Improved Process for Scouring, Cleansing, Bleaching and Disinfecting Wool and other Fibres or Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 12th May, 1894
Improved Process for Scouring, Cleansing, Bleaching, and
Disinfecting Wool and other Fibres or Fibrous Materials.
We, WILLIAM HENRY HUGHES, of 53 North John Street, Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Gentleman, and SARA FRANCES HUGHES, of 53 North
John Street, Liverpool, aforesaid, wife of the said William Henry Hughes, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention is primarily designed to be applied to the scouring and bleaching
of raw wool before being prepared for spinning but it may be applied to other
fibres which require such treatment or to woven fabrics and articles made therefrom
for the purpose of cleansing, bleaching and disinfecting them.
The invention consists essentially in treating the material first with an infusion
of quillaia bark to remove grease or greasy or other foreign matter, then with a
solution of an oxidising agent or salt such as permanganate or bichromate of soda
or potash with if desired the addition of a small quantity of nitric acid and
thirdly with a reducing agent composed of sulphurous acid and oxalic acid either
in an aqueous solution or in a gaseous state.
In carrying out the invention I prepare a bath of an infusion of quillaia bark
either with or without the addition of a salt of ammonia such as the carbonate or
chloride and in this bath the material is first treated. The first bath is preferably
hot or nearly boiling as the effect is much quicker when at a high temperature.
The material may be agitated therein and is allowed to remain a longer or a shorter
time according to its character, say from one minute and a half to forty minutes to
dissolve and separate the grease and other adhering matter.
When the material
contains little or no grease a weak infusion may be employed and the length of
time for immersion reduced, we find in practice fibres require the shorter time and
fabrics the longer and this is regulated by the difference in the machines used for
the respective purposes.
When the material has remained sufficiently long in the first bath to dissolve
and separate the grease or other adhering matter it is transferred from that into a
bath containing a solution of permanganate or bichromate of potash or soda which
oxidizes the organic matter on or adhering to the fibre, the solution of quillaia
bark carried with the fibre from the previous bath starts the action of the bath or
a little of the infusion may be added to the oxidizing bath.
For treating raw wool or woollen fabrics we employ in this second bath the
oxidizing agents described. For treating pelts or sheep skins with the wool
adhering where there is much organic matter such as blood or the like adhering
thereto and also for treating vegetable fibres or fabrics, more particularly jute
or the like, we add a small percentage of nitric acid to the oxidizing solution
say 1 per cent. of fuming nitric acid to the standard solution No. 2 herein
described.
When the material has been thoroughly oxidized it is then passed through a
third bath consisting of an aqueous solution of sulphurous acid to which is added
a small percentage of oxalic acid, in this the material is allowed to remain until
it is thoroughly de-oxidized and bleached say from 2 to 4 hours, but in case of
merely scouring the time is the same as in the first bath. The temperature of this
bath should not exceed 90° Fahr.
Instead of employing an aqueous solution of sulphurous acid and oxalic acid

page_text: the material may be treated with these agents in a gaseous state but for the
purposes of manipulation we find it more convenient and prefer to employ them
in an aqueous solution.
By this process we consider, we obtain a much more efficient and expeditious
method of treating fibres and fabrics than by the present process of scouring with
alkali and soap and at the same time the quality of the fibre and fabric is improved
and sliming of the tanks or vessels is avoided.
We also find that an aqueous solution of sulphurous acid and oxalic acid may be
employed without the first two named baths and constitutes a most efficient
bleaching agent irrespective of the scouring treatment to which the material has
been subjected.
In the treatment of pelts or sheep skins with the wool attached where no
Scouring is done, as practised by fellmongers, before passing the skins through a
burring machine we employ in the soaking tanks or in the tank or reservoir that
supplies the burring machine with water a solution consisting of quillaia bark
infusion sulphurous acid and oxalic acid and by the use of this we find a great
saving of time is effected and better results obtained.
The several solutions used in the treatment of the fibre or fabrics may be
prepared to a suitable strength according to the quality of the material to be
treated.
The quillaia bark solution may be prepared from the bark of the guillaia
saponaria by infusing it in boiling water for from 5 to 30 minutes.
Standard solutions for the purposes of this invention may be prepared of the
following strengths:
--
No. 1. 5 lbs. quillaia bark
No. 2. 1 lb. oxidizing salt
-
دو
-
to 20 gallons water.
-
to 10
"
}}}}
to 10
No. 3. 5 lbs. aqueous solution sulphurous acid
(H₂SO, of 7 Tw.)-
1 lb. oxalic acid
دو
و,
These standard solutions may in the several baths each be used in the proportions
of 10 per cent., or say 1 gallon of the solution to 10 gallons of water.
By the use of these separate oxidizing and reducing baths we find that great
advantages arise in that by mixing them together before allowing them to flow
away or by emptying two or more tanks through a common outlet anything
poisonous, noxious or deleterious coming from either of them will be rendered
innocuous on mixing with the contents of the other bath and will not require
further treatment other than to allow any precipitate or sediment to settle out and
thus meet the requirements of the Rivers Pollution Acts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. The process of scouring, bleaching and disinfecting wool or other fibres or
fabrics which consists in treating the material first with an infusion of quillaia bark
to remove grease or greasy matter, second with a solution of an oxidizing agent
and third with a reducing agent substantially as described.
2. The process of scouring or bleaching wool or other fibres or fabrics consisting
in first treating the material with a solution or infusion of quillaia bark with or
without the addition of a salt of ammonia such as the carbonate or chloride to
remove grease, greasy or sticky matter, then with a solution of permanganate or
bichromate of soda or potash with or without the addition of a small percentage of
nitric acid to oxidize organic matter and finally with sulphurous acid and oxalic
acid either in solution or in a gaseous state to reduce and de-oxidize it substantially
as described.
3. A bleaching agent for fibres or fabrics consisting of a solution of sulphurous
acid and oxalic acid together substantially as described.

page_text: 4. The treating of pelts or sheep skins to which the wool is adhering with a
solution consisting of an infusion of quillaia bark sulphurous acid and oxalic acid
combined substantially as described.
Dated this 7th day of April 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
6, Bank Street, Manchester, Patent Agents.