Detergent compositions

Claim 1

A detergent powder or liquid composition consisting essentially of from about (A) 0.1% to about 5% by weight of a condensation product of (a) a dicarboxylic acid of the formula HO 2 C n CO 2 H in which n represents zero or a positive integer from 1 to 10; (b) a hydroxy-polyoxy-alkylene compound containing at least one polyalkylene chain consisting of a plurality of oxyalkylene radicals linked directly to one another whose alkylene groups contain from 2 to 4 carbon atoms; and (c) a compound selected from the group consisting of: (i) an amino acid or lactam compound of the formulae NH 2n CO 2 H and wherein n is a positive integer from 3 to 11, (ii) an aliphatic diamine, or salt thereof, of the formula NH 2m NH 2 in which m is an integer of from 2 to 12, and (iii) a mixture of said lactam compound with said diamine compound or salts thereof; in combination with: (B) from about 0.5 to about 20% by weight of a detergent active compound selected from the group consisting of: (a) an ethoxylated alkyl phenol wherein the total alkyl substituent contains from 6 to 12 carbon atoms, and wherein the molar ratio of the ethylene oxide moiety to the alkyl phenol moiety is from about 6:1 to about 25:1, (b) a condensation product of ethylene oxide and (i) a straight or branched chain, aliphatic, unsaturated C 18 alcohol, or (ii) a straight or branched chain, aliphatic, saturated or unsaturated alcohol concontaining 10 to 16 carbon atoms, or (iii) a branched chain, aliphatic, unsaturated C 20 alcohol, the molar ratio of said ethylene oxide to said alcohol being about 5:1 to about 30:1; and (c) a monoethanolamide having an alkyl chain of 10 to 14 carbon atoms condensed with from 3 to 25 ethylene oxide units.