A study on the long-term stability and removal of quats on treated fabric

Static hydrolysis of triethanolamine-based esterquats was studied in a system where the esterquat was deposited on fabric swatches and stored under ambient conditions in the laboratory for 3 mon. It was concluded that esterquat-based fabric softeners do not appreciably hydrolyze on the fabrics under ambient conditions. Fabric softeners based on dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium quats were compared to triethanolamine-based esterquats for removal from fabric during the next wash cycle. It was found that saturated quats did not totally wash off fabrics in cold water but remained mostly as the quat-anionic complex. Esterquats washed off better than alkyl quats, thereby leaving less residue than alkyl quats. This paper was presented May 2001 at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo at Minneapolis, MN.