Alcohols in liquid cleaning compositions to remove stains from surfaces

1. A method of removing hydrophobic stains from a hard surface, comprising the steps of:

a) optionally pre-wetting the hard surface having a hydrophobic stain;

b) applying a liquid cleaning composition having a pH of less than 10 and comprising a surfactant and an alcohol comprising an alkyl mono-glycerol, wherein the alkyl mono-glycerol is selected from the group consisting of ethylhexylglycerol, propylheptylglycerol, and mixtures thereof;

c) rinsing or wiping the hard surface with water; and

d) removing the hydrophobic stain from the hard surface.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the liquid cleaning composition is applied using a spray.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the liquid cleaning composition is left on the hard surface for at least 15 seconds before rinsing or wiping the hard surface.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the alcohol further comprises a C4-C6 linear mono-alcohol selected from the group consisting of pentanol, hexanol, and mixtures thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the alcohol further comprises a branched C4-C10 mono-alcohol.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the alcohol further comprises a branched C4-C8 mono-alcohol.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the composition further comprises a glycol ether solvent selected from the group consisting of glycol ethers of:

i. Formula I: R 1 O(R 2 O) n R 3 ;

ii. Formula II: R 4 O(R 5 O) m R 6 ; and

iii. mixtures thereof;

wherein:

R 1 is a linear or branched C 4 , C 5 or C 6 alkyl or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl,

R 2 is ethyl or isopropyl, R 3 is hydrogen or methyl, and n is 1, 2 or 3;

R 4 is n-propyl or isopropyl, R 5 is isopropyl, R 6 is hydrogen or methyl and m is 1, 2 or 3.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the composition further comprises a cyclic amine.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the composition further comprises a cleaning amine selected from the group consisting of:

i. polyetheramines of Formula (I), Formula (II), Formula (III):

wherein each of R 1 -R 12 is independently selected from H, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, or arylalkyl, wherein at least one of R 1 -R 6 and at least one of R 7 -R 12 is different from H, each of A 1 -A 9 is independently selected from linear or branched alkylenes having about 2 to about 18 carbon atoms, each of Z 1 -Z 4 is independently selected from OH or NH 2 , wherein at least one of Z 1 -Z 2 and at least one of Z 3 -Z 4 is NH 2 , wherein the sum of x+y is in the range of about 2 to about 200, wherein x≥1 and y≥1, and the sum of x 1 +y 1 is in the range of about 2 to about 200, wherein x 1 ≥1 and y 1 ≥1;

wherein: R is selected from H or a C1-C6 alkyl group, each of k 1 , k 2 , and k 3 is independently selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, each of A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 , and A 6 is independently selected from a linear or branched alkylene group having from about 2 to about 18 carbon atoms or mixtures thereof, x≥1, y≥1, and z≥1, and the sum of x+y+z is in the range of from about 3 to about 100, each of Z 1 , Z 2 , and Z 3 is independently selected from NH 2 or OH, where at least two of Z 1 , Z 2 , and Z 3 are NH 2 ; and the polyetheramine has a weight average molecular weight of from about 150 to about 1000 grams/mole;

ii. amines of Formula (1)

wherein: R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , and R 5 are independently selected from —H, linear, branched or cyclic alkyl or alkenyl having from about 1 to about 10 carbon atoms and n=0-3;

iii. amines of Formula (2):

wherein R 1 and R 4 are independently selected from —H, linear, branched or cyclic alkyl or alkenyl having from about 1 to about 10 carbon atoms; and R 2 is a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl or alkenyl having from about 3 to about 10 carbons, R 3 is a linear or branched alkyl from about 3 to about 6 carbon atoms, R 5 is H, methyl or ethyl and n=0-3;

iv. the amine of Formula (3)

and

v. mixtures thereof.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the surfactant comprises a nonionic surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkoxylated nonionic surfactants, alkyl polyglycosides, amine oxides, and mixture thereof.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the surfactant comprises an anionic surfactant and an amphoteric and/or a zwitterionic surfactant wherein the anionic surfactant and the amphoteric and/or the zwitterionic surfactant are in a weight ratio of from about 4:1 to about 3:1.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the surfactant comprises an anionic surfactant and wherein the anionic surfactant is an alkyl alkoxylated sulphate.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the surfactant comprises an amphoteric surfactant and wherein the amphoteric surfactant comprises at least 60% by weight of an amine oxide surfactant.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein the surfactant comprises an amphoteric and a zwitterionic surfactant wherein the amphoteric and the zwitterionic surfactant are in a weight ratio of from about 2:1 to about 1:2.

15. The method according to claim 8 wherein the cyclic amine is selected from the group consisting of 1, 3-bis(methylamine)-cyclohexane, 2-methylcyclohexane-1,3-diamine, 4-methylcyclohexane-1,3-diamine and mixtures thereof.