Wipe Coated with a Botanical Composition having Antimicrobial Properties

• Main Authors: SCHOLL NEIL T, LEE JAEHONG, TOPOLKARAEV VASILY A, KOENIG DAVID W, WANG JAMES H, KIM YOUNGSOOK
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.06.2012
• Subjects: AGRICULTURE; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; APPLYING LIQUIDS OR OTHER FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES, AS HERBICIDES; FISHING; FORESTRY; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HUNTING; HYGIENE; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS; PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES; PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTSTHEREOF; PROCESSES FOR APPLYING LIQUIDS OR OTHER FLUENT MATERIALS TOSURFACES, IN GENERAL; SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; TRANSPORTING; TRAPPING

A wipe that contains a fibrous web on which is coated an antimicrobial composition is provided. The composition includes a botanical oil derived from a plant (e.g., thymol, carvacrol, etc.). Because the botanical oil is volatile and tends to evaporate and lose efficacy during storage and prior to use, a protein is also employed in the composition to enhance long term stability of the oil and, in turn, its antimicrobial efficacy. The protein is "film-forming" in the sense that it tends to form a substantially continuous film when coated onto a surface of the fibrous web. Because such proteins are typically stiff and brittle in nature, a continuous film would restrict the ability of the fibers to move and bend, thereby reducing web flexibility and drape. Thus, it is typically desired that the antimicrobial composition form a discontinuous coating on the fibrous web. In this regard, the present inventors have surprisingly discovered that the addition of an organopolysiloxane can help achieve such a discontinuous coating without adversely impacting the ability of the protein to stabilize the botanical oil. The organopolysiloxane may also enhance the softness and overall handfeel of the wipe.