​​Soaps & detergents

When the hard and soft surfaces in our homes need to be clean and fresh, surfactants do much of the work in household cleaning products. Eastman intermediates are used to make many of the high-performance surfactants that go into dish liquids, spray cleaners, laundry detergents, and fabric softeners—household products that consumers use every day.

Eastman DIMLA is converted into grease-cutting alkyl amine oxides and alkyl betaines or disinfecting quaternary ammonium compounds. Amine oxides and alkyl betaines are chlorine-bleach compatible for tough jobs in the kitchen and bathroom. They can be synergistic with anionic surfactants and can be formulated within a wide pH range. Betaines and amine oxides are compatible with anionic surfactants in the pH range of most home care formulations.

DIMLA 12 mainly contains alkyldimethylamines with a chain length C12. The alkyl chain is from a vegetable source.

DIMLA 14 mainly contains alkyldimethylamines with a chain length C14. The alkyl chain is from a vegetable source.

DIMLA 1214 mainly contains alkyldimethylamines with chain length C12 (65%-75%) and C14 (21%–30%). The alkyl chain is from a vegetable source.

DIMLA 1214 RSPO MB is similar to DIMLA 1214. This grade is made from palm oil that complies with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Mass Balance supply chain model.

Eastman DMAPA is a key intermediate in amidopropyl amine oxide, amidopropyl betaine (e.g., CAPB), and hydroxysultaine amphoteric surfactants that are tough on greasy soil while being gentle to skin. Amine oxides are famous for their exceptional grease-cutting powers. Amphoteric surfactants also function in dish liquids to thicken the formula so that it clings to surfaces and stabilize foam, even in the presence of oil and in hard water. Betaines are uncharged at neutral pH but will exhibit a positive charge in extremely low pH conditions. This property allows them to be compatible in formulations with anionic surfactants in the pH range of most home care formulations. Betaine surfactants are generally very mild to skin and mucous membranes. Amphoteric co-surfactants like betaines can also increase the mildness of the formulation by reducing irritation associated with purely ionic surfactants. Alkyl hydroxysultaines have been long known to have even lower skin irritation potential than corresponding betaines. CAPB is one of the few amphoterics that show an increase in foam density and stability in hard water. Cocamidopropyl betaine also is widely used in liquid hand soaps as a secondary surfactant to complement primary surfactants such as SLS, SLES, and sulfosuccinates. CAPB is also a common co-surfactant in car wash liquids, used because it is both high-foaming and mild to the automotive top-coat.

Eastman Probenz™ sodium benzoate can extend the shelf life of home care formulations. It is especially effective in products formulated at neutral to acidic pH. Most home care products are water-based formulas. Water and other ingredients that may serve as a carbon source provide an environment friendly to microbial growth. Sodium benzoate has been used as a food preservative for many years and is seeing wider use in home care formulations, especially as an alternative to preservatives under pressure from regulatory or consumer groups. Sodium benzoate is categorized as a preservative of “low concern” on the U.S. EPA Safer Chemicals Ingredient List.