Pre-moistened wipe comprising polymeric biguanide for treating a surface

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pre-moistened wipe for treating a surface, said pre-moistened wipe comprising: (a) a substrate; wherein said substrate is substantially free of a binder or latex material and said; and (b) a composition applied to said substrate, said composition having (i) a pH of about 7 or less and comprising (ii) at least about one surfactant; and (iii) a polymeric biguanide.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A pre-moistened wipe for treating a surface, said pre-moistened wipe comprising: 
 (a) a substrate; wherein said substrate is substantially free of a binder or latex material; and    (b) an aqueous composition applied to said substrate, said composition having a pH of about 7 or less; and comprising: 
 (i) at least one surfactant; and  
 (ii) a polymeric biguanide.  
   
     
     
         2 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said substrate is made by a hydroentangling process.  
     
     
         3 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said surfactant is an alkyl polyglycoside, wherein said substrate comprises at least about 50% synthetic fibers by weight and wherein the pH of said composition is from about 5 to about 7.  
     
     
         4 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said composition comprises an organic acid.  
     
     
         5 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 4  wherein said organic acid is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 5  wherein said organic acid is citric acid.  
     
     
         7 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said surfactant is a low-residue surfactant.  
     
     
         8 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 7  wherein said low-residue surfactant is selected from the group consisting of zwitterionic, amphoteric surfactants, non-ionic surfactants comprising at least one sugar moiety and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         9 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 8  wherein said low-residue surfactant is selected from the group consisting of sulfobetaines, ampho glycinates, ampho propionates, betaines, poly alkyl glycosides, sucrose esters and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         10 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 9  wherein said low-residue surfactant is selected from the group consisting of sulfobetaines, poly alkyl glycosides, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         11 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkyl ethoxylates, capped alkyl ethoxylates and mixtures thereof, wherein said surfactant comprises from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms in the hydrophobic chain-length, and an average of about 1 to about 15 ethoxy moieties per surfactant molecule.  
     
     
         12 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said polymeric biguanide is selected from the group consisting of oligo-hexamethylene biguanide, poly-hexamethylene biguanide, salts thereof and a mixture thereof.  
     
     
         13 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 12  wherein said polymeric biguanide is poly(hexamethylene biguanide) hydrochloride.  
     
     
         14 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein the level of said acidifying agent is from about 0.01% to about 3% by weight; the level of said surfactant is from about 0.01% to about 1.5% by weight; the level of said polymeric biguanide is from about 0.01% to about 2% by weight; and the pH of said composition is from about 0.5 to about 7.  
     
     
         15 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 14  wherein the level of said acidifying agent is from about 0.05% to about 2% by weight; the level of said surfactant is from about 0.01% to about 1.0% by weight; the level of polymeric biguanide is from about 0.01% to about 1.0% by weight; and the pH of said composition is from about 2.0 to about 5.5.  
     
     
         16 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 15  wherein the level of said acidifying agent is from about 0.1% to about 1% by weight; the level of surfactant is from about 0.01% to about 0.5% by weight; the level of said polymeric biguanide is from about 0.02% to about 0.75% by weight; and the pH of the aqueous composition is from about 2.5 to about 5.  
     
     
         17 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein the total level of solids does not exceed about 3% by weight of said composition.  
     
     
         18 . A pre-moistened wipe according to  claim 1  that further comprising from about 0.5% to about 25% by weight of a solvent.  
     
     
         19 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 18  wherein said solvent has a vapour pressure of about 6.66 Pa (about 0.05 mm Hg at 25° C. and atmospheric pressure).  
     
     
         20 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  that further comprising an hydrotrope.  
     
     
         21 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 20  wherein said hydrotrope is an alkyl ethoxylates comprising from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms in the hydrophobic group and at least an average of about 15 ethoxylate groups per hydrophobic group.  
     
     
         22 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said substrate is loaded at a factor of from about 1 gram of aqueous solution per gram of substrate to about 10 grams of aqueous solution per gram of substrate.  
     
     
         23 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said substrate comprises an homogeneous blend of synthetic and non-synthetic fibers.  
     
     
         24 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein said substrate comprises a non-homogeneous blend of fibers such that at least one of the visible surface areas of the substrate has a significantly higher synthetic content than the overall substrate composition.  
     
     
         25 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1  wherein the synthetic content by weight of the overall substrate is at least about 20% preferably at least about 30%.  
     
     
         26 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 25  wherein said synthetic material is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         27 . The pre-moistened wipe of  claim 1 , wherein said composition provides antimicrobial benefits.  
     
     
         28 . A method of cleaning a surface, comprising the steps of: 
 contacting said surface with a pre-moistened wipe according to  claim 1 , and wiping said surface with said wipe.