George Christopher Sawicki

Silicone polymers as foam control agents

Over the last decade, the European detergent industry has made tremendous strides to meet the everchanging demands of both consumers and regulatory bodies for improved detergent formulations. This has resulted in changes to almost every component of the traditional formulation, from the active system and the builder system to special nondetergent benefits. However, the magnitude of most of these improvements is dependent on effective foam control throughout the wash cycle, because European washing machines are lather intolerant. Optimum detergency can be achieved only when foam is controlled and the fabric is immersed in the wash liquor.In order to implement these formulation changes, the industry has sought improved foam control systems that are more effective than the traditional soap system. One such system is based on polydimethyl siloxane polymers. With proper formulation, these polymers provide performance over a wide temperature range and in a broad range of novel detergent formulations. Equally important is that they function at very low addition levels, thereby creating the formulation latitude for the inclusion of other wash active materials.The performance of these foam control agents in the detergent formulation is dependent on the method of incorporation. It is only with the advent of suitable processing techniques that such materials have become cost-effective ingredients in new European detergent formulations. Finally, they represent a safe alternative as exhaustive testing over the past 30 years has established these materials as essentially innocuous and free of any significant toxicity.