the stability of the dispersions, above all during storage at low temperatures.
The present invention relates to an aqueous self-shine emulsion for the care of floors which, in undiluted 2152~6~
~O 94/14908 2 PCT/EP93/03486 form, has a pH value of 5 to 9 and which contains an at least partly water-insoluble polymer compound with a minimum film forming temperature of 0 to 70C or a mixture of several polymer compounds with this property and a monoalkyl diethylene glycol ether containing l to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety or a mixture of such ethers. Polymer dispersions with a pH value in undiluted form of 6 to 9 are particularly preferred.
The new self-shine emulsions are distinguished by high stability in storage, particularly at low tempera-tures. A particularly noteworthy feature is their extremely uniform drying behavior characterized by the virtual absence of cracks in the film, so that uniform floor-care films of satisfactory appearance are obtained.
Another surprising feature of the formulations according to the invention is that they are resistant to microbial contamination so that there is no need for typical preservatives to be added.
The polymer compounds present in the self-shine emulsions are those which are at least partly insoluble in water at a neutral pH value and which have a minimum film forming temperature in the range from about 0 to about 70C. The polymer compounds in question are preferably polymers prepared from ethylenically unsatura-ted monomers. Examples of such monomers are styrene,acrylates or methacrylates of aliphatic alcohols contain-ing l to 8 carbon atoms, acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, acrylic acid and methacrylic acid. Particularly prefer-red polymers are poly(meth)acrylates of two or more of these monomers which may even contain other monomers in small quantities. Most particularly preferred polymers contain l to 30 parts by weight of monomers containing carboxylic acid groups, 30 to 70 parts by weight of monomers which form homopolymers with glass temperatures below 20C, preferably esters of acrylic acid with Cl8 Wo 94/14908 3 PCT/EP93/03486 alcohols and/or methacrylic acid with C4-8 alcohols, and 30 to 70 parts by weight of monomers which form homopoly-mers having glass temperatures above room temperature, preferably methacrylates of C13 alcohols or styrene.
Where several different polymer compounds of the type mentioned above are used in the form of a mixture in the polymer dispersion, the film forming temperature deter-mined for the mixture should be in the range from 0 to 70C. The film forming temperatures mentioned apply to the plasticizer-free system, i.e. to the polymers with no further additives. Examples of such film-forming poly-mers are the following commercial products available as dispersions: Licomer A 41 (Hoechst), Neocryl A 349 (ICI) and Primal B 527 (Rohm and Haas).
Where necessary, heavy metal ions, for example zinc ions, which lead to particularly resistant films after drying, may be added to polymers containing carboxylate groups. Examples of commercially available polymer dispersions containing metal salts are Ubatol TS 85 (Stapol), Neocryl SR 267 (ICI), Primal B 1604 (Rohm and Haas).
Film-forming polymers of another type, which may be used together with poly(meth)acrylates, are polyurethanes which are also commercially available for this purpose.
Examples of suitable polyurethane dispersions are Alber-dingk U 210 W (Alberdingk Boley) and Neorez 986 (Poly-vinyl).
The polymers are present in the formulations accord-ing to the invention in quantities of preferably 10 to 50% by weight and, more preferably, 11 to 20% by weight.
These figures apply to the pure polymers. If the disper-sions according to the invention are produced from dispersed polymers of the type often available on the market, the dispersions in question have to be used in correspondingly larger quantities in the production of -the formulations according to the invention. Polyure-thanes may be present in the formulations in quantities of up to 15% by weight and preferably in quantities of 2 to 8% by weight.
In addition to the film-forming polymers mentioned above, which make up the predominant part of the solids in the formulation according to the invention, the formulations may contain waxes in dispersed form. The wax component is intended to make the floor-care films formed polishable to a certain extent. Suitable waxes are both natural waxes and synthetic waxes which may be of natural origin or even fully synthetic. Examples are polyethylene waxes, oxidized polyethylene waxes, montan ester waxes, paraffin waxes, candellila wax and carnauba wax. Of these waxes, polyethylene waxes are preferred for the formulations according to the invention. The wax content may be up to 20% by weight of the formulation, at least 1% by weight of wax preferably being used. The wax content is preferably between 1 and 10~ by weight, particularly where polyethylene waxes are used.
The second characteristic component of the self-shine emulsion according to the invention are monoalkyl diethylene glycol ethers containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety which may be used individually or in admixture with one another. Methyl diglycol, ethyl diglycol and n-butyl diglycol are preferably used. In conjunction with the film-forming polymers in the aqueous neutral emulsion, the ethers appear to be responsible for the unexpected properties of the new formulations men-tioned above. Small quantities of the ethers are gener-ally sufficient. Their percentage content in the formu-lations according to the invention is from 0.05 to 11% by weight and preferably from 3 to 8% by weight.
In addition to the ingredients mentioned above, the self-shine emulsions according to the invention may con-tain other active substances and auxiliaries in relative-ly small quantities, including for example plasticizers, emulsifiers, wetting agents and flow control agents, wetting resins, preservatives and perfume oils.
Plasticizers are intended to modify the consistency of the film, a distinction being drawn between temporary plasticizers and permanent plasticizers. Temporary plasticizers are volatile hydrophilic solvents which promote the coalescence of the polymer particles during film formation. Examples are ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and glycol ethers. Their percentage content in the formulations according to the invention is generally not more than 15% by weight and is preferably between 0.5 and 10~ by weight. Permanent plasticizers are liquids which are not volatile under normal conditions so that the character of the floor-care film can be lastingly influenced with their assistance. Examples of such plasticizers are dibutyl phthalate, tributyl phosphate, tributoxyethyl phosphate and N-methyl caprolactam.
Permanent plasticizers also are generally present in the suspensions according to the invention in quantities of not more than 15% by weight and preferably in a quantity of 0.5 to 10% by weight.
Wetting agents and flow control agents are intended to improve the wetting of the treated surface during application of the self-shine emulsion. In addition, they make the emulsion easier to dilute with water, for example for application to wet floors. Suitable wetting and flow control agents are any of the usual surfactants, more particularly nonionic and anionic surfactants, for example ethoxylates of long-chain alcohols or alkyl benzene sulfonates and fatty alcohol sulfates. Fluorine surfactants are also used in many cases and produce a particularly marked reduction in surface tension. The content of wetting and flow control agents is generally ~ 2152465 not more than 5% by weight, based on the total weight of the self-shine emulsion, and is preferably between o.l and 2% by weight. Surface wetting during application can also be improved with wetting resins. Wetting resins are preferably styrene/maleate resins or clear polyacrylates.
Their content in the formulations is generally not more than 5% by weight and is preferably from 0.1 to 2% by weight.
The formulations may be prepared by standard mixing processes. They are generally prepared from a commer-cially available, preformed polymer dispersion. Alterna-tively, a dispersion of the polymer in water may be prepared by methods known per se. If the self-shine emulsion is also to contain wax, the wax may first be separately processed to form an emulsion in water, optionally with addition of suitable wax emulsifiers, and subsequently added in that form to the polymer disper-sion. The remaining ingredients may then be introduced with stirring into the resulting mixture. If necessary, the pH of the formulation is adjusted to the required value in the neutral range (pH 5 to pH 9) by addition of alkalis or acids.
The self-shine emulsions according to the invention are generally applied in undiluted form. The emulsions are applied to the surface and uniformly distributed thereon in the required quantity using a soft object, for example a sponge or a cloth. After evaporation of the water, an extremely uniform, glossy film is left on the surface in this floor-care process.
Example~
The formulations described in the following were prepared from preformed polymer dispersions by mixing of the components listed in Tables 1 and 2. Unless other-wise indicated, the figures in the Tables are percentages 215Z~65 by weight, based on the pure active substances. Self-shine emulsions 1 to 4 thus prepared were then tested for their stability during storage at low temperatures and for their flow control properties.
To evaluate stability at low temperatures, the samples were stored for 12 weeks at 0 to 3C. Over this period, the samples were removed weekly from the freezer and visually evaluated on reaching room temperature.
Visible signs of instability were flocculation, sediment, deposits and changes in viscosity. Evaluation was based on the following scale:

0 uniform, homogeneous sample 1 slight deposits or sediment after 12 weeks 2 slight deposits or sediment after 3 weeks 3 medium deposits or sediment after 3 weeks 4 heavy deposits or sediment after 3 weeks very heavy deposits or sediment after 3 weeks The flow control properties were determined by application to black untreated PVC sheets under condi-tions which meet practical requirements. To this end, 10 ml of the suspension to be tested were uniformly applied by hand applicator to a 30 x 60 cm PVC tile in each test.
The applicator consisted of an upholstery velvet stretch-ed over a frame with an effective surface area of 20 x 5.5 cm. After drying, the appearance of the surface was visually evaluated on the following scale:

0 streak-free 1 faintly visible uniform streaks 2 distinctly visible streaks 3 distinct, uneven streaks 4 heavy uneven residues.

~ 2152465 -Table 1 Example 1 2 Na benzoate 0.05 Chloroacetamide 0.1 Tributoxyethyl phosphate 2.2 2.2 Phthalic acid dibutyl ester 1.2 1.2 Polyacrylate MFT 72C * 7.5 7.5 Polyurethane (Neorez 986) 5.0 5.0 Polyethylene dispersion 1.0 1.0 Acrylonitrile/styrene 8.5 8.5 copolymer MFT 55C *
Zonyl FSJ (fluorine surfactant) 0.02 0.02 Ethylene glycol 1.0 1.0 Perfume 0.2 0.2 Diethylene glycol - 10.0 mono-n-butyl ether Water ad 100 ad 100 p~ value 8.7 8.7 Stability in storage at 0-3C 3 0 Flow control properties 4 *MFT = minimum film forming temperature Table 2 Example 3 4 Na benzoate 0.05 Chloroacetamide 0.1 Tributoxyethyl phosphate 1.6 1.6 Phthalic acid dibutyl ester 1.0 1.0 Polyacrylate MFT 53C 14 14 Polyethylene dispersion 3.5 3.5 2152~ 65 Example 3 4 Zonyl FSJ 0.02 0.02 Ethylene glycol 1.0 1.0 Perfume 0.2 0.2 Diethylene glycol - 10.0 mono-n-butyl ether Water ad 100 ad 100 pH value 8.7 8.7 Stability in storage at 0-3C 3 0 Flow control properties 4 The test results clearly reflect the extremely advantageous properties of self-shine emulsions 2 and 4 according to the invention in relation to comparison formulations 1 and 3.

Claims (9)

1. An aqueous self-shine emulsion for the care of floors which has a pH value of 5 to 9 in indiluted form, containing an at least partly water-insoluble polymer compound with a minimum film forming temperature of 0 to 70°C or a mixture of several polymer compounds with this property and a monoalkyl diethylene glycol ether con-taining 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety or a mixture of such ethers.

2. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in claim 1 which has a pH value in undiluted form of 6 to 9.

3. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in claim 1 or 2 containing a monoalkyl diethylene glycol ether from the group consisting of methyl diethylene glycol ether, ethyl diethylene glycol ether, n-butyl diethylene glycol ether and mixtures thereof.

4. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the content of film forming polymers is between 10 and 50% by weight and preferably between 11 and 20% by weight.

5. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 additionally containing 1 to 20% by weight of wax from the group of polyethylene waxes, oxidized polyethy-lene waxes, montan ester waxes, paraffin waxes, natural waxes and mixtures thereof.

6. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in claim 5 contain-ing 1 to 10% by weight of polyethylene wax.

7. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 which mainly contains poly(meth)acrylate as the film forming polymer.

8. A self-shine emulsion as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 containing 0.05 to 11% by weight and preferably 3 to 8% by weight of a monoalkyl diethylene glycol ether containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety or a mixture of such ethers.

9. The use of the self-shine emulsion claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 in undiluted form for the care of floors.