Treating textile fibres with quaternary salt polydiorganosiloxane

Claim 1

A process for the treatment of fibres which comprises applying thereto a polydiorganosiloxane having in the molecule at least one silicon-bonded --OM group, wherein M represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an alkoxyalkyl group, and at least one silicon-bonded quaternary salt group represented by the general formula ##STR4## wherein R represents a divalent group having from 3 to 10 carbon atoms, the said group being composed of carbon, hydrogen and, optionally, oxygen in the form of ether linkages and/or hydroxyl groups, R' represents a monovalent hydrocarbon group having from 1 to 15 carbon atoms or the group (--OQ) a OZ, wherein Q represents an alkylene group having 2 or 3 carbon atoms, a has a value from 1 to 20 and Z represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an acyl group, each R" represents methyl or an ethyl group and X represents a halogen atom, at least 40 percent of the total silicon-bonded substituents in the polydiorganosiloxane being methyl groups and any remaining substituents being monovalent hydrocarbon groups having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms.