Abstract: The invention relates to tissue products having improved softness properties and methods of making them. Specifically, improved softness is achieved by incorporating one or more softeners/debonders into the fiber furnish at the wet end of the tissue machine prior to formation, followed by a topical treatment with one or more softeners/debonders after the tissue web is dried. The result is a tissue product with added bulk and a smooth surface feel, both properties contributing to improved softness characteristics.

Abstract: The invention consists of soft, bulky tissue products that result from the presence of a debonder/softening agent in the outer layers of the tissue and creping under "closed" pocket conditions. The debonder/softening agents belong to a group of organic chemicals that include several imidazolinium quaternary compounds. These chemicals do not adversely interfere with adhesion, unlike most debonders, to the drying surface of the tissue machine. They can, therefore, be placed in the outer layers of the tissue that contact the dryer surface and improve creping. The tissue can then be creped off of the drying surface using a closed pocket, that is a pocket angle of less than 80 degrees. The closed pocket creping normally produces a thicker, less dense tissue but with coarse crepe. Closed pocket creping and the presence of most debonders in the dryer side layers would be expected to also produce coarse crepe structures.