Enzyme-containing heavy duty liquid detergent

Abstract

A heavy duty, enzyme-containing, aqueous liquid detergent. The detergent includes surfactants, enzymes and an enzyme-stabilizing system. The detergent has a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater, a solution pH or 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level and a titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na2O as measured to pH 7.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A heavy duty liquid detergent composition comprising: a) at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting essentially of synthetic anionic detergents, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants, at a level of up to 60% by weight,   b) a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater,   c) a solution pH of 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level,   d) titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na 2  O as measured to pH 7.   e) an effective level of from 0.001% to 10% by weight of at least one alkaline protease capable of providing stain removal in a wash solution of pH 8.5 or greater,   f) an effective enzyme stability system including components selected from the group consisting of i) about 0.1 to about 8% by weight of polyol, ii) 0.1 to 10% by weight of a boron compound selected from the group consisting of boric oxide, boric acid and alkali metal borates, iii) from about 0.0001% to about 1% by weight, calcium ion, over and above any metal ion present in the enzyme, iv) 0.5 to 10% of alkanolamine and v) mixtures thereof, and   g) 5-80% water, said heavy duty detergent exhibiting at least 25% of initial enzyme activity after 2 weeks at 105° F., all weights being based on total product.   
     
     
       2. The heavy-duty liquid of claim 1 wherein said alkanolamine comprises at least 0.2% weight monoethanolamine buffer. 
     
     
       3. The heavy-duty liquid of claim 1 wherein the surfactant includes anionic and nonionic surfactants in a ratio of 1:1 to 10:1. 
     
     
       4. The heavy-duty liquid of claim 1 wherein the neat liquid pH is about 10 or above. 
     
     
       5. The composition of claim 1 wherein the liquid is isotropic. 
     
     
       6. The composition of claim 1 wherein said protease is selected from the group consisting of Alcalase®, Savinase®, Maxatase®, and Maxacal®. 
     
     
       7. The composition of claim 1 wherein said protease is selected from the group consisting of Savinase and Maxacal. 
     
     
       8. The composition of claim 1 wherein the formulation is essentially phosphate-free. 
     
     
       9. The composition of claim 1 further comprising from about 3 to about 40% of builder. 
     
     
       10. The composition of claim 2 further comprising from about 3 to about 40% builder. 
     
     
       11. The composition of claim 1 having a protease activity of 0.001 to 1 kilo Novo Protease Units per gram of product. 
     
     
       12. The composition of claim 1 wherein the surfactant is an anionic selected from the group consisting of alkylaryl sulfonates and alcohol ethoxy sulfates. 
     
     
       13. The composition of claim 1 wherein the stabilizers are selected from and boric acid. 
     
     
       14. The composition of claim 1 wherein the stabilizer is calcium ion. 
     
     
       15. The composition of claim 1 wherein the stabilizer is borax. 
     
     
       16. The composition of claim 1 wherein the stabilizer is a polyol selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, glycerine and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       17. The heavy duty liquid detergent composition of claim 1 wherein the composition is essentially free of pentaborates. 
     
     
       18. A heavy duty liquid detergent comprising: a) anionic surfactants consisting essentially of synthetic detergents said anionic surfactants being present at a level of 10-25%,   b) 2-12% nonionic surfactant,   c) 0.5 to 10% monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine or mixtures thereof,   d) a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater,   e) a solution pH of 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level,   f) 3 to 25% builder,   g) titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na 2  O as measured to pH 7,   h) from 1-8% of a polyhydric alcohol selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and glycerine,   i) an effective level of enzymes to provide stain removal including at least one alkaline protease at an activity of 0.001 to 1 KNPU per gram of product capable of providing stain removal in a wash solution of pH 8.5 or greater at a 0.2% wt. use level,   j) from 0.1 to 10% borax, boric acid or mixtures thereof, and   k) 5-80% water.   
     
     
       19. The heavy duty liquid of claim 18 comprising 0.2 to 5% weight monoethanolamine. 
     
     
       20. The heavy duty liquid of claim 18 further comprising from about 0.5% to about 25% of an alkali metal carbonate. 
     
     
       21. The heavy duty liquid of claim 18 further comprising from about 0.5% to about 25% of an alkali metal silicate. 
     
     
       22. An amine-free heavy duty liquid detergent comprising: a) surfactants selected from the group consisting essentially of synthetic anionic detergents, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants,   b) a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater,   c) a solution pH of 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level,   d) titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na 2  O as measured to pH 7,   e) an effective level of from 0.001% to 10% by weight of an enzyme to provide stain removal including at least one alkaline protease capable of providing stain removal in a wash solution of pH 8.5 or greater,   f) an effective enzyme stability system including components selected from the group consisting of i) about 0.1% to about 8% by weight of a polyhydric alcohol, ii) 0.1 to 10% by weight of a boron compound selected from the group consisting of boric oxide, boric acid and alkali metal borates, iii) from about 0.0001% to about 1% by weight calcium ion, and iv) mixtures thereof, and   g) 5-80% water, said heavy duty detergent exhibiting at least 25% of initial enzyme activity after 2 weeks at 105° F.   
     
     
       23. The heavy duty liquid of claim 22 further comprising from about 0.5% to about 25% of an alkali metal carbonate. 
     
     
       24. The heavy duty liquid of claim 22 further comprising from about 0.5% to about 25% of an alkali metal silicate. 
     
     
       25. The composition of claim 22 wherein the stabilizers are selected from borax or boric acid. 
     
     
       26. The composition of claim 22 wherein the stabilizer is calcium ion. 
     
     
       27. The composition of claim 22 wherein the stabilizer is borax. 
     
     
       28. The composition of claim 22 wherein the stabilizer is a polyol selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, glycerine and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       29. The composition of claim 22 wherein the polyhydric alcohol is propylene glycol. 
     
     
       30. A heavy duty liquid detergent comprising: a) surfactant at a level of up to 60% by weight, of which about 1-30% comprise anionic surfactants, said anionic surfactants consisting essentially of synthetic detergents.   b) a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater,   c) a solution pH of 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level,   d) titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na 2  O as measured to pH 7,   e) an effective level of from 0.001% to 10% by weight of an enzyme to provide stain removal including at least one alkaline protease capable of providing stain removal in a wash solution of pH 8.5 or greater,   f) an effective enzyme stability system including components selected from the group consisting of i) about 0.1% to about 8% by weight of a polyhydric alcohol, ii) 0.1 to 10% by weight of a boron compound other than pentaborate selected from the group consisting of boric oxide, boric acid and alkali metal tetra borates, iii) from about 0.0001% by weight over and above any metal ion present in the enzyme calcium ion, and iv) 0.5 to 10% of alkanolamines and   g) 5-80% water, said heavy duty detergent exhibiting at least 25% of initial enzyme activity after 2 weeks at 105° F.   
     
     
       31. The heavy duty liquid detergent of claim 30 wherein the composition is essentially free of pentaborates.