CERTAIN IM- PROVEMENTS IN SOAP
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Watt, of Ash Cottage, Putney, in the
County of Surrey, Consulting Chemist, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SOAP."
Sealed the 16th February 1866, and dated the 18th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Watt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
August 1865.
I, ALEXANDER WATT, of Ash Cottage, Putney, in the County-of Surrey,-
Consulting Chemist,. do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in mixing with soap certain substances which possess
deodorising and disinfecting properties; for this purpose I use a mixture of
about equal parts of chloride of lime and the ordinary soda ash of commerce,
which I employ as follows:-I make a strong solution of chloride of soda by
mixing chloride of lime and soda ash with water, and the clear solution after
subsidence is intimately mixed with soap, which I prefer being in a melted
state; or the deodorizing and disinfecting compound may be worked up into
a paste or "cream" with water, and the mixture poured into melted soap and
"crutched" up with it until sufficiently mixed. The soap is then treated in
the ordinary way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Watt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
WATT, of Ash Cottage, Putney, in the County of Surrey, Consulting Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Watt, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Watt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Watt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Watt, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain 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 Alexander Watt, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 :-
To carry out my Invention I add to soap in a melted state chloride of soda,
which may be conveniently made in the following way:-For one ton of
soap I take say 140 lbs. of chloride of lime, and work this up into a thin
paste of a creamy consistence with sufficient cold water, crushing any lumps
which may appear with a stout piece of wood, or what is called a soapmaker's
"crutch."
I next dissolve with sufficient boiling water say 140 lbs. of
ordinary soda ash. When the soda is dissolved the solution is added to the
chloride of lime, and the whole well stirred. This mixture becomes thick or
solid at first, but will become thinner by continual stirring if sufficient water
has been added. If, however, this should not be the case I add a little

page_text: more cold water and again stir well. The mixture should be of a thin creamy
consistence. I next pass the whole of the mixture of chloride of lime and
soda through a gauze wire sieve of about sixteen guage in order to effect a
more perfect mixture, and at the same time to break up any lumps which
may present themselves. A wooden spatula or iron trowel may be used to force
the solid particles through the sieve. When the whole of the mixture has
passed through the sieve it is ready for use.
The above mixture may now be added to one ton of soap in a melted state,
the temperature of which should not be higher than from 130° to 150° Fahren-
heit. The mixture must be well "crutched" with the soap, and this is most
conveniently done when the soap is in the frames. After the "crutching" is
complete (which operation occupies only a few minutes) the soap should be
covered up in order to retain the heat as long as possible. It is preferable to
mix the chloride of lime and soda just before use in order that the mixture may
be warm when added to the soap. For some soaps it will be advisable to use
a less proportion of soda than the quantity above stated, say, for instance, one
part soda to two parts chloride of lime. With respect to the quantity or
proportions of chloride of lime and soda which may be added to soap, this may
be regulated according to the requirements of the manufacturer, the proportions
given being intended to make a strong soap. For toilet soaps a much less
proportion of the mixture may be employed, and if preferred a solution of
the chloride of soda may be used instead of the mixture described above.
The solution of chloride of soda may be obtained by simply adding more
water to the mixture above described, and then allowing the lime to deposit,
the supernatant liquor being carefully poured off and added to the soap as
before.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Watt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
ALEXANDER WATT. (L.S.)