US3651209A - Hydrogen peroxide-persulfate hair bleaching enhanced by ammonium or an alkali metal peroxydiphosphate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROCESS OF BLEACHING HAIR AT SUBSTANTIALLY ROOM TEMPERATURE WITH AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE (OR A COMPOUND YIELDING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION) AND EITHER AMMONIUM PERSULFATE OR AN ALKALI METAL PERSULFATE, IN WHICH THE BLEACHING EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ABOVE MIXTURE IS ENHANCED BY ADDING EITHER AMMONIUM OR AN ALKALI METAL PEROXYDIPHOSPHATE THERETO.

Description

Unite States ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Process of bleaching hair at substantially room temperature with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide (or a compound yielding hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution) and either ammonium persulfate or an alkali metal persulfate, in which the bleaching effectiveness of the above mixture is enhanced by adding either ammonium or an alkali metal peroxydiphosphate thereto.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuationinpart of application Ser. No. 733,268, filed May 31, 1968, in the name of Bernard Cohen, which application is now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of the invention This invention relates to an improvement in the bleaching of hair with compositions containing hydrogen peroxide and persulfate compounds.

('B) Description of the prior art It is known that aqueous solutions of certain compounds, namely hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen peroxidegenerating compounds such as sodium perborates, are effective in bleaching human hair or keratinous materials. However, when the hair bleaching process is conducted under substantially ambient temperatures, i.e., temperatures of about 50 to about 100 F., the bleaching reaction is slow unless highly alkaline conditions are used. Since highly alkaline conditions can damage the hair fibers, it is undesirable to conduct bleaching operations with excessively alkaline solutions in order to minimize degradation of the hair fibers.

In an effort to increase the rate of bleaching with these hydrogen peroxide products, an activator is used in conjunction with the hydrogen peroxide. A most effective activator presently employed is either an ammonium or an alkali metal persulfate or mixtures thereof. While the combination of hydrogen peroxide and persulfates has been found to bleach hair within satisfactory periods, a more effective bleaching mixture has been desired which increases the intensity of bleach without increasing the bleaching time.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to utilize a bleaching composition for bleaching hair at room temperature, with greatest possible color change, without increasing bleaching periods, and without damaging the hair fibers.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that enhanced bleaching of human hair at temperatures of from about 50 to about 100 F. can be obtained when employing a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (or hydrogen peroxide yielding comatom 4 Claims Patented Mar. 21, 1972 DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In carrying out the present invention, an aqueous hydro gen peroxide solution is made up containing from about 4 to 8% by weight hydrogen peroxide. The preferred solution normally contains about 6% by weight of hydrogen peroxide (on a hydrogen peroxide basis). The peroxide solution can be obtained by simply dissolving hydrogen peroxide in water or by dissolving inorganic peroxide compounds which contain peroxide oxygen and which liberate hydrogen peroxide in water. Suitable inorganic peroxy compounds are metallic peroxides of the kind which on addition to water form an alkali and generate hydrogen peroxide. Suitable salts include the alkali metal percarbonates and perborates. Sodium perborate is preferred as a solid compound which will yield hydrogen peroxide in water.

To the above solution thus prepared is then added an alkali metal or ammonium persulfate. Among the alkali metal persulfates which are suitable are the sodium and potassium persulfates. These compounds are added in amounts of from about 5 to 15% by weight of the solution. Preferably, the persulfate salt is added in amounts of at least about 10% by weight of the solution.

In the makeup of the bleaching solution, the persulfate should be added just prior to utilizing the bleaching solution for bleaching hair. Otherwise, its activation effect is lost On standing or prolonged storage. The persulfate activator which is added to the above hydrogen peroxide bleaching solution is desired because hydrogen peroxide solutions do not effectively bleach hair at room temperature, i.e., 50 to 100 F., in satisfactory periods of time. As a result, the persulfate activator increases the activity of the hydrogen peroxide solution and shortens the bleaching time. The above bleaching solution is conventionally utilized and well known in the art and forms no part of the instant invention.

In accordance with the present invention, the above solution of hydrogen peroxide and a persulfate salt is then mixed with either an ammonium or alkali metal peroxydiphosphate. The alkali metal perphosphates which are especially useful are the tetrapotassium and tetrasodium peroxydiphosphates. These peroxydiphosphate salts can be added in amounts as low as 8% by weight of the persulfate salt utilized. A preferred amount is about 20% by weight of the persulfate salt used in solution. For example, in the makeup of a liter of bleaching solution, the hydrogen peroxide would constitute about 6% or 60 grams; the alkali metal persulfate would constitute about 100 grams or about 10% of solution; and the alkali metal perphosphate would constitute about 20% of the persulfate or 20 grams of alkali metal perphosphate salt, the remainder being water.

In using the above bleaching solution on hair, a waterinsoluble thickener is generally added to the bleaching composition in order to obtain a thicker consistency for easy application to the hair. Among the suitable waterinsoluble thickeners are compounds such as calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, plaster of Paris and other inert fillers, such as talc, kaolin and bentonite. A light magnesium carbonate has been found most suitable for this purpose. Other ingredients can also be used along with the thickeners to facilitate application, such as wetting agents, solvents, buffering agents, and the like. These are termed a bleach base and use in admixture with the peroxygen compound and the activators and/or enhancers.

The pH of the bleaching solution should be maintained within 7 to 9.3, preferably within the pH range of about 8.5 to 9. This can be done by incorporating a suitable level of buffering agent, for instance a salt of a strong alkali and a Weak acid. Among the buffering compounds which can be used are ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium bisulfate, potassium hydrogen phthalate, tartaric acid, ammonium hydrogen tartrate and acid ammonium salts of polybasic inorganic and organic acids, such as for example, diammonium phosphate.

In the present bleaching system the use of buffers to adjust the pH of the bleaching composition is generally not necessary. The added peroxydiphosphate enhancer maintains the pH within the desired pH range of 7 to 9. However, if added buffers are desired, these can be added to raise or lower the pH of the bleaching mixture to specified values.

In the above embodiments of the invention, a hydrogen peroxide solution containing the added persulfate and peroxydiphosphate is made up just prior to bleaching and applied to the hair. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, a solid mixture containing a solid peroxide-containing compound, e.g., sodium perborate, is admixed with an alkali metal peroxysulfate and either ammonium or an alkali metal peroxydiphosphate. This mixture can be shipped, stored or handled in solid form as a complete bleaching mixture without the need of liquids. The mixture is stable in the dry state, easily handled and need only be added to water to form the desired peroxygen bleaching solution. This in turn may be combined with a bleach base which is a mixture of wetting agents, bufiers, thickeners, solvents, and the like, to produce the final bleaching mixture.

In another embodiment of the invention, the peroxysulfate and peroxydiphosphate components of the present bleaching mixture can be packaged together as solids without decomposing, and these in turn can be added to a peroxygen solution to form the desired bleaching mixture, along with a bleach base as described above just prior to use.

The present bleaching system has many advantages over the prior bleaching compositions. Initially, it bleaches faster than peroxide solutions containing only a persulfate activator. The peroxydiphosphate enhancer allows the composition to bleach faster and to remove more color or stain than similar bleaching systems which do not contain the peroxydiphosphate enhancer. Most importantly, the present process operates well at low temperatures, particularly at the normal ambient temperatures used in bleaching hair, i.e., about 50 to about 100 F.

Of particular importance in the present bleaching application is the fact that the present peroxydiphosphate compounds do not attack the hair or degrade it in any way, even in high concentrations. This is considered most unusual, since peroxygen activators normally cause some undesired degradation of the hair fibers during the bleaching processes. The present peroxydiphosphate enhancer is most selective in that it permits better bleaching within shorter amounts of time with no increase in the attack on the hair fibers. Also, the peroxydiphosphates are not toxic and no special handling problems present themselves in the use of these compositions.

The following examples are given to illustrate the present invention and are not deemed to be limiting thereof.

EXAMPLE 1 Run A-Process of the invention A bleach base was made up containing the following ingredients:

Ingredients: Percent by weight Propylene glycol 15 Oleic acid 40 Stearyl amine 20 Isopropanol .15 Ammonium hydroxide (28%) An activator mixture was also made up separate from the bleach base containing the following ingredients:

Ingredients: Percent by weight Ammonium peroxydisulfate Tetrapotassium peroxydiphosphate 20 To 8 ml. of an aqueous 6% hydrogen peroxide solution was added 4 ml. of the above bleach base and 1.25 g. of the activator mixture, as set forth above. The resulting composition was thoroughly blended and was applied to 0.2 g. of standard black hair. The composition was allowed to remain in contact with the hair at room temperature (25 C.) for 30 minutes. At the end of this period, the hair sample was rinsed with water and dried. The hair sample was found to be well bleached and when examined under a microscope was not found to be degraded.

The hair sample of Run A was then compared with the hair sample of Run B as set forth hereinafter, and was found to be of a lighter color than the hair bleached with the same mixture in which the peroxydiphosphate was omitted. Upon examination of both hair sample s, neither showed any damage to the hair fibers.

Run BProcess of the prior art The same procedure as in Run A was carried out except that in place of the activator mixture only ammonium peroxydisulfate was used in the amount of 1.25 grams. The resulting hair sample was notably darker than that bleached by the procedure in Run A in which the tetrapotassium peroxidiphosphate was used as an activator.

EXAMPLE 2 The procedure of Example 1, Run A was repeated using potassium peroxydisulfate and sodium peroxydiphosphate with exactly the same results.

EXAMPLE 3 The procedure of Example 1, Run A was repeated except that in place of the aqueous 6% hydrogen peroxide solution 7.4 g. of perborate tetrahydrate containing 10.6% active oxygen was used in 8 ml. water. The aqueous perborate mixture was then mixed with the activator mixture of Example 1, Run A to form the bleaching composition. On applying this bleaching composition to 0.2 g. of standard black hair, for 30 minutes at room temperature, the bleached hair was found to be of substantially the same color as that set forth in Example 1, Run A.

While the present application has been illustrated by bleaching human hair, it is to be understood that all keratinous fibers can be bleached in an identical fashion including wool, furs, feathers, and the like. Accordingly, the bleaching of all such keratinous fibers using the present peroxydiphosphate activator is expressly within the scope of the present invention.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Patent Statutes, the principle of this invention has been explained and exemplified in a manner so that it can be readily practiced by those skilled in the art, such exemplification including what is considered to represent the best embodiment of the invention. However, it should be clearly understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced by those skilled in the art, and having the benefit of this disclosure otherwise than as specifically described and exemplified herein.

What is claimed is:

1. In the process of bleaching a member selected from the group consisting of human hair and keratinous fibers at temperatures of about 50 to F. by contacting said member with a composition containing as essential ingredients, an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and a member selected from the group consisting of ammonium persulfate and alkali metal persulfate, the improvement which comprises carrying out said bleaching in the presence of an effective amount of a member selected from 5 the group consisting of ammonium peroxydiphosphate and an alkali metal peroxydiphosphate.

2. Process of claim 1 in which a member selected from the group consisting of ammonium peroxydiphosphate and alkali metal perxydiphosphate is employed in amounts of at least about 8% by weight of the compound selected from the group consisting of ammonium persulfate and alkali metal per sulfate.

3. Process of claim 1 wherein the material being bleached is human hair.

4. A composition for bleaching human hair at temperatures from about 50 to about 100 R, which contains as the essential elements, hydrogen peroxide in amounts of 4 to 8% by weight, a member selected from the group consisting of ammonium persulfate and alkali metal persulfate in amounts of 5 to 15% by weight, and a member selected from the group consisting of ammonium peroxydiphosphate and alkali metal peroxydiphosphate in amounts of .5 to 3.0% by weight, all said essential elements being dissolved in an aqueous medium.

References Cited 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,077,103 4/1937 Franz -8-l1l.5 3,193,464 7/1965 Edman et a1. 424-62 3,218,234 11/1965 Wilmsmann et a1. 424-62 X 10 3,378,444 4/1968 Swanson 424-62 OTHER REFERENCES Hackhs Chemical Dictionary, 3rd ed., The Blakiston Co., Philadelphia, Pa., (1944), p. 634.

' ALBERT T. MEYERS, Primary Examiner V. C. CLARK-E, Assistant Examiner