Alkyldimethylamine oxides as synergistic fabric softeners

The interaction of solid alkyldimethylamine oxide and ditallowdimethylammonium chloride (DTMAC) and ditallow dimethylammonium sulfate (DTMAS) quats in representative types of fabric softener systems was studied with particular focus on synergistic behavior. Softening, whiteness retention, wetting, static build-up and detersiveness were evaluated for laundry rinses, laundry detergents and dryer sheets. In laundry rinses, blends of amine oxide and DTMAC proved to be synergistic for improving the wetting of cotton towels. Although no synergism was observed in laundry detergents, formulations containing amine oxide gave better detersiveness than systems with DTMAC without the splotching associated with the quaternary salt. In dryer sheets, it was discovered that blends of amine oxide and DTMAS gave synergistic softening of cotton towels and were unexpectedly effective in preventing static charge build-up on polyester fabric.