IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gossage, of Widnes, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP."
Sealed the 14th November 1856, and dated the 31st May 1850.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gossage at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st May 1856.
I, WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, 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 Invention applies to the production of those kinds of soap which are or>
may be manufactured by combining certain compounds obtained by the union
of silica with soda or potash with true soaps, which are prepared by the com-
bination of alkali with tallow, resin, oil, or other such substances.
In the Specifications of three several Letters Patent granted to me for my
Inventions connected with the manufacture of soap, the first of which Letters:
Patent bears date the Third of April, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four; the second bears date the Third of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four; and the third bears date the Twenty-third of April,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, I have described certain methods.
by which I caused compounds of silica with soda or potash to become.

page_text: combined with soaps produced by the union of oily, fatty, or resinous matters
with alkali. In the experience which I have acquired by following up my
said Inventions, I have found it desirable to reduce the proportionate quantity
of soda or potash contained in the compound of silica which I employ, and
thereby to produce a compound soap containing silicate of soda or silicate of
potash of a milder quality than those compound soaps containing such silicates
in which the proportionate quantity of soda or potash has not been so reduced.
I effect this object of my Invention by adding the said compounds of silica
and soda or potash to the oily, fatty, or resinous matters (which I employ for
the production of the true soap forming part of the compound soap I am
manufacturing) in such manner that the oily, fatty, or resinous acids (or some
portions of the same) contained in such oily, fatty, or resinous matters which
I employ may become chemically combined with some portion of the soda or
potash which is present in the compound of silica with alkali, which I employ,
and I thus produce true soap by the abstraction of alkali from the compound
of silica and alkali employed, and the true soap so produced forms part of the
compound soap manufactured.
In the like manner I can also effect the object of my Invention by adding
the said compounds of silica and soda or potash to oily or fatty acids obtained
from oils or fats by well-known processes in such manner as that the said acids
or some portions of the same may become chemically combined with some
portion of the soda or potash present in the compound of silica with alkali
which I employ, and thus produce true soaps by the abstraction of alkali from
the compound of silica with alkali employed. I can also reduce the propor-
tionate quantity of free potash or soda in the compound of silica with potash
or soda which I employ by the use of salts of lime, salts of magnesia, salts of
ammonia, or salts of alumina. For this purpose I prefer to use some of the
salts called sulphates or hydrochlorates of lime, magnesia, ammonia, or alumina,
or mixtures of these salts, and to add such of these salts as I select for this
purpose to the compound soap produced by the union of silicate of soda or
of potash with the true soap employed. I can also reduce the proportionate
quantity of free potash or soda in the compound of silica with potash or soda
which I employ by the use of bicarbonate or sesquicarbonate of potash or of
soda, and I prefer to mix the bicarbonate or sesquicarbonate which I employ
with water, and to add such mixture to the compound soap produced by the
union of silicate of soda or of potash with the true soap employed.
My Invention also applies to the production of compound soaps possessed of
good detergent properties, by adding bicarbonate or sesquicarbonate of potash
or of soda to true soaps produced by the combination of alkali with tallow,

page_text: resin, oil, or other such substances, also by adding precipitated bicarbonate,
sesquicarbonate, or monocarbonate of lime, magnesia, or alumina, or preci-
pitated silicate of lime, magnesia, or alumina, to such true soaps, for the
purpose of forming. useful compound. soaps at reduced cost as compared with
soaps made solely by the combination of alkali with tallow, resin, oil, or other
such substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Gossage in the Great Seal Patent Ollice on the
29th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,, WILLIAM,
GoSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,;
did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
William Gossage, Iler special license, that I, the said William Gossage, my,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as J, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS 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 sca!,,
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 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 state-
ment (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Certain Kinds of
Soap" applies, firstly, to the production of those kinds of soap which are or.
may be manufactured by combining certain compounds obtained by the union

page_text: of silica with soda or potash with, true soaps, which are prepared by the com-
bination of alkali with tallow, resin, oil, or other such substances.
with
In the Specifications which have been duly filed in pursuance of the con-
ditions of three several Letters Patent granted to me for my Inventions of
improvements in the manufacture of soap, I have described certain methods
by which I cause compounds of silica with soda or potash to become combined
I soaps produced by the union of oily, fatty, or resinous matters with alkali.
In the experience which I have acquired by the use of my said Inventions, I
have found it desirable to reduce the proportionate quantity of soda or potash in
combination with silica in the compound of silica. which I employ, and thereby.
to produce a compound soap containing silicate of soda or silicate of potash of
a milder quality than those compound soaps containing such silicates in which
the proportionate quantity of soda or potash has not been so reduced. I can
effect the object of this first part of my Invention by adding the said com-
pounds of silica and soda or potash to the oily, fatty, or resinous matters, or to
the oily or fatty acids (which I employ for the production of the true soap
forming part of the compound soap I.am manufacturing), in such manner that
the oily, fatty, or resinous acids (or some portions of the same) contained in
such oily, fatty, or resinous matters which I employ may become chemically
combined with some portion of the soda or potash which is present in the
compound of silica which I employ, and I thus produce true soap by the
abstraction of soda or potash from the compound of silica employed, and I
cause the true soap so produced to form part of the compound soap
manufactured.
I have found the employment of the following proportions of materials and
mode of working, when using silicate of soda, to be well suited for effecting
the objects of this first part of my Invention:-I take sixty hundredweights
of palm oil or tallow, and twenty hundredweights of resin, and melt theso
together; or I take thirty hundredweights of palm oil or tallow, and thirty
hundredweights of oleic or stearic acid, and melt these together; or I tako
thirty hundredweights of palm oil or tallow, and thirty hundredweights of
cocoa nut oil, and melt these together. I take thirty hundredweights of any
of the above defined mixtures of oily, fatty, or resinous matters in a state of.
fusion at a temperature of about one hundred and fifty degrees (Fahrenheit),
and I add the same gradually to a mixture of eighty hundredweights of solu-
tion of silicate of soda having a specific gravity of one thousand three
hundred, and twenty hundredweights of caustic soda lye (specific gravity one
tliousand one hundred and eighty), also at a temperature of about one
hundred and fifty degrees, and I mix the same together by agitation.
:

page_text: I also put into an ordinary soap copper thirty hundredweights of the saine
mixture of oily, fatty, or resinous matters, and I add thereto, gradually, forty
hundredweights of caustic soda lye (specific gravity one thousand one hundred
and eighty) mixed with twenty hundredweights of water, and I boil the same
together so as to produce saponification of the materials employed. I then
transfer gradually the before-mentioned mixture of oily, fatty, or resinous
matters with silicate of soda and soda lye, which I bave previously prepared, into
such soap copper, and continue to boil the mixture so produced, and I add
thereto three hundredweights of common salt. I continue the boiling until I
judge that the mixture has become reduced to ten tons in weight, and I cleanse
the same into ordinary soap frames, wherein the soap solidifies by cooling, and
becomes fit for use. I can also effect the object of this first part of my Inven
tion, namely, that of reducing the proportionate quantity of soda present in
the silicate of soda (which I employ), by the use of "bicarbonate" or "sesqui-
carbonate" of soda. I have found the employment of the following proportions
of materials and mode of working to be well suited for effecting the objects of
the first part of my Invention when using "bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate"
of soda for such purpose:-
Having prepared (in accordance with the particulars set forth in the Speci-
fication filed in pursuance of the conditions contained in the Letters Patent
granted to me, bearing date the Twenty-third of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five,) a quantity of ten tons of compound soap coutaining
silicate of soda, by the process of soap manufacture, therein designated. as
"close boiling without separation of lyes," I add thereto (the boiling operation
being continued) four hundredweights of "bicarbonate" of soda or eight hun-
dredweights of "sesquicarbonate" of soda, mixed with eight hundredweights
of water; I continue the boiling operation until I judge that the quantity of
compound soap bas become reduced to ten tons. I cleanse the compound
soap produced into ordinary soap frames to become solidified by cooling.
I can also produce a compound soap containing silicate of seda, having a
reduced proportionate quantity of soda combined with silica present therein,
by mixing silicate of soda and "bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda with
that quality of true soap known by soap-makers as "fitted soap." For this
purpose I take one ton of "fitted soap" and add thereto five hundredweights
of silicate of soda (specific gravity about one thousand four hundred and fifty),
I mix the same together at suitable temperature; I then add half a hundred-
weight of "bicarbonate" of soda or one hundredweight of "sesquicarbonate" of
suda previously mixed with two hundredweights of water, and I mix the whole
well together, either by "crutching" in soap frames, or I prefer to effect the

page_text: mixing in such an apparatus as I have described in the Specification filed in
pursuance of the conditions of Letters Patent granted to me, and dated tho
Third of August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and I then effect
such mixing in the same manner I have therein described as suitable for
mixing genuine soap with viscous solution of soluble glass. I vary the strength
and proportionate quantity of the silicate of soda used, also of the mixture of
"bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda and water, according to the quality
of compound soap which I desire to produce. When I use silicate of potash in
place of silicate of soda in the manufacture of compound soaps, I prefer to
apply such silicate to true soaps made with potash, which are known as soft
soaps, and I proceed in the same manner as I have herein-before described
in making hard soaps with silicate of soda.
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of certain kinds of soap
applies, secondly, to the production of compound soaps possessed of good deter-
gent properties, by adding to true soaps produced by the combination of alkali
with tallow, resin, oil, or other such substances, (preferring that such soaps shall
be in the state of "fitted soaps,") "bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda or
of potash, or precipitated carbonate of lime, magnesia, or alumina, or preci-
pitated silicate of lime, silicate of magnesia, or silicate of alumina. When I use
"bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda or of potash, I mix such carbonate
as I employ in the state of powder with about six times its weight of water,
and add about five hundredweights of such mixture to one ton of true soap
and mix the same well together. When I use carbonate of line, carbonate
of magnesia, or carbonate of alumina, I dissolve muriate of lime, sulphate of
magnesia, or sulphate of alumina in about four times its weight of water, and
mix therewith about an equivalent proportion of carbonate of soda also dis-
solved in four times its weight of water, and I thus obtain a thick fluid, which
I mix with about three times its weight of true soap. When I use pre-
cipitated silicate of lime, silicate of magnesia, or silicate of alumina to mix with
true soap,
I prepare such silicate by precipitation from a solution of silicate of
soda or of potash, by the addition of a salt of lime, or of magnesia, or of
alumina held in solution by water; I prefer to take solution of silicate of soda
or of potash, of specific gravity one thousand two hundred, and I add solution
of salt of lime, or of magnesia, or of alumina, or a mixture of some or all of
such salts, having about the same specific gravity, until I find that no pre-
cipitation is occasioned by the further addition of such solution, and I then add
about one-fourth part as much silicate of soda or of potash as was previously
present in the mixture. I thus obtain a pasty fluid containing silicate of line,
silicate of magnesia, or silicate of alumina, or a mixture of some or all of such

page_text: silicates, and some silicate of soda or of potash, and I add such pasty fluid to
true soaps in such proportion as I find suitable to make the quality of com-
pound soap which I desire to produce.
I have hercin-before mentioned certain proportionate quantities of materials,
also certain modes of proceeding which I have found suitable for effecting the
objects of my Invention, but I do not confine myself to the proportionate quan-
tities of materials or the modes of proceeding herein mentioned, as these may
be varied to some extent without deviating from the nature of my Invention.
I claim as my Iuvention, secured to me by the Royal Letters Patent herein-
before partly recited.―
First, the manufacture of compound soap (containing silicate of soda or of
potash) in which the oily, fatty, or resinous matters or acids employed in tho
manufacture of such soap have been caused to abstract a portion of alkali from
such silicate of soda or of potash, and thereby to produce compound soap
containing silicate of soda or of potash of mild quality; also the manufacture
of such compound soap (containing silicate of soda or of potash) in which
"bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda or potash is used, for the purpose
of rendering such silicate of soda or of potash of milder quality.
Second, the manufacture of compound soaps of good detergent quality, by
adding bicarbonate" or "sesquicarbonate" of soda or of potash, or by
adding precipitated carbonate of lime, of magnesia, or of alumina, or by adding
precipitated silicate of lime, of magnesia, or of alumina, to true soaps.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM GOSSAGE. (L.S.)