IMPROVE- MENTS IN DRESSING OR FINISHING LACE AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
KEELY junior, of Nottingham, Dyer and Lace Dresser, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Keely, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Keely, my
exors, adiiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Keely, my
exors, 'adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DRESSING OR FINISHING LACE AND OTHER FABRICS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Keely, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Keely, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement. thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements in dressing or finishing lace and other fabrics requiring.
similar dress or finish, consist in- rendering the articles, treated according to
my Invention, free from the liability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere,
and giving the articles so dressed or finished a firmness that preserves the
required shape when exposed to heat or damp.
In order that these improvements may be fully understood, I will now
proceed to describe the method of performing the same.
In the first place I dissolve shellac and borax in hot water in the propor-
tions of one pound of borax to five pounds of shellac in three gallons. of hot
water, by first adding to the hot water one pound of borax, and when it is
dissolved, then by adding the five pounds of shellac, keeping the solution at a
boiling heat, and stirring the same until the whole is dissolved. The shellac
may be dissolved in or by other alkalies, and in different proportions to those
above given.
My improvements do not depend on the means employed for dissolving the
shellac, nor the proportions used, but consist of the application of shellac in
dressing and finishing lace and other fabrics requiring a similar dress and
finish. I have, however, found the above quantities answer the purposo well.
The solution of shellac, prepared as before stated, may be used either alone or
mixed with starch, gelatine, glue, or other stiffening material previously
dissolved in the methods used to dissolve those materials respectively, and
which methods are well known; such starch, gelatine, or other stiffening
material, when so dissolved, is best added when the solution is at boiling heat,
and when so added the whole should be stirred until thoroughly mixed. The
solution of shellac alone will give firmness to the fabric, but I find it advan
tageous to add other stiffening material whenever it is wished to give greater
stiffness or body to the fabric than is attained by the use of the solution of
shellac alone; and, the quantity so to be added must depend on the greater
or less stiffness or body which it is desired to attain. I have added a
solution of one pound of glue to the solution of shellac containing one
pound, of that material, and have found that proportion answer the purpose
.well..
I will now describe the method of applying the solution in the process of
dressing and finishing lace and other fabrics. The solution of shellac prepared
as herein stated, and either with or without (as the circumstances of the case
may render advisable) the addition of some such other stiffening material,
as herein mentioned, may be applied, either by dipping the lace or other fabrics

page_text: JOHN (L.S.) KEELY junior.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of June, in
the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid John Keely junior camne before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.