Gel cleaning composition

1. A cleaning composition comprising:

(a) about 15 to 40 wt. % of an ethoxylated alcohol having an average of about 20 to 50 ethoxy units;

(b) about 3 to 15 wt. % of a polymeric alkylene oxide block copolymer;

(c) about 1.5 to 10 wt. % of an oxygenated hydrocarbon co-hardening agent, which comprises an alkyl ester of a C 10 -C 22 fatty acid, a C 10 -C 22 aliphatic alcohol and/or a C 10 -C 22 aliphatic alcohol ethoxylate with no more than about 1 mole average degree of ethoxylation; and

(d) at least about 25 wt. % water;

wherein the composition is a self-adhesive gel having a hardness at 22° C. of at least about 200 g and a gel melt temperature of about 50 to 90° C.; and the oxygenated hydrocarbon co-hardening agent has a solubility in water of less than about 0.1 wt. %.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the ethoxylated alcohol comprises ethoxylated C 16 -C 30 linear aliphatic alcohol; and the polymeric alkylene oxide block copolymer comprises an ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the ethoxylated alcohol is an ethoxylated C 16 -C 30 linear aliphatic alcohol;

the polymeric alkylene oxide block copolymer is an ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer; and

(c) the oxygenated hydrocarbon co-hardening agent comprises the fatty acid alkyl ester.

4. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer comprises an EO-PO-EO block copolymer and/or a C 10 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol-EO-PO block copolymer and/or a C 10 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol-PO-EO block copolymer.

5. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer has an average molecular weight of about 600 to 5,000.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises mineral oil, naphthenic oil, and/or paraffin oil.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the oxygenated hydrocarbon co-hardening agent has a flash point of at least about 90° C.

8. The composition of claim 1 further comprising one or more of:

(e) polyol humectant;

(f) a fragrance component;

(g) a nonionic surfactant, which is different from the ethoxylated alcohol or the ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer;

(h) a natural gum or synthetic polymer resin;

(i) anionic, cationic, zwitterionic and/or amphoteric surfactant; and

(j) one or more cleaning adjuvant materials selected from the group consisting of antimicrobial agent(s), water-soluble dye(s), pigment(s), complexing agent(s), surface modifying polymer(s), preservative agent(s), enzyme(s), bleach(es), pH adjusting agent(s), anti-scale forming agent(s), abrasive(s), dispersant(s), and solvent(s).

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the ethoxylated alcohol comprises an ethoxylated C 16 -C 22 linear aliphatic alcohol having an average of about 20 to 40 ethylene oxide units.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is a gel having a hardness of at least about 225 g and a gel melt temperature of about 55-75° C.

11. The composition of claim 1 wherein the composition is self-adhering upon application to a hard surface.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein (a) the ethoxylated alcohol comprises an ethoxylated C 16 -C 22 fatty alcohol having an average of about 20 to 40 ethylene oxide units;

(b) the polymeric alkylene oxide block copolymer has an average molecular weight of about 600 to 5,000 and comprises an EO-PO-EO block copolymer, a C 10 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol-EO-PO block copolymer and/or a C 10 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol-PO-EO block copolymer; and

(c) the oxygenated hydrocarbon co-hardening agent has a flash point of at least about 90° C., and comprises one or more C 1 -C 6 alkyl esters of a C 10 -C 22 fatty acid.

13. The composition of claim 12 , wherein the ethoxylated C 16 -C 22 linear aliphatic alcohol is a peaked ethoxylated C 16 -C 22 linear aliphatic alcohol.

14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition includes no more than about 0.5 wt. % polyethylene glycol.

15. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising a cationic surfactant.

16. A cleaning composition comprising:

(a) about 15 to 40 wt. % of an ethoxylated C 14 -C 30 linear aliphatic alcohol having an average of about 20 to 50 ethylene oxide units;

(b) about 3 to 10 wt. % ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer;

(c) about 1.5 to 5 wt. % of a co-hardening agent comprising an alkyl ester of a C 10 -C 22 fatty acid, a C 10 -C 22 aliphatic alcohol and/or a C 10 -C 22 aliphatic alcohol ethoxylate with no more than about 1 mole average degree of ethoxylation;

(d) at least about 40 wt. % water; and

(e) about 2 to 6 wt. % of an ethoxylated C 8 -C 15 alcohol having an average of 5 to 15 ethylene oxide units;

wherein the composition is a self-adhesive gel having a hardness at 22° C. of at least about 200 g and a gel melt temperature of about 50 to 90° C.; and the co-hardening agent has a solubility in water of less than about 0.1 wt. %.

17. The composition of claim 16 , wherein the co-hardening agent comprises one or more C 1 -C 6 alkyl esters of a C 10 -C 22 fatty acid and has a flash point of at least about 90° C.

18. The composition of claim 17 , wherein the cleaning gel comprises:

(a) about 15 to 30 wt. % of an ethoxylated C 14 -C 22 fatty alcohol having an average of about 20 to 40 ethylene oxide units;

(c) about 1.5 to 3 wt. % of the co-hardening agent;

and further comprises:

(f) about 1 to 10 wt. % polyol humectant; and

(e) about 1 to 10 wt. % fragrance.

19. The composition of claim 18 , wherein the gel has a hardness at 22° C. of at least about 225 g and a gel melt temperature of about 55 to 75° C.

20. A cleaning composition comprising:

(a) about 15 to 40 wt. % of a polyalkoxy nonionic surfactant, which comprises ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymer and ethoxylated C 14 -C 30 aliphatic alcohol having an average of about 15 to 50 ethylene oxide units;

(b) about 1.5 to 10 wt. % co-hardening agent, which includes an alkyl ester of a C 10 -C 22 aliphatic carboxylic acid, wherein the co-hardening agent has a water solubility of no more than about 0.1 wt. % and a flash point of at least about 90° C.; and

(c) at least about 25 wt. % water; and

(d) optionally about 2 to 6 wt. % of an ethoxylated C 8 -C 15 alcohol having an average of 5 to 15 ethylene oxide units;

wherein the composition is a self-adhesive gel having a melt temperature of about 50 to 90° C. and a hardness at 22° C. of at least about 200 g.

21. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the polyalkoxy nonionic surfactant has an average of at least about 15 alkylene oxide units.

22. The composition of claim 21 , wherein the ethoxylated C 14 -C 30 aliphatic alcohol is an ethoxylated C 14 -C 22 fatty alcohol.

23. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the co-hardening agent further comprises mineral oil, naphthenic oil, paraffin oil, a C 12 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol, and/or a C 10 -C 18 aliphatic alcohol ethoxylate with an average degree of ethoxylation of no more than about 1.

24. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the alkyl ester of the C 10 -C 22 aliphatic carboxylic acid comprises isopropyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, isopropyl palmitate, n-butyl myristate, n-hexyl laurate, ethyl stearate, isopropyl stearate, n-butyl laurate and/or ethyl oleate.

25. The composition of claim 20 , further comprising:

(e) about 2 to 10 wt. % polyol humectant; and

(f) about 1 to 10 wt. % of a fragrance component.

26. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the alkyl ester co-hardening agent comprises a C 2 -C 6 alkyl ester of a C 10 -C 18 fatty acid.

27. The composition of claim 20 , further comprising a cationic surfactant.

28. The composition of claim 20 , comprising:

(a) about 15 to 30 wt. % ethoxylated C14-C22 fatty alcohol having an average of about 15 to 40 ethylene oxide units;

(b) about 0.5 to 5 wt. % of the co-hardening agent;

(c) at least about 40 wt. % water; and

(d) about 1-10 wt. % polyol humectant.

29. The composition of claim 20 , further comprising about 2 to 6 wt. % of an ethoxylated C 8 -C 15 alcohol having an average of 5 to 12 ethylene oxide units.

30. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the composition contains less than about 0.1 wt. % anionic surfactant.

31. The composition of claim 16 , wherein the composition contains less than about 0.1 wt. % anionic surfactant.