A METHOD OF MAKING ASHES AND LEES FROM STRAW, TURF, LIME, DUNG, DIRT OF THE STREET, SOPERS' WAST LEES, POTATOE HULM, TANNERS' WASTE, BLEACHERS' WAST, AND ALL SORTS OF WEEDS AND VEGETABLES, FOR THE USE OF SOAP MAKERS, BLEACHERS, AND ALL OTHERS MAKING USE OF ASHES AND LEES, WHICH WOULD BE OF PUBLICK UTILITY
Year: 1783

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HEYS, of Freckleton, in the County of Lancaster, Soapmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS I, the said John Heys, did, by my Petition, humbly represent
to His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Third that, after
much application and many tryals, attended with expence, I had at last
invented and brought to perfection "A METHOD OF MAKING ASHES AND LEES
FROM STRAW, TURF, LIME, DUNG, DIRT OF THE STREET, SOPERS' WAST LEES,
POTATOE HULM, TANNERS' WASTE, BLEACHERS' WAST, AND ALL SORTS OF WEEDS
AND VEGETABLES, FOR THE USE OF SOAP MAKERS, BLEACHERS, AND ALL OTHERS
MAKING USE OF ASHES AND LEES, WHICH WOULD BE OF PUBLICK UTILITY;"
whereof in regard I was the first and true Inventer thereof, and that the same
had not been made use of by any other person or persons, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, I therefore most humbly prayed His said. Majesty. that
He would be graciously pleased to grant unto me, the said John Heys, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, His Royal Letters Patent for the sole
use and benefit of my said Invention within that part of His said Majesty's
Kingdom of Great Britain called England, His Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, for the term of fourteen years, according to:
the Statute in that case made and provided; His said Majesty, being willing to
give encouragement to all arts and inventions which might be for the publick
good, was graciously pleased to condescend to my request, and therefore, by
His Royal Letters Patent under His Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing.
date at Westminster, the Seventh day of May, in the twenty-third year of

page_text: His reign, of His especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, did give and grant unto me, the said John
Heys, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Heys, ny exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and them-
selves, or by mine or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as I, the said John Heys, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend my said Invention within that part of His said
Majesty's Kingdom of Great Britain called England, His Dominion of Wales,
and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or any of us, should in our discretions seem meet,
and that I, the said John Heys, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity,
and advantage, from time to time coming, growing, accrning, and arising by
reason of the said Invention, for and during the term of years thcrcin men-
tioned, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers, privileges,
and advantages therein-before granted or mentioned to be granted unto me,
the said John Heys, my executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during
and unto the full end and term of fourteen years from the date of the said
Letters Patent next and immediately ensuing, and fully to be complete and
ended, according to the Statute in that case made and provided; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if I, the said John Hey's, should
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,.
should utterly cease, determine, and become void, anything therein-before
contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding, as in and by
the said in part recited Letters Patent (relation being thereunto had) will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Heys, in compliance with the said
proviso, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and declare that the same is composed of the several particulars herein-after
expressed and specified, and to be performed in manner following (that is to
col

page_text: Take straw, turf, dung, piss, tanners' waste, and any sort of weeds and
vegetables which you may use with the dung; burn them in leaps in the
open air, the more wind the better; it will be necessary to have sheds for
this purpose open all round to admit the air. When the above are burned into
ashes, add to every one hundred bushels of ashes twenty bushels of quick or
unslacked lime, and as much water or weak lees as will slack the lime; put
this into vatts or vessels made for this purpose; when done put on as much
water or weak lees, giving it time to sink in, as will just cover the surface of
the ashes; the lees from this must be let off once or twice a day for the first
and second days, then once in two or three days, till the lees appear not more
than water either by weight or taste; the weight that these lees will require to
be of is as 10/128 heavier than water; these lees that will not weigh that weight
must be returned on fresh ashes. This is sufficient for bleachers and calico
printers in its first operation. If for soap makers it will be necessary to steep
or sprinkle the dung with soapmakers' waste or salt lecs before burning, as it
will prevent a heavy expence in salt. The lixivium from these ashes may be
made into a pot ash with reanimated sopers' waste, or salt lees; as hereafter is
described; which is, take straw, long dung, potatoe hulm, and any weed, and
steep them in this lixivium, and burn them on a common hearth for that
purpose. But to make a pot ash equal to that of America from the new
patent ashes, or any other matter where a true alkaline salt can be gained,
take the lixivium, as before described, for the use of whitsters, dyers, and
calico printers; put it into a pan or boiler made of wrought iron plates or
cast iron; if of iron plates, they must be rivetted together; let the pan or boiler
be of an oblong shape, the dimensions not material, say six feet by four feet,
seven feet five feet, eight feet by six feet, or any other dimensions; let the
ends and sides be turned up about eighteen inches, and let your fire be the
same as under any copper or pan, taking care to give the fire room sufficient
to strike to the bottom; charge this pan or boiler with the lixivium, and boil
it down into salts; when done let those salts be put into a stove. The stove that
is to contain those salts must be made of rolled or wrought iron plates, of the
substance of one inch in thickness at the least, and as your stove can scarcely
be too hot for a pot ash, let your fire be thrown all round, but no draft at all to
come into the inside of the stove; let the mouth or opening to charge or
discharge the stove be about nine inches wide; let this pan or stove be turned.
up at the ends and sides about six inches, as described in the evaporating pan,.
or of such size as you please; cover the surface of this pan or stove with a
plate of rolled or wrought iron of the same thickness, and when charged with
those salts secure the mouth with well-tempered clay and keep a strong fire,.

page_text: and when the salts are melted continue a strong fire for forty or fifty minutes,
or longer if it requires it, then draw your ashes out into iron pots, and keep
them stirring for about five minutes, and when cold they will turn out of the
pots. If for pearl ashes, let your fires be so contrived that one half of the
fire may go under the stove, and the other half over it, and fix a plate, as
before described for making pot ashes, so that the fire don't communicate to
the ashes'; keep them well turned in a regular heat that they do not melt, then
draw them out into an iron pan to cool; then they are finished. To prevent any
difficulty that may arise in this operation, the best and surest way is to have
two fires, as mentioned above, one on each side, the one to act under and the
other over the stove; these ashes must not be set with lime; the lixivium is
from the salt of ashes. To reanimate or reinstate whitsters or dyers' waste
lees, to make them into a pot ash, evaporate as before, then take straw, dung;
and potatoe hulm, and burn them on the hearth, as described above for
making ashes; this operation will cleanse them from oil, grease, and dirt, and
be sufficient for whitsters, soapmakers, and other persons using such ashes.
But to make these into pot ashes equal to the American pot ashes, they must
be returned into the vatts with one fifth of quick lime, as in the first operation.
Take the lixivium from these and work it into pot ashes, as before described.
To reanimate or reinstate soapmakers' waste or salt lees, put them into an
evaporating pan, as before described; boil them down to salts; when so done
put to one tun of those salts three bushels of unslacked lime; add water or
weak lees sufficient to slack the lime; to this water add half a pound weight
of vitriol; mix all together and let it lay for three or four weeks; at the
expiration thereof add three bushels more of unslacked lime, with sufficient
water or waste lees to slack that lime, and put it into vatts, as before described,
the lixivium whereof is for the use of soapmakers. Or take waste or salt lees,'
if foul or dirty put them over a vatt of waste ashes to cleanse them; when
drawn through put them into an evaporating pan as before, and boil them 'till
they waste one third; then add to every one hundred gallons thereof one bushel
of unslacked lime, and sprinkle thein with two ounces of vitriol and water;
then put them into the pan and boil them for about a quarter of an hour;
this operation will refine the lees, and the lime will settle to the bottom of the
pan.. Or take quick lime, as much as your vatt or vessel will hold, and put
in as much water as will just slack the lime; then put your salt or waste lees
on the lime, and let these lees stand twenty-four hours; then draw off these
lees and put on more till you find the strength of the lime gone; then to every
one hundred gallons of these lees add two ounces of vitriol. To these lees that
are made from soapmakers. waste or.salt lees, must be added water or weak lees,

page_text: (if they are too strong) to bring down the lixivium to one certain strength,
which is by weight. To ascertain this weight, you may take any given quantity
of water; put it into a bottle, first taking care to weigh the bottle; when done,
take the weight of the water; call it 128; and from this weight are made by
division 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1; so that if the lixivium weighs the 8 and 2, it is
10/123 stronger than water, and will work. If your lixivium should not be
strong enough, it must be boiled a little in the evaporating pan, for you must
come to the exact weight, as above described, or the lixivium will not work
into soap.
As there is a great deal of difference in a soapmakers' wast or salt
lees in regard of the goodness, it may be observed, that if the lees are good
they may be worked without vitriol into soap, but if they are not good you
must use the same quantity as above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Heys, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and in the twenty-third
year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by
the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender
of the Faith, and so forth.
Sealed and delivered (being first duly
stampt) in the presence of
BIGOE HENZELL.
ROBERT LEMON.
JOHN HEYS. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBRED, that on the Fourth day of September, in
the twenty-third year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third,
the said John Heys came before the said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the several Statutes made in
the sixth year of the reign of the late King and Queen William and Mary
of England, and in the seventeenth and twenty-third years of the reign of
His Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the said Fourth day of September, in the year above written.