AN IMPROVED COMPOUND FOR WASHING PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Boaler, of No. 76, Cedar Street, New
York, in the United States of America, Merchant, for the Invention of
ATPRAKSED COSERAMED FOR T
Sealed the 29th May 1860, and dated the 9th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Boaler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th.
December 1859.
I, WILLIAM BOALER, of No. 76, Cedar Street, New York, in the United
States of America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for "AN IMPROVED COMPOUND FOR WASHING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in manufacturing a compound to be used with soap
for washing purposes containing ammonia, which ammonia is, however, only
evolved on heating the solution of the soap, thus increasing its detergent pro-
perties without at the same time corroding the tissues submitted to its action,
which, as is well known, always takes place to some degree when common
washing soda is employed to increase the detergent power of ordinary soap.
To obtain this result I melt good curd soap and mix or dissolve in it, while
hot, borate of soda, better known as borax, or borate of lime, borate of potash,

page_text: or any other salt of boracic acid, and then allow the whole to cool, adding,
however, before quite cold, an equivalent proportion of a salt of ammonia, by
preference employing the sulphate of ammonia. On cooling, a considerable
amount of crystallization takes place throughout the mass, which objection I
obviate either by keeping the mass of soap while cooling in a constant state
of agitation, or when cool I grind the mass between rollers to break up the
crystallization, and thus render the mass homogeneous. The proportions I
prefer are the following, although I do not confine myself to them, as they may
be varied according to the resulting compound required:-Curd soap, 1 lb.;
borax, 6 ounces; sulphate of ammonia, 2 ounces. I also can substitute for
the borates above mentioned and salt of ammonia, a borate of ammonia, with
like results. These materials I either combine with soap in the manner
described above, and thus form an improved washing soap, or I add them
directly with the requisite proportion of ordinary soap in the washing process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Boaler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BOALER, of Number 76, Cedar Street, New York, in the United States of
America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Boaler, Her special licence that I, the said William
Boaler, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Boaler, 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 "AN IMPROVED
COMPOUND FOR WASHING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Boaler, 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

page_text: 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 Boaler, 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:-
This Invention consists in manufacturing a compound to be used with soap
for detergent purposes, which compound is of such a nature as to evolve
ammonia on heating a soap solution containing it, thus very materially
increasing the detergent properties of the soap without at the same time
corroding the tissues submitted to its action, as is the case when common
washing soda is employed for the same purpose.
I prepare my improved washing compound by different processes, firstly, by
the aid of heat I dissolve or mix a borate of potash, soda, or lime with the
requisite proportion of soap, allow the mixture to cool, but crutch into it, just
before solidifying, an equivalent proportion of a salt of ammonia, by preference
employing the sulphate or muriate of ammonia. A considerable amount of
crystallization takes place as the mass cools, which objection I obviate by
keeping the mass of the soap while cooling in a constant state of agitation,
and after cooling I break up the crystallization by grinding the compound, and
thus render it homogeneous. The proportions I prefer for the compound
above described are as follows:-Soap, 1 lb.; borax, 6 oz.; sulphate of
ammonia, 2 oz. I also vary the application of my improved washing com-
pound by adding the borates and salts of ammonia mentioned above to a
solution of soap either previously to or during the washing process, obtaining
equally satisfactory results. I can substitute for the borates and salts of
ammonia above mentioned a borate of ammonia.
The principle on which my washing compound acts in improving the quali-
ties of soap as a detergent is dependent on the fact, that on heating a solution
of a salt of ammonia with a borate, the acid of the ammoniacal salt combines
with the base of the borate, forming in the example given above a neutral and
harmless sulphate of soda, while its ammonia is fixed by the liberated boracic
acid forming borate of ammonia, a salt which by the application of heat
gradually resolves itself into its elements, boracic acid and ammonia, both of
which are evolved, the latter increasing in a remarkable degree the detergent
properties of a soap solution.
Having now stated the method of manufacturing my improved washing
compound, I wish it to be understood that I claim the sole right of manufac-
turing and vending a mixture composed of the borates of soda, potasb, or lime

page_text: with salts of ammonia, and of the preparation of borate of ammonia to be used
with soap for detergent purposes, either combined with this latter in a solid
state, or added to a solution of the soap before or during the washing process.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boaler, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM BOALER. (L.S.)