| abstract |
A fabric softening composition comprises an aqueous base, a cationic fabric softener, lanolin and a viscosity control agent selected from electrolytes, polymers such as polyethylene glycol, C<sub>12</sub>-C<sub>40</sub> hydrocarbons and halogen derivatives, C<sub>9</sub>-C<sub>24</sub> fatty acids, fatty acid esters of monohydric alcohols, C<sub>10</sub>-C<sub>18</sub> fatty alcohols or water miscible solvents. Preferred compositions contain 0.5-30% cationic softener, 0.25-40% lanolin (with a cationic softener to lanolin ratio of 20:1 to 1:20) and 0.5-50% viscosity control agent. The lanolin may be replaced by a lanolin-like material such as derivatives thereof or one or more of the active constituents of lanolin either extracted therefrom or derived from other sources. The viscosity of the compositions is generally less than 300 cP, such as 150-250 cP. The presence of lanolin enables concentrated products to be formed, particularly containing more than 10% lanolin. |