CA1081574A - Detergent compositions - Google Patents

Abstract

DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS

Kenneth L. Jones ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A mixture of certain alkyl glyceryl ethers with ethoxylated nonionic surfactants provides a surfactant com-bination having a particularly good ability to remove greasy and oily materials from fabrics of many kinds.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to detergent compositions and, in particular, to detergent compositions which comprise, in combination, an alkyl glyceryl ether and an ethoxylated non-ionic surfactant.
Conventional detergent compositions have adequate cleaning performance in most situations. However, one major problem area which remains is the removal of greasy and oily materials from fabricsO This problem is particularly pro-nounced with certain of the newer synthetic fabrics and is also particularly serious in i~he case of hydrocarbon-based oils such as used motor oil. There is therefore a clear need to improve the performance of detergent compositions in terms of grease and oil removal.
It has been recognized that nonionic surfactants can offer certain advantages in this area, and the incorporation of surfactants such as ethoxylated alcohols into detergent compositions does provide some benefit in oily stain removal.
Unfortunately, this benefit does not extend to a wide spectrum of fabric/oily stain combinations and, in particular, ~' 4 r . , , ,, . , , ~ .. , :; ;,,, ,., ;, .. , ~ :.

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removal o~ hydrocarbon oil stain~ especially on cotton, tends to be difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a particular combination of surfactant materials which offers improved performance on olly stain removal through the wash.

DESCRIPTIO~ OF THE PRIOR ART
Alkyl glyceryl ethers arè known materials and various uses have been suggested for them. For example, they have been suggested as fixing agents for perfumes in US Patent No.

2,091,162; as superfatting agents in soap in US Patent No.
2,157,022; and as extracting agents for organic substances in US Patent No. 2,156,724.
-Furthermore, these and related materials have been suggested for use in detergent compositions for certain pur-i5 poses. US Patent No. 2,768,gS6, issued October 3~, 1956 to Scot~ discloses acylaryl glyceryl ethers in detergent compo-sitiOns containing ionic non-soap surfactants. The glyceryl ethers in this case are said to be suds stabilizers. US Patent No. 2,900,346, issued August 18, 1959 to Fowkes and Sawyer, also discloses the utility of glyceryl ethers as foam stabilizers for ionic, particularly sulfate and sulfonate, surfactants.
US Patent No. 3,427,248, issued February 11, 1969 to Lamberti et al, discloses the use of certain higher alkyl polyol ethers in combination with detergents as suds boosters and lime scum dispersants.

- ~81S74 .

The utilization of naturally-occurring glyceryl ethers such as selachyl alcohol a ~ atyl alcohol is discussed by M. Sulzbacher in Manuf ~ /uring Chemist, 1962, 33, 232 and it is suggested that these materials could have surface activity and could be made water-compatible by ethoxylation of the hydroxyl groups.
Concurrently filed Canadian ~pplication Serial No. 266,630.
filed November 26, 1976, entitled DETERGENT COMPOUNDS

. . . . .. . . . . . .
AND COMPOSITIONS, by K. L. Jones, relates to certain novel glyceryl ethers of ethoxylated alcohols which are themselves surfactants and are useful in detergent composltions.
None of the above discussed art references have recog-nized the particularly beneficial effect on greasy and oily soil removal obtained by using compositions of ~he present invention comprising a combination of an alkyl glyceryl ether and a specific type of nonionic surfactant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a detergent composition comprising a combination consisting essentially of (a) from 80% to ~0~ by weight of monoglyceryl ether of the general formula OH

:: : . ..

` ` 1081S74 wherein R is a substantially linear alkyl or alkenyl moiety having from 8 to 16 carbon atoms, and (b) from 20% to 80~ by weight of a nonionic surfactant . which is a condensation product of a ~g-Cl5 alcohol with an alkylene oxide selected from ethylene oxide and mixtures of ethylene oxide and said nonionic surfactant having a hydrophile~
lipophile balance greater than about 10, and preferably greater than about 12.
` Detergent compositions according to the invention can also include other surfactants, for example anionic or æwit-. terionic surfactants, builders and other conventional detergent . additives.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
.
Bina~y Acti~e System Compositions of the present invention comprise, in combination, two essential ingredients, a monoglyceryl ether and an ethoxylated nonionic surfactant, which together form a binary active system affording excellent oily stain removal characteristics.
While not intending to be limited by theory, it is postu-lated that the linearity and the relatively strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding afforded by the hydrophilic, compact vicinal ` diol end group of the monoglyceryl ether result in enhanced grease/oil removal through the reduction of oil~water interfacial tension. The presence of the nonionic surfactant serves in part to solubilize the monoglyceryl ether so that it can reach 1~8~S~4 the oil-water interface from aqueous solution and in part to assist in the removal of an oily stain. It is important that the nonionic surfactant be carefully selected so that it is fully compatible with the glyceryl ether. For example, nonionic surfactants having highly branched hydrophobic groups tend not to pack well at an oil/water interface with the glyceryl ether.
It is therefore desirable that the nonionic surfactant has a substantially linear chain.
The monoglyceryl ether of the present invention has the general formula '`''~

where R is a substantially linear alkyl or alkenyl moiety having from 8 to 16 carbon atoms. Preferably, R is a C8-C12 alkyl moiety, most preferably decyl, undecyl, or dodecyl.
The monoglyceryl ethers of alkanols are known materials and can be prepared, for example, by the condensa- -tion of a higher alkanol with glycidol.
The alkyl monoglyceryl ethers are lipophilic in character and, especially at alkyl chain lengths above 10 carbon atoms in length, have insufficient water solubility to act as useful surfactants in aqueous solutions. ;
In combination with certain alkoxylated nonionic surfactants, however, the alkyl monoglyceryl ethers adsorb very effectively from aqueous solution at anoil-water inter-face.

,:, ; .:

108::1S74 The alkoxylated nonionic surfactants for use in the present invention are preferably based on a substantially straight-chain hydrocarbon moiety. The ter~ "substantially straight chain"
is intended to include within its scope the chain structure S of alcohols prepared by ~he oxo process, which conventionally have up to about 25~ of Cl-C3 side chains at the 2-position.
The alkoxylate moiety of the nonionie surfactant is pre-fera~ly polyethylene oxide, but can also be mixtures of oxides of ethylene and propylene.
In every case, the balance between the hydrocarbon moiety and the alkoxylate moiety must be such that the hydrophilic-lipophilie balance ~HLB) is greater than about 10 and preferably greater than 12.
Especially suitable nonionic surfactants are the con-densation products of substantially straight ehain aliphaticaleohols with ethylene oxide. Examples of such ethoxylated alcohols include the condensation product of about 10 moles of ethylene oxide condensed with 1 mole of myristyl alcohol, the condensation product of about 6 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of coconut fatty alcohol where the coconut alcohol is a mixture of C10-Cl4 alkanols, and the condensation product of about 9 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of the above-described coconut alcohol.
Highly preferred surfactants are those based on synthetic alcohols prepared by the oxo process. Such alcohols are mixtures of primary alcohols having up to about 25% of the of the mixture with methyl branching at the carbon atom adjacent to the hydroxyl-substituted carbon atom. The ethoxy-lated alcohols marketed by The Shell Chemical Company under the .. . . .. . . .

108~574 .

trade marks Neodol or Dobanol are of this type. Very highly preferred exam~les are the stripped ~see below) condensation products of 7 ~oles o~ ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C14-ClS alcohol (~eodol 45-7~, 8 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C9-Cll alcohol ~Dobanol 91-8~ and 6.5 moles o~

ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C12-C13 alcohol (Neodol 23-6.5)~

Other useful sur~actants are based on the secondary alcohols marketed by The Union Carbide Corporation under the trade marks Tergitol. Tergitol 15-S- ~ a condensation product of 9 moles of ethylene oxide with an average C15 alcohol, is a suitable example.
For bes~ results, it is preferred that the ethoxylated alcohol is ~stxipped", i.e., is made substantially free of unethoxylated alcohol and low ethoxylate materials. It will be understood that the normal base-catalyzed ethoxyl~t;~n process tends to produce a widely distributed range of ethoxylates averaging out a~ the derived product. Tha stripped ethoxylates ha~e a relatively narrow distribution of ethoxylate content.
In ~he present specification, the term "stripped condensation product of 7 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C14-C15 alcohol," for example, means the product formed by ethoxylating 1 mole of C14-C15 alcohol with 7 moles of ethylene oxide and subsequently removing substantially all of the unethoxylated alcohol and the low ethoxylates ~e.g., mono- and di- ethoxylates).

The ratio of nonionic surfactant to monoglyceryl ether can be varied over a wide range of from 4:1 to 1:4. Highly preferred embodiments are those wllere the ratio is from 4:1 to`l:l, especially 7:3 to 1:1.

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The binary surfaetant system of the present invention ean be used as the sole surfactant system of a detergent composition, in which case the composition can include conventional ingre-dients pf detergent compositions, such as builders, bleaches, anti-redeposition agents, enzymes, ete. Such detergent eompo-sitions have particular utility for removal of greasy and oily stains.
The binary surfaetant system ean also be eombined with eo-surfaetants, for example anionie or zwitterionie surfaetants, or non-ethoxylated nonionic surfactants to provide detergent eompositions having an oily soil removal bene~it.
Co-surfactants Co-surfaetants useful in detergent compositions of the present invention are seleeted from anionie, non-ethoxylated nonionie, ~witterionic and ampholytie surfactants. Most use-ful eompositions are obtained when the binary nonionie system is combined with anionie or zwitterionic surfactants.

The ratio of eo-surfaetant binary nonionic system can range from 10:1 to 1:10, preferably 4:1 to 1:1, espeeially about 2:1.

Examples of the above types of eo-surfaetants are listed n US Patent No. 3,862,058 of Nirschl and Gloss, the dis-elosw:e of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Partieularly useful anionic surfactants include C8-C18 alkyl sulfates and sulfonates; (Cg-C20 alkyl) benzene sulfonates, especially sodium or alkanolamine salts of linear straight chain alkyl benzene sulfonates in which the average chain length of - .

~ 31S74 the alkyl group is from 10 to 14, especially about 11-~ carbon atoms (normally abbreviated NaCll 8LAS); alkyl ether sulfa-tes of the formula R (C2H4)n S03M

wherein R is C10-C20 alkyl or alkenyl, n is 1-30 and M is an alkali metal cation; and olefin sulfonates derived by the sulfonation of C12-C24 ~-olefins with sulfur trioxide.
While the binary surfactant system of the present invention can offer an oily soil removal benefit when com-bined with any anionic surfactant, especially efficacious compositions for combating grease and oil stains are provided by combining the binary surfactant system with alkaline earth metal, preferably magnesium or calcium, salts of linear alkyl `
benzene sulfonic acid. The preferred material for this purpose is Mg(Cll 4LAS)2. Ratios of Mg(LAS~2:binary nonionic "
system from 4:1 to 1:1, preferably about 2:1, are especially useful.
Nonionic surfactants are less useful in conjunction with the binary system which itself contains a specific type -of nonionic surfactant. However, non-ethoxylate-containing materials such as amine oxides, phosphine oxides and sul-foxides may be used in this context. Specific examples of such surfactants include dimethyldodecylamine oxide, dimethyl-stearylamine oxide, bis-(2-hydroxyethyl) dodecylamine oxide, dimethyldodecylphosphine oxide, dodecylmethyl sulfoxide and octadecyl methyl sulfoxide.

- - ~08~574 ::

Preferred zwitterionic surfactants include higher alkyl or alkaryl ammonio propane sulfonates, such as 3-(N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylammonio) propane -l-sulfonate, 3-(N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylammonio)-2-hyf~roxy propane-l-sulfonate and 3-(N,N-S dimethyl-N-alkylammonio-2-hydroxy propane-l-sulfonate, the alkyl group being devised from middle cut coconut fat~y alcohol, and higher alkyl or alkaryl ammoniocarboxylates such as (N-dodecylbenzyl-N,N-dime~hyl ammonio) acetate, (N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylammonlo) acetate and 6-(N-dodecyIbenzyl~N,N-dimethyl-ammonio) hexanoate. Other useful zwitterionic materials arethe ethoxylated ammonio-sulfonates and sulfates disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,929,678 of December 30, 1975. -Builder Salts "~
Detergent compositions of the present invention pre-ferably include builder salts, especially alkaline, poly-valent anionic builder salts. These alkaline salts serve to maintain the pH of the laundry solution in the range from about 7 to abou~ 12, preferably from 8 to 11.
Suitable detergent builder salts useful herein can be o the po1y-valent inorganic or poly-valent-organic types, or mix~ures thereof. Non-limiting examples of suitable water-soluble, inorganic alkaline detergent builder salts include the alkali metal carbonates, borates, phosphates, polyphosphates, bicarbonates, silicates and sulfates. Specific examples of such salts include the sodium and potassium tetraborates, perborates, bicarbonates, carbonates, tripolyphosphates, ortho-phosphates and hexametaphosphates.

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Examples of suitable organic alkaline detergency bu:Llder salts are: (1) water-soluble amino polyacetates, e.g., sodi~m and potassi~m ethylenediamine tetraacetates, nitrilotri-acetates and N-~2-hydroxyethyl) nitrilodiacetates; (2) water-S soluble salts of phytic acid, e.g., sodium and potassium phytates;~3) water-so~uble polyphosphonates, including, sodium, potassium and lithium salts of ethane-l-hydroxy-l,l-diphosphonic acid;
sodium, potassium and lithium salts of methylenediphosphonic acid and the like.
Additional organic builder salts useful herein include the poLycarboxylate materials described in US Patent No.
~,264,103, including the water-soluble alkali metal salts of mellitic acid. The water-soluble salts of polycarboxylate polymers and copolymers such as are described in US Patent No.

3,308,06?, are also suitable herein. It is to be understood that while the alkali metal salts o~ the foregoing inorganic and organic poly-valent anionic builder salts are preferred for use herein from an economic standpoint, the ammonium, alkanolammonium, e.g., ~riethanolammonium, diethanolammonium, and the like, water-soluble salts of any of the ~oregoing builder anions are useful herein .
Mixtures of organic and/or inorganic builders can be used herein. One such mixture of builders is disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 755,038, e.g., a ternary mixture of sodium tripolyphosphate, trisodium nitrilotriacetate and trisodium ethane-l-hydroxy~ diphosphonate.
While any of the foregoing alkaline poly valent builder materials are useful herein, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium nitrilotriacetate, sodium mellitate, sodium citrate and sodium ., . . - ~ : .. : .. . .: .

~89.57-~
carbonate are preferred herein for this builder use. Sodium tripolyphospha~e is especially preferred herein as a builder both by virtue of its d~tergency builder activity and its ability to suspend illite and kaolinite clay soils and retarding S their redeposition on the fabric surface.
Another type of detergency builder material useful in the present composition comprises a water-soluble material capable o forming a water-insoluble reaction product with water hard-ness cations in combination with a crystallization seed which is capable of providing growth sites for said reaction product.
Such "seeded builder" compositions are fully disclosed in Belgian Patent No. 798,856, issued October 29, 1973~

~ Specific examples of materials capable of forming the ~ater-insoluble reaction product include the water-soluble salts of car~onates, bicarbonates, sesquicarbonates, silicates, aluminates, and oxalates. The alkali metal, especially sodium, sal~s of the foregoing materials are preferred for convenience and economy.
Another type of builder useful herein includes various substantially water-insoluble materials which are capable of reducing the hardness content o~ laundering liquors, e.g., by ion-exchange processes. Examples of such builder materials include the phosphorylated cloths disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,424,545, lnventor Bauman, issued January 28, 1969 The complex aluminosillcates, i.e., zeolite-type materials, are useful presoaking/washing adjuvants herein in that these ~ lS74 .
matèrials soften waterr i.e., remove caf+ hardness. Both.the naturally occurring and synthetic "zeolites", especially zeolite A and hydrated zeolite A materials, are useful for this builder/
softener purpose. A description of zeolite materials and a S method of preparation appears in Milton, U.S. Patent 2,882,2a3, issued April 14, 1959. The Canadian Patents of Corkill et al, 1,035,234 of July 25, 1978 and 1,052,221 of April 10, 1979, describes the use of hydrated synthetic zeolites as builders.

.
The detergen~ builaers are used at concentrations of from about 10 percent to about 60 percent, preferably 20 per-cent to 50 percent, by weight of the detergent compositions ;~
. of this invention.

Other Components In addition to the above-described sllrf~tan~ or hll;lder components, the present compositions can optionally contain a wide var;ety of other conventional detergency adjuncts.
Representative materials of this type include, for example, the various anticaking agents, filler materials, soil suspend-ing agents and as carboxymethylcellulose, anti-spotting agents, dyes, perfumes, suds boosters, suds depressants and the like.
These adjunct materials are commonly used as minor components (e.g., 0.1% to 5~ wt.) in compositions of the present type.
Highly preferred optional additives herein include various bleaches commonly employed in presoak, laundry additive and detergent compositions. Such bleaches can include, for example, the various organic peroxyacids such as peradipic acid, ` ~1~..~
~ 13 - - . ; :, , : ,~

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.
perphthalic acid, diperphthalic acid, diperazelaic acid and the like. Inorganic bleaches, i.e., persalts including such materials as sodium perborate, sodium perborate tetrahydrate, urea peroxide, and the like, can be employed in the composi-tions herein. Bleaches are commonly used in the instantgranular compositions at a level of from about 1% to about ~5~ by weight.
An especially preferred bleaching agent for use herein is sodium perborate tetrahydrate, at an effective concentra-tion of from about 10~ ~o about 30~ by weight of the totalcompos;tion.
Liquid or pasty compositions, in particular, can include materials to impart alkalinity to the detergent solution;
typical of such materials are mono-, di- and tri-ethanolamine.
Various detergency enzymes well known in the art for their ability to degrade and aid in the removal of various so;ls and stains can also be employed in the present granular compos;tions. Detergency enzymes are commonly used at con-centrations of from about 0.1% to about 1.0% by weight of such compositions. Typical enzymes include the various pro-teases, lipases, amylases, and mixtures thereof, which are designed to remove a variety of soils and stains from fabrics.
I .

Composition Pre~aration .
Compositions of the present invention can be prepared in any of a wide variety of product forms, for example as granules, powder, liquid, gel, paste or tablets. Where a solid product form is desired, a granular composition is generally preferred and slurry comprising a builder salt such as sodium tripolyphosphate and the surfactant system can be spray-dried to form granules. Alternatively, the product may be agglomerated, -- lq --.: , lS74 and this is preferred with certain nonionic surfactants which are relatively l~w-boiling and may degrade during spray drying.
In especially preferred compositions, the product is pre-pared in liquid form. Liquid products are very useful for grease removal as they can be used neat as a prë-~reatment for oily stains. In liquid formulations, the surfactant mixture is normally dissolved in wa~er or a water-alcohol mixture, preferred alcohols being Cl-C3 alkanols, especially ethanol. In liquid formulat~ons, particularly preferred co-surfactants are the magneslum, calcium, triethanol~mmonium and monoethanolammonium salts of LAS.
Generally, the total surfactant level in compositions of the prese~t invention ranges from about 2~ to about 95% by ~-weight. Surfactant levels tend to be relatively high, from 3~ to 50%, in liquid compositions and relatively low, from 10% to 20~, in granular compositions. Lower surfactant concen-trations, for ex~mple from 2% to 10~, can be useful when the . composition is designed for use without dilution. Compositions in ~he form of pastes or gels can have very high surfactant concentrat;ons, up to 95%.

Performance Testing The oily stain removal performance of the binary active mixture of the present invention was tested by comparison with a single nonionic surfactant.
2S Cotton fabric cloths were artificially stained with a ~ r grease/oil stain and the cloths were washed in water of 7 ~rain hardness at 100F in the presence of 300 ppm of surf~ctant.
The control surfactant in 211 cases was Neodol 45- ~ a condensate of 7 moles of ethylene oxide with one mole of a C14-C15 alcohol.
The cloths, after washing, ~ere visually graded by a panel of judges and the percentage stain removal was estimated.

~ ' . , ~

`-` 1a981S74 . In the results detailed below, the improvement in per-centage stain removal over the control is recorded.

~a) Ratio of nonionic:alkyl ~l~ceryl ether `
:
~ Stripped ~ % Clo Alkyl % Stain Removal Dobanol 91-8 Glyceryl Ether Improvement , ::

~12 ~19 +18 , (b) Type of Nonionic .
Binary mixtures of 60% nonionic surfactant and 40%
of C10 alkyl glyceryl ether were tested.

Nonioni~ nJ.B ~ arn Rel~lovdi :`
(approx.) Improvement . Dobanol 91-12~ 16 +11.5 Stripped Dobanol 91-8 14 +16 .Neodol 45-7 12 +11 ~) .
Neodol 23-3 10 +10 ' ~c) Chain length of alkyl glvceryl ether 20 Binary mixtures of 60% of stripped Dobanol 91- ~and 40% of various chain length alkyl glyceryl ethers were tested.

_ 16 -::. :: . , , .,.. .: : , .. . .

- ~8~S74 .

Chain Length~ Stain Removal Improvement ` C8.5 ~4 C9 ~4 Clo ' +19 C8_10 Cg_ll +16 .
The following examples illustrate compositions of the present invention.

Granular detergent compositions were prepared having the following formulae:

.
Compositions (w~
A B
. Stripped Dobanol 91-89.0 5.5 C10 alkyl glyceryl ether 9.0 5.5 . Sodium carbonate10.0 10.0 Sodium silicate l1.6 ratio SiO2:Na2O)10.0 8.0 Sodium tripolyphosphate24.4 32.0 . Bentonite 6.0 5.0 i~ Sodium sulfate 25.0 24.0 Moisture and minorsto 100 to 100 :: .

~8~S74 The above compositions A and 8 were tested for soil removal by comparison with compositions iden~ical except for the replacement of the binary.active mixture by the same amount of a single nonionic surfactant (stripped Neodol 23-3).
. S The exemplified compositions were significantly bet~er in their removal of greasy and oily stains and were not significan~ly different in their removal of clay soil.
EXAMPLE II .
;~ .

Compositions (wt. ~) -A B C D

Mg(C11.4LAS)2 Monoethanolammonium C11.4LAS 18 18 :
Stripped Dobanol 91-8~10 22 Condensate product of `
9 moles of ethylene oxide witn i mole O~ a C~3-C14 secondary . alcoho 10 22 . C10 alkyi glyceryl ether 5 11 Cg_~l alkyl glycery 5 11 Triethanolamine 3 3 Monoethanolamine . 2 2 ` Oleic acid 2 2 Ethanol 5 55 5 Water and minors --- to 100 --------The above heavy-duty liquid detergent compositions provided effective oily stain removal when used as a main wash detergent.
.. ... :

. ~ .

~ 18 - :

Claims (20)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A detergent composition comprising a binary surfactant system consisting essentially of (a) from 80% to 20% by weight of monoglyceryl ether of the general formula wherein R is a substantially linear alkyl or alkenyl moiety having from 8 to 16 carbon atoms, and (b) from 20% to 80% by weight of a nonionic surfactant which is a condensation product of a C9-C15 alcohol with an alkylene oxide selected from ethylene oxide and mixtures of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, said nonionic surfactant having a hydrophile-lipophile balance greater than 10.

2. A composition according to Claim 1 wherein R is C8-C12 alkyl.

3. A composition according to Claim 1 wherein the nonionic surfactant is a condensation product of ethylene oxide with a substantially straight chain aliphatic alcohol.

4. A composition according to Claim 3 wherein the ratio of the monoglyceryl ether to the nonionic surfactant is from 1:4 to 1:1.

5. A composition according to Claim 4 wherein said ratio is from 3:7 to 1:1.

6. A composition according to Claim 5 wherein the hydro-philic-lipophilic balance of the nonionic surfactant is greater than 12.

7. A composition according to Claim 6 wherein the nonionic surfactant is selected from the stripped condensation products of 7 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C14-C15 alkanol, of 8 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C9-C11 alkanol and of 6.5 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C12-C13 alkanol.

8. A composition according to Claim 6 wherein the R group of the monoglyceryl ether is C8-C12 alkyl.

9. A composition according to Claim 1 additionally com-prising from 10% to about 60% of a detergency builder.

10. A detergent composition comprising (a) a binary surfactant system consisting essentially of (i) from 80% to 20% by weight of monoglyceryl ether of the general formula wherein R is a substantially linear alkyl or alkenyl moiety having from 7 to 16 carbon atoms, and (ii) from 20% to 80% by weight of a nonionic surfactant which is a condensation product of a C9-C15 alcohol with an alkylene oxide selected from ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and mixtures thereof, said condensation product having a hydrophile-lipophile balance greater than 10.

and, (b) a co-surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic, non-ethoxylated nonionic, ampholytic and zwitterionic surfactants, the ratio of (a) to (b) being from 10:1 to 1:10

11. A composition according to Claim 10 wherein the ratio of (a) to (b) is from 1:4 to 1:1.

12. A composition according to Claim 11 wherein the nonionic surfactant of the binary surfactant system is a condensation product of ethylene oxide with a substantially straight chain aliphatic alcohol and has a hydrophile-lipophile balance of greater than about 12.

13. A composition according to Claim 12 wherein the ratio of the monoglyceryl ether to the nonionic surfactant in the binary surfactant system is from 1:4 to 1:1.

14. A composition according to Claim 13 wherein the R group of the monoglyceryl ether is C8-C12 alkyl.

15. A composition according to Claim 10 wherein the co-surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkali metal ammonium and alkanolammonium salts of (C9-C20 alkyl) benzene sulfonic acid, C8-C18 alkyl sulfonates, C8-C18 alkyl sulfates, olefin sulfonates derived from C12-C240?-olefins and (C10-C20 alkyl) ether sulfates.

16. A composition according to Claim 10 wherein the co-surfactant is selected from the group consisting of calcium and magnesium salts of alkyl benzene sulfonic acid having from 10 to 14 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain.

17. A composition according to Claim 16 wherein the ratio of (a) to (b) is from 1:4 to 1:1.

18. A composition according to Claim 17 wherein the ratio of the monoglyceryl ether to the nonionic surfactant in the binary surfactant system is from 1:4 to 1:1.

19. A composition according to Claim 18 wherein the nonionic surfactant is selected from the stripped condensation products of 7 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C14-C15 alkanol, of 8 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C9-C11 alkanol and of 6.5 moles of ethylene oxide with 1 mole of a C12-C13 alkanol.

20. A composition according to Claim 19 wherein the ratio of (a) to (b) is about 1:2 .