Abstract: The invention provides a fabric softening composition comprising;

Abstract: A softening compound comprises a derivative of a cyclic polyol or a derivative of a reduced saccharide having, on average, 30 to 80% of its hydroxyl groups esterified and/or etherified, one or more long chain C8 to C22 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl groups and one or more quaternary ammonium group, the C8 to C22 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl group(s) being attached to an ester or ether group. Preferably the compound has two or more ester and/or ether groups. A fabric softening composition comprises from 1 to 80 wt % of the softening compound, based on the total weight of the composition. A method for forming such compounds comprises reacting a cyclic polyol or a reduced saccharide with a fatty acid and a halogen alkyl acid chloride to form an, at least partly, esterified cyclic polyol or reduced saccharide and then quaternising the esterified compound so as to form a CPED or RSED comprising a quaternary ammonium group.

Abstract: A fabric softening composition comprising a compound of formula I ##STR1## in which R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are independently selected from C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl groups or C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkenyl groups, a is from 1 to 4, x.sup.- is a compatible anion and R.sup.4 and R.sup.5 are independently selected from C.sub.12 -C.sub.22 alkyl or alkenyl groups, the sum of the chain lengths or R.sup.4 and R.sup.5 preferably being at least 30.