Stable liquid detergent compositions

Claim 1

A heavy-duty liquid detergent composition comprising, by weight: (a) from about 5% to about 15%, on an acid basis, of a sulfonate surfactant containing a C 10 -C 16 alkyl or alkenyl group; (b) from about 8% to about 18%, on an acid basis, of an alcohol ethoxylate sulfate surfactant of the formula RO(C 2 H 4 O) m SO 3 M, wherein R is a C 10 -C 16 alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group, m is from about 0.5 to about 4, and M is a compatible cation; (c) from about 2% to about 15% of an ethoxylated nonionic surfactant of the formula R 1 (OC 2 H 4 ) n OH, wherein R 1 is a C 10 -C 16 alkyl group or a C 8 -C 12 alkyl phenyl group, n is from about 3 to about 9, and said nonionic surfactant has an HLB of from about 10 to about 13; (d) from about 0% to about 5% of a cosurfactant selected from the group consisting of: (i) quaternary ammonium surfactants having the formula: [R.sup.2 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ][R.sup.4 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ].sub.2 R.sup.5 N.sup.+ X.sup.- wherein R 2 is an alkyl or alkyl benzyl group having from about 6 to about 16 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain; each R 3 is selected from the group consisting of --CH 2 CH 2 --, --CH 2 CH(CH 3 )--, --CH 2 CH(CH 2 OH)--, --CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 --, and mixtures thereof; each R 4 is selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 hydroxyalkyl, benzyl, and hydrogen when y is not 0; R 5 is the same as R 4 or is an alkyl chain wherein the total number of carbon atoms of R 2 plus R 5 is from about 8 to about 16; each y is from 0 to about 10 and the sum of the y values is from 0 to about 15; and X is any compatible anion; (ii) amine surfactants having the formula: [R.sup.2 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ][R.sup.4 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ]R.sup.5 N wherein R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and y are as defined above; (iii) amine oxide surfactants having the formula: [R.sup.2 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ][R.sup.4 (OR.sup.3).sub.y ]R.sup.5 N→0 wherein R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and y are as defined above; (e) from about 5% to about 20% of a C 10 -C 14 saturated fatty acid, the weight ratio of C 10 -C 12 fatty acid to C 14 fatty acid being at least 1; (f) from about 3% to about 8%, on an acid basis, of a water-soluble polycarboxylate builder material; (g) from about 0 to about 0.04 moles per 100 grams of composition of an alkanolamine selected from the group consisting of monoethanolamine, diethanolamine and triethanolamine; (h) potassium and sodium ions in a potassium to sodium molar ratio of from about 0.1 to about 1.3; (i) from about 2% to about 10% ethanol; (j) from about 2% to about 15% of a polyol containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms and from 2 to 6 hydroxy groups; and (k) from about 25% to about 40% water; said composition containing from about 20% to about 35% of (a), (b), (c) and (d); from about 8% to about 28% of (e) and (f); from about 33% to about 50% of (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f); from about 8% to about 20% of (i) and (j); and from about 35% to about 55% of (i), (j) and (k); the weight ratio of (a) to (b) being from about 0.3 to about 1.7; the weight ratio of (a) plus (b) to (c) being from about 1 to about 10; and all of said components being selected to provide an isotropic liquid at 55° F. (12.8° C.) having an initial pH of from about 7.5 to about 9.0 at a concentration of about 10% by weight in water at 68° F. (20° C.).