AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOSITION FOR PRODUCING PATTERNS OR FIGURES UPON TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOSITION FOR PRODUCING
PATTERNS OR FIGURES UPON TEXTILE FABRICS."A communication from
abroad by Edouard Auguste Desiré Guichard, Decorative Architect,
and Louis Dupont, Merchant, both of Paris, France.
Sealed the 17th September 1872, and dated the 1st April 1872.
the 1st April 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, .do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOSITION FOR
PRODUCING PATTERNS OR FIGURES UPON TEXTILE FABRICS," a communication, to
be as follows:-

page_text: kinds of stuffs, such as silk, wool, cotton, linen, and others, woven
together or separately.
The processes hitherto known for printing on such goods are as
follows: 1st, printing immediately by the aid of rolls or plates upon
the places to be coloured with pigments which have been thickened by
gum, starch, or flour, so that they will not spread beyond the limits of
the design or pattern, or be mixed when several are used together. In
this manner of proceeding, which is especially applicable to woollen and
silk fabrics, the mordants for fixing the colours are mixed with them
previous to making the impressions. 2ndly., printing suitable mordants
at the required places on the surface of the fabrics, and passing 'the
latter into a bath of dye as in the ordinary process of dyeing; the
colouring matter attaches itself to and combines with the parts impreg-
nated with the mordant, so that on these places alone bright colours are
produced, while upon the parts not impregnated with the mordant the
colouring matter holds but slightly and is easily caused to disappear by
washing with running water, by exposure in fields, or by immersion in
discolouring baths. This method is most commonly employed for calico.
3rdly., dyeing the goods in the ordinary manner after having covered the
parts to be left white with reserve or resist paste, which will preserve
them from the action of the colouring bath by their repulsion of the
colouring matters, and which are removed after the dyeing, so that the
parts thus protected may subsequently have given them, if necessary, a
colour different to that of the aforesaid bath. 4th., operating upon a fabric
that has been printed uniformly by a mordant or colours by the applica-
tion of discharges upon the required places so that the fabric regains its
whiteness at these places, which may then be coloured so as to have a
pattern of a different colour to the ground.
My process differs from all of the above. I make a composition which,
mixed with the required colours, is printed directly by a plate or by rolls
upon the goods. The said composition is made as follows, viz., 13 parts
of oil varnish, 5 parts of turpentine, 1 part of white or yellow wax, and
1 part of resin. These substances are mixed together, and I add to them
the required colour ground in a sufficient quantity of linseed oil to give
the mixture the required consistency. The proportions above given may
be slightly varied according to the nature of the goods to be printed.
The operator should observe the different finishings of the fabrics as well
as the different methods of bleaching, and practice only will enable

page_text: him to know the different proportions for the different fabrics. The
proportions above given have been found to succeed the best in various
experiments.
Some stuff printers now print with oil colours, but their appearance is
pasty, and to the touch they resemble impressions on waxed cloths which
have a colour in relief; while the process I use gives the colour a con-
dition more like a dye. It is transparent, is unaffected by washing with
water, and loses but little of its brilliancy when washed with soap.
With the aforesaid composition the colours need not be fixed by the
aid of steam, neither do they need to be washed after the impression,
and all manipulations previous to or after the impression are avoided.
Moreover the fabric upon which I print needs no especial preparation.
My Invention is also applicable to fabrics painted by hand.
In painting in oil upon woven fabrics by hand it is necessary that the
stuff should be prepared for the purpose of destroying the capillary
attraction of the threads, which without this precaution would draw the
color in the brush faster than desired by the artist, and would produce
the effect known as "clouding" in impressions on the warp. In the im-
pressions on stuffs made by the aid of glue it is necessary to obviate this
difficulty by printing a surface of size for the reception upon the part
thus prepared of the color deposited by the plate of the printer.
.
In impressions in oil upon woven fabrics hitherto made it will be
palpable to the sight and touch that the color is applied in the condition
of solid non-transparent paste, and consequently it forms a "relief"
upon the fabric; it adheres only to the exterior of the stuff, and is not
entirely absorbed by the threads as a dye would be, or as would be the
case with the colors hitherto employed for impressions upon such
materials, and which may be called chemical colors.
'
I have herein-above indicated the process by which may be accom-
plished the printing of all kinds of woven fabrics with colours having a
base of oil, and which obviates all especial finishing, and permits the
colour to traverse the body of the fabric without perceptible "clouding,"
and in the same manner as a dye, and I have therefore arrived at the
following results:-1st., the printing and dyeing of goods with colors
liquid and transparent, and not pasty or solid as heretofore. 2nd.,
traversing the fabric without previous especial preparation, and so that

page_text: the colour will not spread beyond the printed part. 3rd., insuring above
all that the color printed or the dye in the bath after my process will
not scale off or be reduced to powder by rubbing, as is the case with
goods printed heretofore with oil colours.
It is obvious that the above-described process is a great step in the
production of such goods, and although known materials are used the
results obtained are unprecedented. This will be more apparent on
examining fabrics printed with oil colors, and known in trade as waxed
cloth, dresses or fabrics printed with oil paste, permeable or imper-
meable, and fabrics for blinds and awnings, which are not transparent.
For some fabrics the means above described may be simplified. And
in fact there are certain fabrics very delicate which require certain
modifications in the composition above described.
The following
mixture, which is added to the colors ground in oil, answers well for
some stuffs, viz., linseed oil boiled and burned 1 part, linseed oil half
boiled and well purified 1 part, white wax (which may be omitted in
some cases), 0.20 parts, essence of turpentine 1.980 parts.
The color ground in linseed oil is added in a sufficient quantity to
give the mixture about the consistency of a thin syrup, so that the
color obtained will be transparent, and this transparency of the color
gives great value to this Invention.
The said Invention is applicable for painting by hand, as upon leather,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
atent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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
PROCESS AND COMPOSITION FOR PRODUCING PATTERNS OR FIGURES UPON TEXTILE
FABRICS," a communication to me from abroad by Edouard Auguste
Desiré Guichard, Decorative Architect, and Louis Dupont, Merchant,
both of Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Robert Lake, 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
Patant

page_text: latter into a bath of dye as in the ordinary process of dyeing; the
colouring matter attaches itself to and combines with the parts im-
pregnated with the mordant, so that on these places alone bright colours
are produced, while upon the parts not impregnated with the mordant,
the colouring matter holds but slightly and is easily caused to disappear
by washing with running water, by exposure in fields, or by immersion
in discolouring baths. This method is most commonly employed for
calico. Thirdly, dyeing the goods in the ordinary manner after having
covered the parts to be left white with reserve or resist paste which will
preserve them from the action of the colouring bath by the repulsion of
the colouring matters, and which is removed after the dyeing, so that
the parts thus protected may subsequently have given them if necessary
a colour different to that of the aforesaid bath. Fourthly, operating on
a fabric that has been printed uniformly by a mordant or colours by the
application of discharges upon the required places, so that the fabric
regains its whiteness at these places, which may then be coloured so as
to have a pattern of a different colour to the ground.
My process differs from all of the above. I make a composition which,
mixed with the required colours, is printed directly by a plate or by rolls
upon the goods. The said composition is made as follows, viz:-
Thirteen parts of oil varnish, five parts essence of turpentine, one part of
white or yellow wax, and one part of colophony or other resin, in all
twenty parts. These substances are mixed together, and I add to them
the required colour ground in a sufficient quantity of linseed oil to give
the mixture the required consistency. The proportions above given may
be slightly varied according to the nature of the goods to be printed.
The operator should observe the different finishings of the fabrics as well
as the different methods of bleaching, and practice only will enable him
to know the different proportions for the different fabrics. The pro-
portions above given have been found to succeed the best in various
experiments.
Some stuff printers now print fabrics with oil colours, but the
impressions are pasty in appearance and to the touch, and they resemble
impressions on waxed clotlis which have a colour in relief, while the
I use gives the colour a condition more like a dye. It is
process
transparent, is unaffected by washing with water, and loses but little of
its brilliancy when washed with soap. With the aforesaid composition
the colours need not be fixed by the aid of steam, neither do they need
.

page_text: to be washed after the impression, and all manipulations previous to or
after the impression are avoided. Morcover the fabric upon which I
print needs no especial preparation. My Invention is also applicable to
fabrics painted by hand.
In painting in oil upon woven fabrics by hand it is necessary that the
stuff should be prepared for the purpose of destroying the capillary
attraction of the threads, which without this precaution would draw the
colour in the brush faster than desired by the artist, and would produce
the effect known as "clouding" in impressions on the warp. In the
impressions on stuffs made by the aid of glue, it is necessary to obviate
this difficulty by printing a surface of size for the reception upon the
part thus prepared of the colour deposited by the plate of the printer.
In impressions in oil upon woven fabrics hitherto made, it will be
palpable to the sight and touch that the colour is applied in the condition
of solid non-transparent paste, and consequently it forms a "relief" upon
the fabric; it adheres only to the exterior of the stuff, and is not entirely
absorbed by the threads as a dye would be, or as would be the case with
the colours hitherto employed for impressions upon such materials, and
which may be called chemical colours.
I have herein-above indicated the process by which may be accom-
plished the printing of all kinds of woven fabrics with colours having a
base of oil, and which obviates all especial finishing, and permits the
colour to traverse the body of the fabric without perceptible "clouding,"
and in the same manner as a dye. And I have therefore arrived at the
following results:-First, the printing and dyeing of goods with colours
liquid and transparent, and not pasty or solid as heretofore. Second,
the penetration of the fabric without previous especial preparation, and
so that the colour will not spread beyond the printed part. Third, in-
suring above all that the colour printed or the dye of the bath according
to my process will not scale off or be reduced to powder by rubbing as is
the case with goods printed heretofore with oil colors.
It is obvious that the above described process is a great step in the
production of such goods, and although known materials are used the
results obtained are unprecedented. This will be more apparent on
examining fabrics printed with oil colours and known in trade as waxed
cloth; and impressions in oil upon dyed robes or fabrics permeable or

page_text: impermeable printed with oil paste, and fabrics for blinds and awnings
which are not transparent.
For some fabrics the means above specified may be simplified, and
in fact there are fabrics very delicate which require certain modifications
in the composition above described. The following mixture which is
added to the colours ground in oil answers well for some stuffs, viz :—
Linseed oil boiled and burned 1 part; linseed oil half boiled and well
purified 1 part; white wax (which may be omitted in some cases) 0.20
parts; essence of turpentine 1.980 parts.
The colour ground in linseed oil is added in a sufficient quantity to
give the mixture about the consistency of a thin syrup, so that the
colour obtained will be transparent, and this transparency of the colour
gives great value to this Invention.
The said Invention is applicable for painting by hand as well as for
impressions upon leather, paper, and other like materials, as hitherto for
painting by hand it has been necessary to prepare the fabrics.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same,
I wish it understood that I claim, the above specified composition,
mixed with ordinary colours ground in linseed oil, permitting a direct
impression of the plate or rolls, and either mechanically or by hand
upon all kinds of stuffs or woven fabrics, thereby obviating the necessity
of a preliminary preparation of the said stuffs, that is to say, the employ-
ment of dyeing, steaming, washing, and chemical reagents, according to
the practice hitherto followed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)