CZ394598A3 - Preparations for softening fabrics - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid fabric softening composition which reduces the amount of dyes released from coloured fabrics upon wet domestic treatment such as those which occur in a laundry operation. The said composition comprises a cationic fabric softener having at least two long chains, a cationic dye fixing agent in amount of 0.1% to 10% by weight and is free of detergent materials.

Description

The present invention relates to fabric softening compositions, particularly those compositions that reduce the amount of dye released from the colored fabric in wet operations, such as those used in laundries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Washing and cleaning of colored fabrics is a known problem when choosing the composition of fabric wash compositions. In particular, the problem is the choice of compositions of these compositions which reduce the amount of dye released from the colored fabric when subjected to wet operations. This problem is now particularly topical, given the increasing popularity of using colored fabrics.

Various ways of solving this problem have been proposed, such as using a dye scavenger during washing as described in EP 0 341 205, EP 0 033 815, or using a vinyl polymer based substance described in MO 94/11482, or the use of a dye-fixing agent in a rinse cycle as described in EP 0 462 806. However, the problem with these technical solutions is that the use of a dye-fixing agent during washing may degrade or damage the composition by contact with other substances already during storage or during washing, and in the case of a rinse aid, effective dye binding requires the presence of a surfactant and a high concentration of the dye fixing agent itself. Another problem relating to the use of dye fixing agents in plasticizers is their effectiveness. Although effective dye binding would occur at concentrations greater than 10% by weight of dye-fixing agents, • 9 ·· ··· *

C · · 9 9

99 · »· 9

9 9 ·· »·

• 9 9

9 9 9

9 9999

9 9 ·

··· ·· would lead to a significant increase in costs. Another problem related to the use of high concentrations of dye fixing agents is that the resulting products are phase unstable. On the other hand, however, reducing the concentration of dye-fixing compositions would result in insufficient dye-binding ability and the need for detergents.

Thus, despite the prior art, there is a need for a fabric softening composition that effectively reduces the amount of dye released from a colored fabric when the fabric is subjected to a wet operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that the use of a liquid composition comprising a long-chain cationic fabric softener, and a cationic composition of 0.1 to 10 wt%, satisfies

Applicant-free detergents, with at least two dye fixing, in the amount of the above requirement.

An advantage of the present invention is therefore that it provides liquid fabric softening compositions that allow an effective reduction in the amount of dye released from the colored fabric during its home washing and wet cleaning.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides liquid fabric softening compositions having effective softening properties.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it provides liquid fabric softening compositions which have considerable storage stability. For the purposes of the present invention, the term detergents means surfactants selected from the group consisting of soaps, anionic, nonionic, zwitterionic and amphoteric synthetic and natural surfactants with detergent effects which are not softeners. This group does not include fatty acids which have a fabric softening effect, unlike those soap ingredients which do not have a fabric softening effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to liquid detergent-free fabric softening compositions comprising a cationic fabric softener having at least two long chains and a dye fixing cationic composition at a concentration of 0.1 wt% to 10 wt%. The present invention also provides a method of fabric treatment. The method, carried out in a rinse cycle of household laundry, comprises contacting the fabric with an aqueous medium containing at least 50 ppm of the fabric softening composition of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Cationic fabric softeners

An essential component of the composition of the present invention is a cationic fabric softener having at least two long chains. By component with at least two long chains is meant a component comprising at least two alkyl or alkenyl chains with 10 to 25 carbon atoms. Such a fabric softener has a pronounced softening effect on the fabric to which it is applied.

Typical concentrations of said fabric softener components in the liquid composition are from 1% to 80% by weight based on the total weight of the composition. Depending on the embodiment, the composition may be diluted and may preferably contain from 1% to 5% by weight of the softening component, or concentrated, in which case it may preferably contain from 5% to 80% by weight, more preferably 10 wt% to 50 wt%, and most preferably 15 wt% to 35 wt% of the softener component. Typical active ingredients of cationic softeners with at least two long chains are quaternary ammonium compounds, the most commonly used compounds being quaternary alk (en) ylammonium chlorides with two long alk (en) yl chains. Preferred cationic plasticizers of this type are:

·· ·· • fc

1) dialk (en) yldimethylammonium chlorides with ditallow dimethylammonium chloride (DTDMAC) alk (en) yls,

(2) dihydrogenated alk (en) yldimethylammonium chlorides with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids;

3) dihydrogenated alk (en) yldimethylammonium dimethylsulphates with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

4) distearyldimethylammonium chloride,

5) dioleyldimethylammonium chloride,

6) dipalmitylhydroxyethylmethylammonium chloride,

7) stearylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride,

(8) alk (en) yltrimethylammonium chloride, with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids;

(9) hydrogenated alk (en) yltrimethylammonium chlorides with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids;

10) alk (en) ylhydroxyethyldimethylamoniumchoridy with alk (en) yls ^C 12 ^_C 14 '

11) alk (en) ylhydroxyethyldimethylammoniumchorides with alk (en) yly ^C 12 ^-C 18 '

12) dialk (en) ylimidazolinium methylsulfates with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids

13) 1- (2-alk (en) ylamidoethyl) -2-alk (en) ylimidazolinium methyl sulfates with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids.

Recently, however, there has been a need for materials that have a less negative impact on the environment, and quaternary ammonium compounds that have undergone rapid biodegradation have been found as alternatives to commonly used long chain ammonium chlorides. These quaternary ammonium compounds contain a long chain with alk (en) yl groups within which functional groups such as carboxy groups are located. These fabric softening materials and preparations in which they are incorporated are described in numerous publications such as patents EP-A0 040 562 and EP-A-0 239 910.

The quaternary ammonium compounds and amine precursors of the present invention have the following general formulas (I) or (II):

^R 1 / ^{R 3} + N - (CH ₂ ) _n -CH ₂ -CH ₂ ·· ·· ► · · <

R 3, R 2 ⁺ N- (d 2) n QT ¹

Ri

X '

R3

Q i

Ti <5

AND

T ² or (II)

R ¹ is wherein Q is selected from -OC (O) -, -C (O) -O-, -OC (O) -O-, -NR -C (O) -,

-C (O) -NR ⁴ -;

(CH ₂ ) _n -QT ² or T ³ ;

(CH 2) _m -QT ⁴ or T ⁵ or R ³ ;

R is C ₁ -C ₄ alkyl or hydroxyalkyl;

Τι, T ₂ , ββ, T ₄ , T ₅ are independently C 1 -C ₂₂ alkyl or alkenyl; n and m are natural numbers from 1 to 4;

and X is an anionic plasticizer compatible anion. The plasticizer compatible anions may be, inter alia, a chloride or methyl sulfate anion.

The alkyl or alkenyl chains T 1, T ² , T ³ , T ⁴ , T ³ must contain at least 11 carbon atoms, preferably at least 16 carbon atoms. These chains may be unbranched or branched. Beef tallow is a convenient and inexpensive source of substances containing long alkyl and alkenyl chains. Substances in which T 1, T ² , T ³ , T ⁴ , T ³ are chains of a length that is common to beef tallow are particularly preferred.

Examples of quaternary ammonium compounds suitable for use in the aqueous fabric softening compositions of this invention are:

1) Ν, N-di (alk (en) yloxyethyl) 1-N, N-dimethylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

2) N, N-di (alk (en) yloxyethyl) 1-N-methyl-N- (2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

3) N, N-di (2-alk (en) yloxy-2-oxo-ethyl) -Ν, Ν-dimethylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

4) N, N-di (2-alk (en) yloxy-ethylcarbonyloxy-ethyl) -N, N-dimethylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

5) N- (2-alk (en) yloxy-2-ethyl) -N- (2-alk (en) yloxy-2-oxo-ethyl) -1, N-dimethylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

6) Ν, Ν, Ν-tri (alk (en) yloxy-ethyl) -N-methylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids,

7) N- (2-alk (en) yloxy-2-oxo-ethyl) -N-alk (en) yl-N, N-dimethylammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from bovine tallow fatty acids,

(8) N-methyl-N- (3-alk (en) ylamidopropyl) -N- (2-alk (en) yloxyethyl) ammonium chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids;

9) 1,2-dialk (en) yl-oxy-3-trimethylammonio propane chloride with alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids, and mixtures of any of the above.

Compounds 1-8 are examples of compounds of formula (I). Compound 9 is an example of a compound of formula (II). Particularly preferred is Ν, N-di (alk (en) yloxy-ethyl)-), N-dimethylammonium chloride, in which the tallow fatty acid chains are at least partially unsaturated. The degree of unsaturation of these chains can be measured by determining the iodine value (IV) of the respective fatty acid, and in this case it should preferably be in the range of 5 to 100, distinguishing two categories of compounds having IV higher than 25 and lower. More preferably, however, for the preparation of more concentrated solutions of a compound of formula (I) prepared from fatty acids having an IV value in the range of 5 to 25, preferably 15 to 20, a weight ratio of cis / trans isomers of greater than 30/70 has been found. preferably greater than 50/50 and more preferably greater than 70/30 allows the concentration of the compositions to be as high as possible. It has been found that the ratio of cis to trans isomers is less important for the compounds of formula (I) obtained from beef tallow fatty acids with an IV value close to 25, unless very high concentrations are required. Other suitable quaternary ammonium salts of formulas (I) and (II) may be obtained, for example:

replacement of alk (en) yls derived from beef tallow fatty acids in the aforementioned compounds, for example derived from coconut, palm oil or castor oil fatty acids, lauryl, oleyl, stearyl, palmityl or other similar alk (en) the higher acyls are either fully partially unsaturated,

- replacement of methyl-bound compounds with ethyls, saturated or preferably at least nitrogen in the above ethoxy, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl or propoxy groups, tert-butyl,

- substitution of chloride anions in the above compounds by bromide, methyl sulfate, formate, sulfate, nitrate or other anions.

In fact, these anions are present only as counterions of positively charged quaternary ammonium ions. The type of anion is not critical in the present invention. The present invention is not limited to any particular anion. By amine precursors is meant secondary or tertiary amines which are precursors of the respective quaternary ammonium compounds, which amines are substantially protonated in the compositions of the invention at the pH values used. For the above-mentioned biodegradable fabrics suitable for fabric softening, the pH of the composition of the invention is a parameter of critical importance. In addition, it affects the stability of the quaternary ammonium salt or amine precursor, especially during long storage. The pH is measured in pure formulations at 20 ° C. In order to achieve optimal hydrolytic stability of these formulations, their pH in the pure state measured under the above conditions must be in the range of 2.0 to 4.5. When the liquid fabric softening compositions of the present invention are diluted, their pH values are preferably in the range of 2.0 to 3.0. The pH of these compositions can be adjusted by the addition of Bronstedt acid. Examples of suitable acids are inorganic mineral acids, carboxylic acids, especially lower (C 1 -C 4) carboxylic acids and alkylsulfonic acids. Suitable inorganic acids are HCl, H ₂ SO ₄ , HNO ₄ and H 3 PO 4. Suitable organic acids are formic, acetic, citric, methylsulfonic, and ethylsulfonic acids. Preferred acids are citric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, formic acid, methylsulfonic acid, and benzoic acid.

Cationic dye fixing agents

A second major component of the compositions of the present invention is a dye fixing cationic composition. Cationic dye fixing agents, or fixatives, are known and commercially available substances to improve the appearance of a colored fabric while minimizing dye loss from the fabric due to laundering. The cationic dye fixing agents are based on various quaternized or other positively charged organic nitrogen compounds. Cationic dye fixing agents are commercially available under various trade names from several manufacturers. Examples include Croscolor PMF (July 1981, No. 7894) and Croscolor NOFF (January 1988, No. 8544) manufactured by Crosfield; Indosol E-50 (February 27, 1984, No. 6008.35.84, based on polyethylene amine) manufactured by Sandoz, Sandofix TPS, which is also manufactured by Sandoz, and is a preferred polycationic fixative for use in the present invention and Sandofix SVE (cationic resin) ) as well as Rewin SRF, Rewin SRF-0 and Rewin DVR, manufactured by CHT-Beitlich GmbH.

Other cationic dye fixing agents are described in Christopher C. Cook, &quot; Aftertreatments for improving the fastness of dyes on textile fibers, Rev. &quot; Prog. Coloration 12, 1982. Coloring agents suitable for use in the present invention are ammonium compounds such as fatty acid and diamine adducts, for example, oleyldiethylaminoethylamide hydrochloride, acetate, methylsulfate and benzyl hydrochloride, oleylmethyldiethylenediaminomethylsulfate, monostearylethylenediaminotrimethylammonium methylsulfate, and cyanuric chloride and aminated glycerol dichlorohydrins.

The concentration of dye fixing agent required

The amount to be used in the formulation according to the invention is 0.1% to 10% by weight, based on the total weight of the formulation, preferably 0.5% to 8% by weight, more preferably 1% by weight. 0.8 wt% to 5.5 wt%, based on the total weight of the formulation. Optimum dye fixation performance as well as optimum softening effect are obtained at a fabric softener to dye weight ratio of 60: 1 to 1.5: 1, more preferably 20: 1 to 3.5: 1, most preferably 10: 1 to 3.5 : 1.

Detergents of the zwitterionic group

For the purposes of the present invention, the term detergents means detergent surfactants selected from soaps, non-soap anionic, nonionic, and amphoteric synthetic and natural detergent surfactants, which are not also plasticizers. Fatty acids which act as fabric softeners are not considered to be detergents, as opposed to the soap ingredients which have no softening properties.

Soaps and non-soap anionic materials are unbranched and branched primary alkyl sulphates, alkyl ethoxy sulphates, oleyl glycerol sulphates, alkylphenol ethylene oxide ether sulphates, C 1 -C 4 -acyl-N- (C 1 -C 4 alkyl) and N- (C 2 -C 2 -hydroxyalkyl) glucamine sulphates and alkylpolysacrylate sulphates sulfonate surfactants such as salts of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates to alkyl C5-C2O ^'and lkylestersulfonáty, primary or secondary alkanesulfonates, olefin Cg-C ^ g, sulfonated polycarboxylic acids, alkyl derivatives glycerolsulfonátů, oleyl or acyl glycerol with higher acyl, alkyl ethoxy carboxylates, and alkali metal sarcosinates.

Nonionic detergents are polyhydroxy fatty acid amide derivatives condensation products of polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide or polybutylene oxide with alkylphenols, condensation products formed by reaction of alkyl ethoxylate aliphatic alcohols with 1 C8-C18 fatty alcohols, C8-C18 fatty alcohols, up to 25 moles of ethylene oxide and ethoxylated ethoxylate propoxylated alkylpolysaccharides, and fatty acid amides.

The zwitterionic and amphoteric alkylamphocarboxylic acids, acylamidopropyldimethyl betaine with the materials are amine oxides, betaines such as coconut oil fatty acid acyls and hexadecyldimethyl betaine.

Excipients

The formulation may also contain adjuvants such as additional fabric softeners, electrolyte concentration facilitators, stabilizers such as well-known antioxidants and reducing agents, polymers facilitating the separation of solid impurities, bactericides, dyes, perfumes, preservatives, optical brighteners, ionizing reducing agents, antifoams and chelating agents.

Additional fabric softeners

In addition to cationic softeners with two long chains, additional fabric softeners may be used. When these additional fabric softeners are used, their concentration is generally 0-15% by weight based on the total weight of the composition. These materials are single-chain long chain cationic plasticizers and / or fatty acids.

Cationic plasticizers with one long chain

Cationic softeners with one long-chain suitable for use in the present invention are preferably quaternary ammonium salts having the formula [R ² N ⁺ R ^3] X- wherein the group is a hydrocarbon group of C ^ Q-C22> ^preferably an alkyl group A corresponding group interrupted by an ester bond with a short (C 1 -C 4) alkylene group between this ester bond and an N-like hydrocarbon group, e.g. a group which is a fatty acid ester of choline , preferably an ester of choline and coconut oil fatty acids

C12-14 and / or bovine tallow fatty acids C14-C14 in an amount of 0.1% to 20% by weight of the plasticizer active substance. and

The group R is C 1 -C 4 alkyl or substituted alkyl (for example hydroxyalkyl) or hydrogen, preferably methyl, and the counterion X 'is an anionic compound compatible with a plasticizer, for example chloride, bromide, methyl sulfate and the like.

They can be used Other cationic materials with ring structures such as alkyl imidazoline, imidazolinium, pyridine, and pyridinium salts having a single alkyl chain CI2 ^- ^ 30 'in order to stabilize for example imidazolinium ring structures need to very low pH.

Some alkyl imidazolinium salts and their imidazoline precursors which are suitable for use in the methods of this invention have the general formula:

ch ₂ —ch ₂ nV-C ₂ H ₄ —Y — R ⁷ X

C 1-6 wherein Y ² is -C (O) -O-, -O- (O) C-, -C (O) -N (R ^{3 * 5} ) - or -N (R ⁵ ) -C (O) R 1 is hydrogen or C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkyl or H

Z O 7 Q (for imidazoline precursors), R and R are independently of one another

2 groups R and R as previously defined for cationic surfactants, only one of which may be R.

Some alkyl pyridinium salts suitable for use in the methods of this invention have the general formula:

where

X maj i

same meaning as above. A typical substance of this type is cetylpyridinium chloride.

Fatty acids

Suitable fatty acids are those having a total of 10 to 25, preferably 12 to 25, carbon atoms, the hydrocarbon residue containing 10 to 22, preferably 16 to 22, carbon atoms. The remainder of the molecule contains 1 to 4, preferably 1 to 2, carbon atoms. The degree of unsaturation of the beef tallow chains can be measured by the iodine number (IV) of the respective fatty acid, which in this case is preferably in the range of 5 to 100, more preferably in the range of 0 to 25.

Examples of fatty acids suitable for use in liquid fabric softening compositions are those selected from the group consisting of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachic acid, behenic acid, oleic acid, coconut oil fatty acids, beef tallow fatty acids, especially partially hydrogenated beef tallow fatty acids and mixtures thereof. The most preferred fatty acids are fatty acids of beef oil and iodine number (IV) 18.

When the abovementioned fatty acids are used, the ratio of the two long chain active agent of the fabric softening composition to this fatty acid is from 25: 1 to 6.5: 1, preferably 20: 1 to 10: 1 and most preferably 20: 1. to 15: 1. When used in proportions outside of the product, there is a tendency to phase instability with viscosity.

span, has resulting and / or to problems

Electrolyte-based concentrating agents

The inorganic substances used as viscosity modifiers, which may also act as surfactant-like concentration agents or enhance their action, are, inter alia, water-soluble ionizable salts, which may also form part of the compositions of this invention. invention. The addition of these components to the formulations must be carried out at a very low rate. A wide variety of ionizable substances can be used. Examples of suitable salts are Group II and IIA metal halides of the Periodic Table of the Elements, for example calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium bromide and lithium chloride. The use of these ionizable salts is particularly useful during the mixing of the ingredients of the compositions of the present invention and further to obtain the desired viscosity. The amount of ionizable salts used depends on the amount of active ingredients used in the formulation and can be adjusted as desired. Typical salt concentrations used to control the viscosity of the compositions are from 20 to 20,000 ppm, preferably from 20 to 11,000 ppm, based on the total weight of the composition.

The compositions may include alkylenepolyammonium salts which, in addition to or above the water-soluble ionizable salts, allow viscosity control. In addition, these substances can act as ion acceptors that are capable of forming ionic vapors with anionic detergents transferred from the wash cycle to the rinse cycle and to the fabric, and can improve the softening performance. These agents can stabilize the viscosity over a wider temperature range compared to inorganic electrolytes. Examples of alkylene polyammonium salts are 1-lysine monohydrochloride and 1,5-diammonium-2-methylpentanediol hydrochloride.

Another component is a liquid carrier. Suitable liquid carriers are water, organic solvents and mixtures thereof. The liquid carrier used in instant formulations is preferably water because of its low cost, good safety and environmental friendliness. The concentration of water in the liquid carrier is preferably at least 50% by weight, most preferably at least 60% by weight, based on the weight of the liquid carrier. Suitable liquid carriers are mixtures of water and low molecular weight organic substances, i.e. with a molecular weight of less than 200, for example lower alcohols such as ethanol, propanol, isopropanol or butanol. These low molecular weight alcohols are furthermore monohydroxy derivatives, dihydroxy derivatives (glycol and the like), trihydroxy derivatives (glycerol and the like), and polyols with a higher number of hydroxy groups.

Physical form of the preparation

The fabric softening compositions may take various physical forms, including both aqueous and non-aqueous liquids. These preparations can be used as products added to the rinse bath or in the form of a spray or foam. Preferably these compositions are used as products added to the rinse bath. The compositions of the invention may be added directly to the rinse bath in an amount that ensures their correct concentration, for example, a concentration of 50 ppm and above, preferably 100 to 10,000 ppm.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fabric treatment process comprising treating an aqueous medium comprising at least 50 ppm, preferably 100 to 10,000 ppm, of the liquid fabric softening composition of the present invention.

Preparation method

The fabric softening composition can be readily prepared by one of ordinary skill in the art. This process is described, for example, in EP-A-0 668 902.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is illustrated by the following Examples in which, unless otherwise indicated, all concentrations are by weight. The abbreviations in the examples have the following meanings:

DEQA: Di- (alkyloyl-oxy-ethyl) dimethylammonium chloride with beef tallow fatty acid alkyls fatty acid: stearic acid with iodine number IV = 18 electrolyte: potassium chloride • · · · ·· ··

PEG: polyethylene glycol with an average molecular weight of 4000

Example 1

The fabric softening composition A of the present invention was prepared having the following composition:

component folder contents DEQA 19% Hydrochloric acid 0.02% a soil release polymer 0.2% PEG 0.6% perfume 1.0% electrolyte 1200 ppm dye 50 ppm Sandofix TPS 5.0 wt% water and components contained in small quantities rest up to 100%

• · fc · · ·

Example 2

The fabric softening compositions B, C and D of the present invention were prepared having the following composition:

component (B) C D DEQA 2.6% 2.9% 18.0% fatty acid 0.3% - 1.0% Hydrochloric acid 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% a soil release polymer - - 0.2% PEG - - 0.6% perfume 1.0% 0.5% 1.0% electrolyte - - 600 ppm dye 10 ppm 10 ppm 50 ppm Sandofix TPS 1,6% 1,6% 5.0% water and components contained in small quantities residue up to 100 wt .%

jp. / k

«...

Claims (7)

A liquid fabric softening composition comprising a cationic fabric softener having at least two long chains in the molecule and a dye fixing cationic composition at a concentration of 0.1 to 10% by weight, and containing no detergents. 2. A liquid preparation comprising a dye fixing agent. for fabric softening according to claim 1, wherein said cationic dye is a polycationic composition Liquid fabric softening composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the composition comprises 0.5 to 8% by weight, preferably 0.8 to 5.5% by weight, of said dye fixing cationic composition. . A liquid fabric softening composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said cationic fabric softener is biodegradable. Liquid fabric softening composition according to claim 4, characterized in that it is selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium compounds and their amine precursors, having the following general formulas (I) or (II) R3 \ R ² Rl (I) X ' * R3 R3 N- _{(CH2) n -CH2} -CH A3 i (i II Ti T ² (II) wherein Q is selected from -O-C (O) -, -C (O) -O-, -O-C (O) -O-, -NR ⁴ -C (O) - , -C (O) -NR ⁴ -; to · ···· · ··· · to ·· · · · · · · ··· ··· R ¹ is (CH ₂ ) _n -QT ² or T ³ ; R ² is (CH 2) ⁴ no MQT |, _the J5 b _{not on} P3. O R ^J is alkyl or hydroxyalkylpenicillanate C ^ -C ^ or H; Τ ¹ , Τ ² , Τ ³ , Τ ⁴ , T ³ are independently ^C 11 ^-C 22 alkyl or alkenyl ^; n and m are natural numbers from 1 to 4; and X ^- is an anion compatible with plasticizer. Liquid fabric softening composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it contains 1 to 80% by weight of said fabric softener. A method of fabric treatment carried out in a rinse cycle of fabric washing, comprising contacting the fabrics with an aqueous medium comprising at least 50 ppm of the liquid fabric softening composition of any one of claims 1 to 6.