AN IMPROVED MEANS OF DYEING OR STAINING COTTON, WOOLLEN, SILK, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND RENDERING THEM REPELLENT OF WATERS AND MOISTURE
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HANCOCK, of Grosvenor Place, in the County of Middlesex, Artist, send
greeting,
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Hancock, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Hancock, my
exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Hancock,
my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland'
called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED MEANS OF DYEING OR STAINING COTTON,
WOOLLEN, SILK, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND RENDERING THEM REPELLENT OF WATERS
AND MOISTURE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,'
the said Charles Hancock, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully ascertained and de-
scribed in and by the following Specification thereof, that is to say :-
The nature of my improved means of dyeing or staining cotton, woollen, silk,
and other fabrics, consists in mixing the dyeing or staining materials and the
mordants or metallic solutions usually employed to fix them with a vehicle or
medium, composed of one or other of the modes herein-after specified, of oil,
or a solution of caoutchouc in combination with certain other matters, instead
of using as the vehicle or medium gum or starch or paste dissolved in water, as
is the practice in the ordinary mode of dyeing or staining such fabrics, by which
improved means there is a great saving of time, labour, and expense effected;
and the nature of my improved means of rendering the said fabrics repellent of
waters and moisture consists partly in applying to them the compositions which
are used in the former instance as vehicles or mediums of color only, as print-
ing substances by themselves, either alone or in combination with coloring
matter, and partly in the mode of applying them for such repellent purposes.
And I declare that the following is the manner in which the said improvements
are carried into effect:-The vehicles which I substitute for the solutions of
gum and starch, and the paste ordinarily employed in dyeing, are four in
number, and composed as follows:-
First, to one gallon of oil (preferring linseed), I add one pound of raw, or
burnt Turkey umber, lime, or any other earthy base, and boil them together
until the mixture acquires the consistency of treacle. Second, to three pounds
of linseed oil I add one pound of caoutchouc, and two ounces of raw or burnt
umber, and boil them together till the caoutchouc has thoroughly combined
with the oil. The caoutchouc which I prefer is what is called sheet india-
rubber, and sometimes stationers' india-rubber. Third, I make a solution of
caoutchouc in oil of turpentine or any other suitable solvent, to which I some-
times add acetate of alumina or other metallic salts and coloring matters; or,
fourth, I dissolve bees'-wax in oil of turpentine, or any other suitable oleagi-
nous solvent. To thin down these vehicles to a state fit for working I make
use of oil of turpentine, adding occasionally, to make them more drying, some
metallic oxide. The mode of application is as follows:-Supposing it is a
piece of cotton which is to be dyed or stained, the cotton is first saturated with
a weak solution of tin (such as is sold by dry-salters and dyers' chemists) or any
other suitable mordant. An extract of logwood or other dye is then mixed by
trituration or ground in with any one of the four vehicles before described, and
applied (by printing or otherwise) to the cotton in a wet state, or after it has

page_text: been dried.
When the printing is effected by blocks or other surfaces in
relief, I find that any thinning down of the vehicles employed is unnecessary,
and that a roller made of treacle and glue, such as used by type printers, serves
to distribute the vehicle and the colors mixed with it sufficiently. When a
mordant is mixed with the vehicle, and printed on the fabric, or otherwise
applied, the fabric may then be but into a bath of madder, or other dye, and
dyed in the usual way. After the cotton has been dyed it is rinsed in water
or soaped after the manner usually followed in print works. I sometimes mix
the mordant as well as the vehicle with the color, and apply the triple mixture
at once to the cloth, rinsing or soaping, as before described. And in printing
with the composition No. 2, it may be either applied to the fabric in its grey
or unprepared state, or after it has been prepared with a mordant or otherwise.
The starching or "finishing," as it is called, is performed in the usual way of
finishing goods for the market. To render cotton, woollen, silk, and other
fabrics, whether dyed (according to the preceeding methods or any other) or
undyed, repellent of waters and moisture, I print them in the same way as
cotton goods are ordinarily printed, with any one of the four oleaginous or
viscous compositions before directed to be employed as vehicles or mediums of
color, either alone or in combination with coloring matters. When the com-
position No. 2 or No. 3 is that made use of, the fabric may be printed twice
over, or thrice, or oftner, taking care that each imprint or coating is dry, or at
least is what is called a "tacky" state, before another is added. I make a
fabric of very superior repellent qualities by uniting, after the manner of wooden
veneers, two, three, or more pieces of cloth printed as just described, and after
passing them between rollers, finally varnishing the outer surfaces with either
of the compositions No. 1 or No. 2, either alone or with coloring matters com-
bined. What are called india-rubber fabrics, that is, fabrics made of cotton,
or some other fibrous material, either saturated or coated with a solution of
caoutchouc, or covered with. thick or thin sheet caoutchouc, or made of strands
of india-rubber mixed with cotton or other thread, I render them additionally
repellent by printing in manner before described, or simply brushing them over
with either of the compositions Nos. 1 or 2, either alone or in combination
with coloring matters thinned down for the purpose with oil of turpentine.
And having now described my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that though I have stated certain propor-
tions in which the materials of the compositions Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, are to be
employed, I give those merely as the proportions which I think will be found
the best for most purposes, yet that I do not confine myself to those exact
proportions. I declare also, that though they are intended to be in general

page_text: used by themselves, they may in some cases be advantageously mixed with a
little pitch, or asphaltum, or gum, or gum-resin, and that I reserve to myself
the right to make such occasional additions of other substances.. I declare
finally that what I claim as of my Invention is-
First, the use of each and every one of the compositions Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4,
before described (under the qualifications and reservations last herein-before
stated) in combination with coloring matters and mordants, for purposes of
dyeing or staining, and of the composition No. 2 with or without mordants.
Second, the application by printing in manner before described of the said
compositions Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, or any modifications thereof, either alone or
in combination with coloring matters, to the rendering of cotton, woollen, silk,
and other fabrics repellent of waters and moisture, and No. 2, whether applied
by printing or otherwise; and
Third, the application of the compositions Nos. 1 and 2, either alone or
in combination with coloring matters, or any similar composition containing oil
as its principal element, to the rendering of india-rubber fabrics additionally
repellent of waters and moisture, whether applied by printing or in any other
way.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Twenty-