AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andre Prosper Rochette, of Brighouse, in the County
of York, Soap Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP."
Sealed the 25th July 1854, and dated the 22nd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andre Prosper Rochette
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1854.
I, ANDRE PROSPER ROCHETTE, of Brighouse, in the County of York, Soap
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP" to be as follows:-
In some branches of manufacture suds or soapy waters are produced, and
they were formerly a waste product, but of late years the oily and greasy
matters have been extracted from suds and soapy waters, and some attempts
have been made to manufacture soap therefrom in the manner of ordinary
soap-making, by boiling such matters with alkaline leys, but the same have
not, it is believed, been successful. Now, my Invention consists of the appli-
cation of greasy or oily matters obtained from suds and soapy waters in the
manufacture of hard soap, by causing such matters, when the same have been
melted, to be mixed with soda ley, and avoiding the boiling process, by which
means a hard soap will be produced.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andre Prosper Rochette in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDRE
PROSPER ROCHETTE, of Brighouse, in the County of York, Soap Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Andre Prosper Rochette, Her special licence that I, the said Andre
Prosper Rochette, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Andre Prosper Rochette, 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 IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Andre Prosper Rochette,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Andre Prosper Rochette, 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 thereof (that is to say):-
In some branches of manufacture suds or soapy waters are produced, and
they were formerly a waste product, but of late years the oily and greasy
matters have been extracted from suds and soapy waters, and some attempts
have been made to manufacture soap therefrom in the manner of ordinary
soap-making, by boiling such matters with alkaline leys, but the same have
not, it is believed, been successful. Now, my Invention consists of the appli-
cation of greasy or oily matters obtained from suds and soapy waters, in the
manufacture of hard soap, by causing such matters, when the same have been
melted, to be mixed with soda ley, and avoiding the boiling process, by which
means a hard soap will be produced:-

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same..
The production of the greasy and oily matters from suds and soapy waters
being well understood and extensively practised, it is not necessary to describe
the same in this my Specification, as the mode in which suds and soapy waters
are decomposed to get the greasy and oily matters therefrom constitutes no
part of my Invention. These greasy and oily matters have, however, been
considered of very inferior quality, and not well suited for the manufacture of
soap, and they have been, consequently, used for inferior purposes. Now, my
Invention consists of combining them with caustic soda and water, and in
doing so avoiding the process of boiling; for this purpose, I simply melt the
fatty or oily matters which have been obtained from soda or soapy waters, and
stir in and well mix therewith a solution of caustic soda. The soap thus made
may be put into frames and cut into bars for use. By such means good hard
quality of the greasy or oily
soap will be produced, depending, however, on the
matters obtained from the suds or soapy waters. The proportions of the soda
ley and the melted fatty or greasy matters will vary to some extent; but I have
generally found that about 60 lbs. of melted greasy or fatty matters and 40 lbs:
of caustic soda ley (specific gravity 1.26), a good proportion.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
manufacture of hard soap, by combining without boiling caustic soda ley with
melted fatty and greasy matters obtained from suds and soapy waters, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andre Prosper Rochette, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
A. ROCHETTE. (L.S.)