Hydrophilic
siloxane copolymers are prepared by (a) reacting organopolysiloxanes having at least one Si-bonded
hydrogen atom with substantially linear oligomeric or polymeric compounds of formulaR1-(A-CnH2n)m-A1-H (I)where R1 is a monovalent optionally substituted, hydrosilylatable hydrocarbyl radical, A is a bivalent polar organic radical selected from —O—, —C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)—, —O—C(O)—O—, —C(O)—NH—, —NH—C(O)—, urethane radicals and
urea radicals, A1 is a bivalent polar organic radical selected from —O—, —NH— and —NR′—, n is an integer from 1 to 20, and m is zero or a positive integer, (b) reacting the resulting intermediate with organic compounds which have two or more
isocyanate groups, in the presence of further organic compounds (6) reactive toward
isocyanate groups and containing at least one
tertiary amine group, and (c) quaternizing the amino-group-containing intermediate from step (b) with an alkylating agent (8), with the proviso that the
water content of the compounds (1) and (2) is lower than 2000 weight ppm.