Industrial Chemists, Please?

[Earl S. Dunlap, Jr.]

Bill:

"Cationics" are opposed to "Anionics."  In this use you can consider
cationics to be surface active organic salts that have a hydrocarbon chain
with a positive charge coupled to an anion of some acid, e.g. sulfuric or
hydrochloric.  The hydrocarbon chain will be attracted to cationic groups on
the amino acid wool, -COOH (carboxylic acid) groups.

These compounds, depending upon the hydrocarbon chain lengths & structure
can convey waxiness & lubricity.  They also tend to be humectants (draw
water).  

I would expect the commercial textile softeners to be water
solutions/suspensions.

They don't really change the chemical known as "wool."  They draw water from
the air which tends to soften, and they attach fairly strongly to the wool
adding lubricity if their hydrocarbon chain is on the long side.

BTW (1) Some people are allergic to them.  
         (2) Some of the cationics are active germicidally.
         (3) Some softeners aren't cationics.
         (4) There can also be suspended waxes in the commercial products.
         (5) "Soap" is an "anionic," the salt of a long-chain hydrocarbon
and an alkalie, e.g. sodium hydroxide.
         (6) Once on, perhaps not so easily off!


I hope this helps a bit rather than makes your eyes glaze over, Bill.

Earl

---

At 10:13 PM 30-06-99 -0400, you wrote:
>Who's got as brother-in-law who is an industrial chemist? Or which
>institutional tehcnician here has a friend over in the chem department?
>
>What are "cationics", apparently a family of "softeners" listed on a jug of
>Snuggle. Do they actually soften fiber, or do they just lubricate the
>flexing of the fibers in the matt. (We're talking your dense-type hammer
>felts.) The solids in Snuggle show up to be a soft waxy film, when you let
>a puddle evaporate on a mirror. The solids stick remarkably well to the
>mirror. Any isoproyl alcohol evaporates within the first minute, and from
>then on it might as well be pure Snuggle straight from the bottle, left to
>evaporate.
>
>Bill Ballard, RPT
>New Hampshire Chapter, PTG
>
>"Lady, this piano is what it is, I am what I am, and you are what you are"
>	From a recurring nightmare.
>
>
>
Earl S. Dunlap, Jr.
Technical Director
Bacon Felt Co., Inc.

dunlapes@ici.net
dunlapesjr@juno.com