A NEW OR IMPROVED DETERGENT COMPOUND TO BE USED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF SOAP, AND FOR CLEANSING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: · LETTERS PATENT to William Hunt, of Castleford, near Normanton,
in the County of York, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention
of "A NEW OR IMPROVED DETERGENT COMPOUND TO BE USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SOAP, AND FOR CLEANSING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 1st November 1870, and dated the 10th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th May 1870.
'I, WILLIAM HUNT, of Castleford, near Normanton, in the County. of
5 York, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED DETERGENT COMPOUND TO BE USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SOAP, AND FOR CLEANSING WOOL AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND FOR
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
.
My Invention consists of a new or improved detergent compound
made in the manner herein-after described, which compound may be
added to soap in certain stages of its manufacture, and may also be
used for other purposes.
The said detergent compound consists of a compound of soda, which
I will herein-after call sesqui-carbonate of soda, and is made as follows:-

page_text: I mix together one and three-quarters parts by weight of ordinary carbonate
of soda and one part by weight of bicarbonate of soda. To this mixture
I add a little water and apply heat. Part of the carbonic acid of the
bicarbonate of soda passes over to the carbonate of soda, thereby con-
verting the whole, or nearly the whole, into the said sesqui-carbonate
of soda.
I add the sesqui-carbonate of soda to soap made in the ordinary way,
the addition of the said sesqui-carbonate of soda to the soap being made
by preference immediately after the separation of the soap from the lye,
and the manufacture of the soap is afterwards completed in the ordinary
way. I vary the proportions of the sesqui-carbonate of soda added to
the soap according to the nature of the product which I wish to obtain.
I find that the addition of about three parts of a saturated solution of
the said sesqui-carbonate of soda to seventeen parts of soap answers
well for ordinary purposes.
The said sesqui-carbonate of soda constitutes by itself, as well as when
added to soap, a powerful detergent compound and may be used in the
following manner for cleansing wool and woollen goods :-In carrying
this part of my Invention into effect. I employ a solution of the said
sesqui-carbonate of soda and soak the wool or woollen goods therein
for a time, depending on the strength of the solution and the nature
and quantity of the grease and dirt to be removed from the said wool
or woollen goods. After the wool or woollen goods have been sufficiently
exposed to the action of the solution they require to be rinsed in repeated
changes of water, in order thoroughly to remove the said solution therefrom.
The said sesqui-carbonate of soda is a valuable detergent used either
by itself or in conjunction with soap, and, unlike ordinary carbonate of
soda and the substances commonly called washing powders, the said
sesqui-carbonate of soda does not injuriously affect the skin.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said William Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th November. 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HUNT, of Castleford, near Normanton, in the County of York, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most, Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Hunt, Her special licence that I,
the said William Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Hunt, 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 Ircland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED DETERGENT.
COMPOUND TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP, AND FOR CLEANSING WOOL
AND WOOLLEN GOODS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Hunt, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hunt, 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 :-
My Invention consists of a new or improved detergent compound
made in the manner herein-after described, which compound may be
added to soap in certain stages of its manufacture, and may also be used
for other purposes.
The said detergent compound consists of a compound of soda which
I. will herein-after call sesqui-carbonate of soda. Although for con-
venience of description I call the said compound sesqui-carbonate of
soda, yet I do not thereby wish it to be understood that the said com-
pound has the exact composition indicated by that term, but I believe
the said compound to have very nearly the composition of a trué sesqui-
carbonate of soda.
I make the said compound in the following manner :-I mix together
one and three-quarters parts by weight of ordinary carbonate of soda,
1

page_text: commonly called soda crystals or washing soda, and one part by weight
of bi-carbonate of soda. To this mixture I add sufficient water to give
the mixture a pasty consistence. I place the mixture in a furnace or
boiler to which heat is applied. The mixture is stirred during the
application of heat, and when the water has nearly all passed off and the
mixture appears dry the process is complete. Part of the carbonic acid
of the bi-carbonate of soda passes over to the carbonate of soda, thereby
converting the whole, or nearly the whole, into the said sesqui-carbonate:
of bi-carbonate of soda. To this mixture I add sufficient water to give
the mixture a pasty consistence. I place the mixture in a furnace or
boiler to which heat is applied. The mixture is stirred during the
application of heat, and when the water has nearly all passed off and the
mixture appears dry the process is complete. Part of the carbonic acid
of the bi-carbonate of soda passes over to the carbonate of soda, thereby
converting the whole, or nearly the whole, into the said sesqui-carbonate:
of soda.
I prefer, however, to make the said compound in the following
manner: I take twenty parts by weight of carbonate of soda, and I'
dissolve ten parts by weight of bi-carbonate of soda in as small a quantity
of water as will suffice to dissolve it. I add the carbonate of soda to the
solution of the bi-carbonate of soda, and I place the mixture or solution
in a furnace or boiler, and apply heat so as to boil the said solution.
The liquid is stirred occasionally during the evaporation of the water.
After the water has so far evaporated that small crystals begin to form,
the stirring of the liquid is maintained without interruption until the
whole or nearly the whole of the mixture assumes the form of small
crystals, when the process is complete. The said crystals being removed
from the boiler and dried are in a fit state for use. The crystals thus
obtained contain on an average in one hundred parts by weight, forty-
four parts of soda, and thirty-five parts of carbonic acid, the remainder
being water. The proportion of bi-carbonate of soda to that of carbonate
of soda may be varied within considerable limits.
When a larger pro-
portion of bi-carbonate of soda than that herein-before indicated is
employed, carbonic acid escapes during the boiling, and the crystals have
the composition herein-before given. When the relative proportion of
bi-carbonate of soda is diminished, the crystals produced have a less
proportion of carbonic acid than that indicated, and although posses-
sing the same detergent properties are not wholly without action on the
skin when used in washing. They have not, however, the injurious
action on the skin which ordinary carbonate of soda and the so-called
washing powders have.

page_text: For example, it may be made by partially carbonating soda crystals.
or ordinary carbonate of soda in the way practised in manufacturing.
bi-carbonate of soda, the carbonating process being stopped when about
half the quantity of carbonic acid has been absorbed necessary to:
produce bi-carbonate of soda.
The partially carbonated soda crystals being dissolved and boiled down,
as herein-before described, yield crystals of the compound constituting'
my Invention.
In place of carbonate of soda in the various processes herein-before"
described the crude carbonate of soda called soda ash may be em-
ployed.
The said sesqui-carbonate of soda is a powerful detergent compound
which may be used for washing purposes in place of the ordinary
carbonate of soda, or washing soda, or the so-called washing powders.
The said sesqui-carbonate of soda is superior to the said washing soda
and washing powders in the respect that it is a very powerful detergent
but has not the caustic or injurious effect on the skin which washing
soda and washing powders have.
I add the sesqui-carbonate of soda to soap made in the ordinary way,
the addition of the said sesqui-carbonate of soda to the soap being made
in the following manner :-When the soap has been transferred from the
copper to the frames, the sesqui-carbonate of soda dissolved in as small a
quantity of water as will suffice to dissolve it is added to the soap in the
frames, and stirred or "crutched” therewith until it is thoroughly
incorporated. The cutting up of the soap is afterwards completed in
the ordinary way. I vary the proportions of the sesqui-carbonate of soda
added to the soap according to the nature of the product which I wish
to obtain. I find that the addition of about three parts of a saturated
solution of the said sesqui-carbonate of soda to seventeen parts of soap
answers well for ordinary purposes. Owing to the absence of the
injurious action on the skin herein-before referred to the said sesqui-.
carbonate of soda may be mixed in larger proportion with soap than that
in which soda and silicate of soda are ordinarily mixed with soap. The
detergent property of the said soap is thereby increased without the
inconvenience which would attend an increased proportion of carbonate
of soda or silicate of soda.
I employ the said sesqui-carbonate of soda in the following manner
for cleansing wool and woollen goods:-In carrying this part of my

page_text: Invention into effect I employ a solution of the said sesqui-carbonate of
soda, and soak the wool or woollen goods therein for a time, depending
on the strength of the solution and the nature and quantity of the grease
and dirt to be removed from the said wool or woollen goods. After the
wool or woollen goods have been sufficiently exposed to the action of
the solution they require to be rinsed in repeated changes of water in
order thoroughly to remove the said solution therefrom.
.
In cleansing wool and woollen goods I prefer to employ a solution of
the susqui-carbonate of soda having a specific gravity indicated by
15 degrees of Twaddell's hydrometer. I do not however limit myself to
any particular proportions.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention ; but
I claim as my Invention the new or improved detergent compound to
be used in the manufacture of soap, and for cleansing wool and woollen
goods, and for other like purposes herein-before described, that is to
say, a detergent compound produced by the mixture or combination of
carbonate of soda or washing soda, or crude soda with bicarbonate of
soda, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hunt, have hercunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
THOMAS HENRY GORLE,
Castleford,
Normanton,
Yorkshire.
WILLIAM HUNT. (L.S.)