IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOTTLED SOAP AND YELLOW SOAP
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philipp Kürten, of Cologne, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Soap Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MOTTLED SOAP AND YELLOW SOAP."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philipp Kürten at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd December 1856.
I, PHILIPP KÜRTEN, of Cologne, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Soap Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOTTLED SOAP AND YELLOW SOAP," to be as
follows:-
For producing the mottled soap, tallow fat, obtained from bones, or bleached
palm oil, is boiled with a lye or solution of caustic soda and converted into
hard soap, in the manner well known to persons conversant with the manufacture
of soap. This soap is then allowed to remain in the boiler from 3 to 6 hours,
according to the quantity, during which time the lye will settle to the bottom
of the boiler, and in the mean time a second boiler is filled with cocoa-nut oil,
and a solution composed of 3 parts of caustic soda and one part of potash.
When this mass is turning into soap, the tallow or palm-oil soap is added to
it, and the two are then boiled together until they become hard, whereupon

page_text: they are put into wooden forms and there allowed to cool. Soap prepared in
this manner has a beautifully mottled appearance, equal to the best prepared
according to the old process; it is equally bard, produces a better lather, and
is smooth on the surface. The novelty of this process consists in boiling tallow
or palm-oil soap a second time with cocoa-nut oil soap, and in preparing the
latter with solution of potash.
For producing yellow soap, two parts of tallow or palm oil and 1 part of
resin are dissolved together, and when nearly cool I add for every 100 lb. of
it 90 lb. of solution of soda, and 40 lb. of solution of caustic potash. This
mass is then stirred up or agitated during five or ten minutes, when it will
become so thick that the lye cannot separate from it again; it is then scooped
out into forms, and in the course of a day will become solid soap. After having
been left from 3 to six days, water or solution of potash, in proportion of from
ten to twenty pounds to every 100 lb. of soap, is put into the boiler, and when
boiling, the soap which has previously been cut into small pieces is added to
it, and allowed to dissolve but without boiling. If not sufficiently hard when
dissolved, a solution of salt and water is added to it until it becomes bard
enough, whereupon it is again put into forms and agitated until it becomes
quite thick. The novelty of this process consists in the use of caustic potash,
and in dissolving and warming up the soap a second time without boiling it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pbilipp Kürten in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIPP
KÜRTEN, of Cologne, in the Kingdom of Prussia,. Soap Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of. December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand. eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for llerself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Philipp Kürten, Her special licence that I, the said Philipp Kärten,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Philipp Kürten, 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. Freland,.

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MOTTLED SOAP AND YELLOW SOAP," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Philipp Kürten, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Patent....
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Philipp Kürten, do hereby declare tho
nature of my said Invention, and in what. manner the same is to be. pcr-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in. and. by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists, firstly, in producing mottled. soap by boiling..any
fatty matter, such as tallow fat, obtained from bones, or.palm. oil, with soda
lye, and converting it into hard curd soap, and then mixing .it.with a soap or
with the ingredients for a soap formed of cocoa-nut oil, soda lye, and lye.. of
potash, in the proportions hereafter mentioned...
Since filing my Provisional Specification, I have through a succession of
experiments simplified my processes for producing mottled soap, and instead
of forming the tallow or palm-oil soap and the cocoa-nut oil soap in two
separate boilers or soap pans and then mixing the two together, I now proceed
as follows Tallow fat, obtained from bones, or palm oil, with or without.an
addition of tallow oleine, are boiled with soda lye, and converted, in the
manner well known to persons conversant with the manufacture of soap, into
hard curd soap, from which the excess of lye is separated by means of salt.
This soap is allowed to cool in the pan until the following day, when. tho
15c, which has during this time settled to the. bottom. of the pan, is drawn
off. This soap is now again heated, and cocoa-nut oil, in the proportion of
50 lbs. of cocoa-nut oil to every 150 lbs. of the curd soap, is added to.it,
and when this mass is dissolved I add lye to it, consisting of three parts of
soda lye and one part of lye of potash, until it has acquired a sharp pungent
taste. After boiling for two hours, mottled soap will have been produced,
which is then transferred to the frames and there allowed to cool, when it
will be ready for use. If a greater variegation of color is desired, black
manganese or other coloring matter may be added before the soap-is-put
into the frames. This process is, as I have before observed, more expeditious
than that described in my Provisional Specification, and as tho excess of salt
is neutralized by the admixture of a lye of potash and the ingredients boiled
together, thoy necessarily combine in a more perfect manner..

page_text: i
The second part of my Invention consists in producing what is in the trado
known as "yellow soap," by dissolving tallow or palm oil together with resin,
and adding thereto lyes of soda and of potash, in the proportions hereafter
mentioned. Two parts of tallow or palm oil and one part of resin are put into
the pan and dissolved together by heating the pan. The heating process is then
:discontinued, and when nearly cool 90 lbs. of soda lye and 40 lbs. of lye of potash
are added for every 100 lbs. of the molten ingredients. This mass is then
agitated during from 5 to 10 minutes, when it consolidates sufficiently to
prevent the lyes from separating from it. It is then put into the frames, when
in the course of from 20 to 24 hours, according to the quantity, it will become
solid soap. After this soap has been left from three to six days it is cut up
into small pieces. Water, or lyc, or potash, in the proportion of from 10 to
20 lbs. to every 100. Ibs of soap, is then put into the pan and made to boil, the
soap being thereupon added to it and allowed to dissolve, but without boiling.
If the soap is not hard enough when dissolved, a solution of salt and water is
added to it until it becomes sufficiently hard, whereupon it is again put into
frames and agitated until it becomes quite stiff, when the process is completed
and the soap ready for use.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be carried into effect, I declare that what I claim as the Inven-
tion, intended to be secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,
Firstly, as regards the manufacture of mottled soap, the boiling of the
hard curd soap prepared from tallow, palm oil, or other fatty matters a second
time with cocoa-nut oil, and the use of lyes of potash for the saponification of
the cocoa-nut oil, as herein-before described.
And, secondly, as regards the manufacture of yellow soap, the use of lye of
potash, and the warming up and dissolving the soap a second time without
boiling it...
In witness whereof, I, the said Philipp Kürten, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
PHILIPP KURTEN. (L.S.)