University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1912-12-02
CLOTH THAT WON'T WEAR OUT
Here's What May Happen If Scientists Sue
ceed in Making Goods That Will
Last Forever
Last Forever.

! vate conversations with the noted
ichemist on the subject. He had OBJ
tanned from Mr.. Perkin a number of
| pieces of cloth which had been SO
treated and used them to illustrate
his talk before the Chemical Society
here.
Cotton flannel as every one
knows said Professor Trowbridge.
lis the most inflammable of all cotton
goods because of the nap which at
tracts and carries the flame across
the surface of the goods with almost
incredible rapidity. This very nap,
however, is indispensable for pur-
I poses of warmth. The minute fibers
of carded cotton which distinguish it
from any smoothly-woven material
makes a layer of warm air between
the skin and the goods which serves
rs non-conductor, and increases
several times the warmth of the gar
ment. The problem, then, in making
fireproof cotton flannel would be
| to treat it in such a way that the
rap of the goods would not be de-
strOyed.
Problem Confronting Chemists.
/ "As cotton goods are made to be
sent to the laundry time after time,
and as children's clothes especially
require this, the treatment must be
one that would not be removed by
repeated washings with hot water
and strong soap. Then the chemi-
cal used must not injure the color
of the goods, nor it's softness or fiex-
ibility. 1t must be some chemical
that would not iniure by contact with
the skin, must have no odor, and must
not make the goods dusty after a
little wear.
More than 10000 different expert
ments were made by Mr.. Perkin be-
fore he discovered a substance which
would meet all these requirements.
Several times he thought he had
found the right substance, but it
would be soluble in water, and after
the material had been laundered. it
was as inflammable as if it had never
been treated. At last he succeeded in
making this most inflammable cotton
material as non-inflammable as
wooden.
This was the way he did it. The
cloth, after weaving and before dye
ing, is run through solution of So
dunn stannate, till it is thoroughly
saturated. 1t is then wrung out and
passed over heated copper drums to
remove the excess of the solution and
dry at will. Then it is run through
n solution of ammonium sulpbate, and
again squeezed and dried.
Compound Of Tin Used.
Sodium stannate is a compound of
practically fireproof, add to the soft
ness of it's feel and make it wear
20 per cent longer than it would
otherwise.
''The cost of the tin is over a
thousand dollars a ton but in the
commercial use of it in treating cot
ton goods, it adds only about cents
a yard to the cost of the cloth" I
Professor Trowbridge picked up
some of the pieces of cloth which had
been treated with the tin, and some
which had not been treated. He
lighted match and applied ii to a
piece of the ordinary goods. 1t
famed up instantly, the blaze was all
over it in another second, and he had
TO drop it hastily to keep his fingers
from being burned. He touched the
match to piece of the same material
which had been treated with the tin.
1t would not ignite, and the result of
repeated matches held to it was only
TO blacken the nap around the edge
a little. One piece which had been
only partly saturated with the tin,
smoldered and burned slowly, but
was easily shaken out.
Professor Trowbridge also had a
piece of a dress which had been
treated with tin, had been worn for
two years, washed every week. and
was still practically fire-proof. This
dress had been exhibited by Mr.. Per
kin in New York who, unable to de-
stroy it by fire, had cut it up into
small bits and given them to the Wis
iting chemists for proof of the worth
Of his eXnerimentatiOn.