IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gossage, of Widnes, in the County of Lan-
caster, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP."
Sealed the 28th July 1854, and dated the 3rd April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gossage at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
April 1854.
I, WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Manufac-
turing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP" to be as
follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of certain kinds of soap are applicable
to those kinds of soap which are manufactured by adding other substances to
the true soaps, which are prepared by the combination of alkalies with tallow,
rosin, oil, or other such substances. The compounds so produced by the
methods now in use may be considered as reduced or adulterated soaps. They
are usually prepared by adding china clay (which consists chiefly of silica and
alumina) or other insoluble substances, together with a large proportion of
water, to the true soap prepared from fatty or resinous matters. Reduced
soaps are also prepared by simply adding water with or without a small
proportion of alkaline lye to the true soaps.
It is well known, that neither the insoluble substances before mentioned, nor

page_text: water, possess any chemically detergent properties; therefore the effect of adding
such substances to true soap is not only to reduce the cost to the manufacturer,
but also to reduce in the same ratio the detergent properties of the compound
soap produced; and as the consumers are not supplied with such reduced soap
at a corresponding reduction of price, the interests of the public are injured by
such practice.
The object of my Invention is to provide a soluble compound for mixing
with true soap, which compound shall possess in itself chemically detergent
properties and be obtained at a low cost, thereby enabling me to produce
a compound soap, the cost of which is greatly reduced, but possessing valuable
detergent properties independently of the true soap contained in such
compound.
When silica is combined with soda or potash, in such proportion that the
alkaline matter present is about double the quantity usually contained in glass,
a compound is obtained, which is known to chemists as "soluble glass;" and
when a solution of this compound is prepared, by boiling it with water, and this
solution concentrated (by evaporation of water therefrom), a thick viscous
compound is obtained, which is easily redissolved by addition of water. This
thick viscous compound contains alkali in a state of weak combination with
silica, and is therefore analogous to true soap, which contains alkali in a state
of weak combination with fatty acids, and it is to this condition of alkali being
weakly combined in both these compounds, and therefore ready to enter into
other combinations, that the detergent properties of true soap and of the
soluble compound of silica and alkali are attributable. When the thick viscous
compound of silica and alkali (above mentioned) is added to true soap, and
intimately mixed therewith, a compound soap is obtained at a low cost,
possessing valuable detergent properties.
When I use soda as the alkaline matter to be combined with silica for the
production of "soluble glass," I mix together about equal weights of dry
carbonate of soda and clean sand, and I add thereto one part by weight of
ground coke or charcoal for each nine parts by weight of carbonate of soda.
I cause this mixture to be melted in the same manner as mixtures of sand and
alkali are melted for the production of ordinary glass; and I prefer to transfer
(by means of ladles or otherwise) the melted product from the furnace or pot
in which the melting has been effected into cold water, for the purpose of
rendering the cooled product more friable. I grind the product to a fine
powder, and I dissolve this powder by boiling it with three or four times
its weight of water. If I find it needful, I add some liquid caustic soda
during such boiling. I allow the solution to remain quiet for some hours in

page_text: order that any undissolved matters may subside, and I draw off the clear
liquor, which I concentrate by evaporation of water therefrom, till it attains
such a degree of viscidity as renders it suitable for mixing with pure soap.
When I use potash in place of soda to combine with silica for the produc-
tion of "soluble glass," I mix about twelve parts of dry carbonate of potash
with ten parts of sand, and I add to such mixture one part of coke or charcoal,
and I cause the mixture to be melted and otherwise treated, as I have herein-
before described in reference to mixtures of sand and carbonate of soda. I
sometimes use felspar ground to powder in place of sand for making soluble
glass, and in this case I substitute three parts of felspar for two parts of sand,
and I decrease the proportionate quantity of alkali employed by one-half.
I can also use sulphate of soda or sulphate of potash in place of carbonate
of soda or carbonate of potash, as sources of alkali for the manufacture of
"soluble glass." In these cases I substitute three parts of either of these
sulphates for two parts of the corresponding carbonate, and I use a quadruple
proportion of carbon to that which I have indicated for the carbonates.
SPECIF ATTO
pursuance
Letters Fatent, nied
by the said William Gossage in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William. Gossage, Her special licence that I, the said
William Gossage, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Gossage, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Gossage, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Gossage, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say)-
My improvements in the manufacture of certain kinds of soap are applicable
to the manufacture of those kinds of soap which are produced by adding other
substances to genuine soaps prepared by the combination of alkali with tallow,
rosin, oil, or other such substances. The compound soaps so produced by the
methods now in use may be considered as reduced or adulterated soaps. These
compounds are usually prepared by adding china clay (which consists chiefly
of silica and alumina) or other insoluble substance, together with a large pro-
portion of water, to the genuine soap prepared from fatty or resinous materials.
Reduced soaps are also commonly prepared by mixing water (containing a
small proportion of alkali, or common salt, or sulphate of soda,) with the
genuine soaps obtained from fatty or resinous materials. It is well known,
that neither the insoluble substances herein-before referred to, nor water, possess
any chemical detergent properties; therefore the effect of adding such substances
to genuine soap is not only to reduce the cost to the manufacturer, but also to
reduce in the same ratio the useful properties of the compound soap produced;
and as the consumers are not supplied with such reduced soap at a cor-
responding reduction of price, the interests of the public are injured by being
supplied with such soap. By means of my Invention, I apply a soluble
compound for mixing with genuine soap (obtained from fatty or resinous
materials), which compound possesses in itself chemical detergent properties,
and can be obtained at a small cost. I am thereby enabled to produce com-
pound soaps, the cost of which is greatly reduced as compared with genuine
soaps, but which possess valuable detergent properties independently of the
genuine soap contained in such compound soaps. When silica is combined
with soda or potash by fusion, in such proportion that the alkali contained in
the product is about double the quantity usually contained in "crown glass," a
compound is obtained, which is known to chemists as "soluble glass;" and
when a solution of this compound is prepared with water, and this solution is
sufficiently concentrated (by evaporation of water therefrom), a thick viscous
compound is obtained, in which the silica present remains in solution combined
with soda. The thick viscous compound so obtained contains alkali in a state

page_text: of weak combination with silica (which performs the part of a weak acid), and
it is therefore analogous in its constitution and properties to genuine soap,
which contains alkali in a state of weak combination with fatty or resinous
acids, and it is to this condition of alkali being present in a state of weak com-
bination in both these compounds (and consequently sufficiently free to enter
into other combinations), that the detergent properties of genuine soap, and
of the soluble compound of silica and alkali, herein-before mentioned, are
attributable. When such thick viscous compound of silica and alkali is added
to genuine soap, and mixed intimately therewith, a compound soap is obtained
at a low cost, possessing valuable detergent properties.
When I use soda as the alkaline matter to be combined with silica for the
production of soluble glass," I mix about nine parts of soda ash (containing
fifty per cent. of real soda), with cleven parts of clean sand; and I prefer to
melt such mixture in a reverberatory furnace (such as is used for making crude
soda in the manufacture of alkali), and I apply sufficient heat to the mixture
with occasional stirring to obtain a perfect combination of the sand and soda.
I provide a tap-hole to the reverberatory furnace, through which I allow the
product to run off when such combination has been effected, and I receive such
product either in metallic moulds or in moulds formed of damp sand. I find
that a charge, containing about one ton of the said mixture of sand and soda
ash, is suitable for a reverberatory furnace having a bed or sole measuring
sixty square feet, and that such charge can be properly melted in four or five
hours. When I use potash in place of soda to combine with silica for the
production of soluble glass," I mix about equal weights of dry carbonate of
potash and clean sand, and I cause the mixture to be melted in a reverberatory
furnace, in the same manner as I have herein-before described for melting a
mixture of soda ash and sand. I prefer to use such proportions of silica and
alkali for the production of "soluble glass," that the glass so produced may be
nearly all soluble in water alone; but I sometimes find it to be desirable to
increase the solvent power of the water employed by adding thereto a solution
of caustic soda or of caustic potash.
I can effect the solution of the "soluble glass" which I employ by grinding
this to powder, and agitating such powder in a pan containing boiling water;
but I prefer to effect such solution by the use of an apparatus, consisting of a
vessel formed of iron plates or other suitable material, which vessel contains
a perforated diaphragm or false bottom, placed about midway between the top
and bottom of the vessel. I place "soluble glass" (in pieces about the size of
a man's fist) upon such perforated diaphragm, and I introduce hot water into
such vessel so as to cover the pieces of glass, and by means of a pipe connected

page_text: with a steam boiler I inject steam into such water, and thus cause it to be
maintained at a high temperature. As the "soluble glass" becomes dissolved,
it communicates additional gravity to the water, and the heavier solution
descends in the vessel, whilst the lighter fluid becomes elevated into contact
with the pieces of glass. In this manner a continual circulation of the fluid
takes place, and the glass becomes nearly all dissolved, yielding a strong solution.
After allowing undissolved matter to subside from it, I transfer such solution to
a cast-iron evaporating pan, wherein I concentrate the same by the application
of heat until it attains a specific gravity of about 1-450, when it becomes
viscous on cooling, and it is then suitable for mixing with genuine soap for the
production of compound soaps.
When I manufacture compound soaps by
adding viscous solution of "soluble glass" to such genuine soaps as are made
by the combination of soda with tallow, oil, or other fatty matters, or with
mixtures of such fatty matters and rosin, I prefer to transfer the soap from the
soap copper (in which it has been prepared in the usual manner) into a tub or
vessel (which I will herein-after designate as a "mixing vessel"), capable of
containing about fourteen hundredweight of soap, and having transferred
therein such a quantity of soap as may be suitable for a mixing operation, I
add thereto such a proportion of the said "viscous solution" (which has been
prepared from soluble glass made with soda) as may be suitable for the pro-
duction of the particular quality of soap which I am desirous to manufacture.
Thus, if I wish to manufacture a compound soap, containing one-third its
weight of the said "viscous solution," I transfer eight hundredweight of soap-
into the said "mixing vessel," and I add thereto four hundredweight of the
said "viscous solution," and I agitate the mixture by the use of "crutches
"paddles." I prefer that the soap and the "viscous solution" used may be at
such respective temperatures that the temperature of the mixture when formed
may be about equal to 160 degrees on Fahrenheit's thermometer, and I con-
tinue such agitation until the temperature becomes reduced to about 150
degrees, when I transfer the mixture to a frame, wherein I agitate it as rapidly
as may be practicable by means of "crutches," until the compound soap
becomes too stiff for "crutching," when I allow it to solidify by cooling.
Although I can thus produce good serviceable compound soap, containing
viscous solution of soluble glass, by mixing genuine soap with such solution by
means of manual labour applied by crutching, as berein-before described, I
have found that when I apply more rapid agitation to effect the mixing than
I have been able to command by the use of crutches worked by manual labour,
I produce a compound soap of more perfect mixture and more uniform quality,
and which soap is consequently preferred for some purposes. In order to
a
or

page_text: accomplish such more perfect mixture with certainty, I have invented a
machine or apparatus, for which Invention I have obtained a certificate of
allowance of provisional protection, bearing date the 3rd day of August 1854,
and which machine or apparatus will be fully described in the final Specification
of my said Invention. When I wish to manufacture compound soaps, con-
taining other proportionate quantities of viscous solution of soluble glass than
those I have herein-before stated, I vary the relative quantities of genuine soap
and of the said viscous solution, which I introduce into the said "mixing
vessel," so that the mixture produced shall contain the proportionate quantity
of "viscous solution" which I desire to have present therein; and I proceed in
the manner herein-before described to effect the amalgamation of the genuine
soap with the "viscous solution" employed. When I use viscous solution of
soluble glass to produce compound soap by its mixture with that quality of
genuine soap known as "soft soap" (in the manufacture of which the alkali
used is potash), I prefer to use soluble glass made by the fusion of sand with
potash (as herein-before described), to produce the viscous solution employed;
and I effect the amalgamation of this kind of genuine soap with the viscous
solution by the means herein-before described for effecting the amalgamation
of other genuine soap with viscous solution of soluble glass, and I transfer the
compound soap produced (when the mixture has been properly effected) into
such barrels as are usually employed for the reception of "soft soap."
As the said viscous solution of soluble glass when possessing a specific gravity
of 1.450 contains a larger proportionate quantity of alkali than is contained
in genuine soap, the compound soaps produced by the mixture of the said
"viscous solution" with genuine soap has a greater detergent power than
genuine soap, and is therefore more valuable for some purposes; but it is
sometimes desirable to prepare a compound soap not containing a larger pro-
portionate quantity of alkali than genuine soap. I prefer to accomplish this
object by neutralizing a portion of the alkali present in the solution of soluble
glass employed by means of sulphuric acid or muriatic acid, previously to such
solution being reduced to the viscous state by evaporation of water therefrom,
and to use such partially neutralized solution (after it has been concentrated to
the viscous state) for the purpose of mixing with genuine soap. When I desire
to obtain hard soap, possessing a greater degree of hardness than the compound
soap, which I manufacture by adding viscous solution of soluble glass, having
the specific gravity of 1.450 to genuine soap, I use such viscous solution con-
centrated to a higher specific gravity, and I regulate the concentration of the
viscous solution to such gravity as I find requisite to communicate the required
hardness to the compound soap manufactured therewith.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by the par-
ticulars thereof herein-before contained, I would have it understood that in
performing my Invention I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-
before set forth, as these may be modified to soine extent without departing
from the nature of my said Invention.
I claim as my Invention, the useful application of viscous solution of soluble
glass to the manufacture of certain kinds of soap, by mixing such viscous
solution with genuine soap (made from tallow, rosin, oil, or other such material),
and thereby producing compound soaps possessing valuable detergent pro-
perties, independently of the detergent properties of the genuine soap contained
in such compound soaps.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILLM GOSSAGE. (L.S.)