MANUFACTURING SOAP
Year: 1855

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
'by the "Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho 16th
November 1855.
I, BENJAMIN TALBOT BABBITT, of the 'City of New York, United States,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "MANUFACTURING SOAP !
to be as follows:-
The nature of the Invention consists in the new & useful manufacture of a
portable chemical compound, composed of the carbonate of soda & the oxyd
of calcium, to be used in the manufacture of soap.
I take two parts (by weight) of dry common carbonate of soda & one pound
of fresh dry oxyd of calcium, & grind them together into a fine powder in
a mill, so as to have them thoroughly mixed. This forms my compound.
In this state it is packed up in close tin or other boxes or vessels & can
be transported to any distance ready to be used in making a caustic lye for
manufacturing soap. The object of using the oxyd of calcium in this manner
is to enable any person to decarbonize the carbonate of soda by dissolving the
compound in water, thereby obtaining a caustic lye fit at once to be used in
making soap.
To accomplish this I take one pound of the carbonate of soda & oxyd of
calcium mixture, & dissolve it in three wine gallons of water in any convenient
vessel, & then allow the aqueous solution to stand still for about ten minutes.

page_text: Whenever the composition is placed in the water & stirred, the decompo-
sition of the carbonate of soda immediately commences, by the carbonic acid
leaving the soda & uniting with the oxyd of calcium forming the carbonate of
lime. The carbonate of soda, Na. CO' + HO, becomes Na. O +HO, & the
oxyd of calcium becomes Ca. O + CO2 + HO. The amount of the water of
crystallization is not given, this being immaterial. The carbonate of lime now
formed, being insoluble, falls to the bottom of the vessel in a state of very fine
deposit, while the oxyd of sodium is held in solution by the water.
The clear
liquor is now poured into the kettle intented for making the soap, & the lime
deposit is then thrown out. The clear liquor is now a caustic alkaline soda
lye fit for making soap.
To the quantity of clear caustic soda lye thus produced, two pounds of tallow,
suet, or any kind of oil or grease are added, & the whole boiled slowly until
the chemical union of the alkali & the oil or grease is effected & soap formed.
This is known by those skilled in the art taking out some of the contents of
the soap kettle on a spatula & examining it; when it has become of a ropy
character it is a sign that the soap is formed. Two ounces of common salt are
then added to the contents of the kettle, & the whole boiled for about ten
minutes. The salt separates all the uncombined water from the formed soap,
& the latter floats on the surface. If it is desired to add resin to the soap,
some of it is melted in a separate vessel & caustic alkaline lye added at the
This is added to the soap before the
rate of a quart to the pound of resin.
salt is thrown in; the soap formed as described may be perfumed with
essential oils just before it is quite cold & ready to be run into the moulds.
1.am well aware that lime & the carbonate of soda have been used in a
wet state for making a lye to be used in the manufacture of soap; this I do
not claim, for the effect of lime as a re-agent in decomposing the carbonate
of soda is well known to all chemists; but the carbonate of soda & the oxyd of
calcium combined. in a dry state, as described, thus affording a convenient
mixture to be used at once in making caustic lye, has never been known or
used, so far as I am aware.