DRY CLEANING TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOHN SCOTT, Dyer and Cleaner of 19 Snargate Street Dover do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention or process for DRY CLEANING TEXTILE
FABRICS to be as follows :—
The goods, such as Wearing Apparel Upholstery eto are subjected in any suitably
closed machine to the friction of sawdust charged with a small quantity of
Benzoline, Naptha or other cleaning spirit. The speciality of the process is the
equal gentle friction obtained by the use of sawdust and the advantages are its
simplicity, cheapness and efficiency.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN SCOTT dyer and cleaner of 19, Snargate Street Dover do hereby declare
the nature of the said invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF DRY CLEANING
TEXTILE FABRICS" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
The feature of novelty in this invention consists in submitting the articles to be
cleaned, to an equal and gentle friction which is produced by the action of the
saw dust of some hard wood in combination with benzoline, naptha, or some spirit
T 011
•

page_text: possessing equivalent.cleansing properties, contained in a closed receptacle or box
in which the goods are placed and turned, by a rotary motion imparted to the axis
of the box or other receptacle, by any convenient means.
The object of such improvement is to reduce the expense in cleaning hitherto
incurred in the dry process, by a saving of 25 to 75% of spirit employed; with
the advantage of preservation of the colours of heavy goods which up to the
present time could only (owing to the great expense) be cleaned by the ordinary
method, with the risk of injury to the colours. The new process is simple, easy of
application and efficacious in its results.
This process is as follows:-The goods to be cleaned are first subjected to careful
inspection to ascertain if they bear grease or dirt stains, these are removed by
brushing with naptha, benzoline or other cleaning spirit; after which they are
damped all over with the same spirit and placed in a receptacle or box of
convenient form and dimensions, which is closed and air tight and in which the
saw dust of some hard wood such for example as mahogany is introduced in
quantity sufficient to cover the articles under treatment, this box or receptacle is
then made to rotate on its axis by any convenient means.
The amount of saw dust employed would naturally vary in accordance with the
quantity of material to be operated upon but in all cases it must be sufficient to
cover the goods.
The quantity of spirit retained in the articles in conjunction with the gentle
frictional action of the saw dust on the material, occasioned by the revolution of
the box suffices to effect the purposes required, but in some instances it may be
advisable to mix a small quantity of the spirit with the saw dust.
า
The duration of the cleaning process in the box would depend on the condition
of the articles at the time of operating, but as a rule from 1 to 3 hours may be
stated, taking into consideration the nature of the material.
When this operation is completed the articles are withdrawn and the sawdust
is then removed from them either by shaking, beating, or placing them in a
revolving cage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I'declare that what
I claim is
The method of dry cleaning textile fabrics by the frictional action of the saw
dust of some hard wood, such as mahogany in combination with a cleaning spirit
such as naptha, benzoline or some equivalent.
The friction of the saw dust on the material being effected by the rotary motion
communicated to the receptacle or box containing the goods, in the manner and for
the purposes substantially as herein setforth.
Dated 1
100