Generally speaking, the present invention is a water-soluble copolymer
film comprising a hydrolyzed copolymer of vinyl acetate and a second monomer, the
resultant polyvinyl alcohol copolymer having a degree of hydrolysis, expressed
as a percentage of vinyl acetate units converted to vinyl alcohol units, of from
about 90% to 100%. The second monomer is preferably selected from the group of
monomers having carboxylate functionality or sulfonate functionality. The resulting
water-soluble copolymer film is disclosed for use in making pouches to contain
a unit dose of liquid detergent, such as a liquid laundry detergent. However, it
is an aspect of the copolymer film that film solubility is not significantly affected
adversely by the detergent. Such film produces pouches having a greater storage
shelf-life over prior art water-soluble film.