Cleaning compositions containing cross-linked polymeric thickeners and hypochlorite bleach

Claim 1

A liquid or gel cleaning composition comprising: (i) a water-soluble polymer formed from 25 to 99.9 wt. % of monomers comprising at least one α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acid or salt thereof selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride, their salts and mixtures thereof, and from 0.1 to 15 wt. % of at least one cross-linking monomer each having at least two unsaturated groups selected from the group consisting of trivinylcyclohexane, 1,5-hexadiene, trivinylbenzene, divinylbenzene and polybutadiene and which after crosslinking consists of a saturated hydrocarbon or aromatic structure, said polymer being stable to oxidation by 1% hypochlorite at 25° C. for greater than two weeks without exhibiting any phase separation or greater than 50% loss in viscosity from said composition; and (ii) a chlorine containing bleach compound present in an amount to provide about 0.1 to 5% of available chlorine by weight of the composition; said cleaning composition having a viscosity on a Haake Rotovisco RV-100 Viscometer at 25° C. under 5 sec -1 shear of from about 500 to 20,000 cps and under 21 sec -1 shear of from about 200 to 5,000 cps.