IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP."-A communication from abroad by Jean
Baptiste Vasseur and Alexis Mahot, both of Paris, in the Empire of
France.
Sealed the 26th April 1864, and dated the 30th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th October 1863.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Baptiste Vasseur and Alexis Mahot, both of Paris, in the
Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new manufacture of soap suitable either for
industrial purposes or for the toilette, and consists in the addition in suitable
proportions, according to the purposes to which the soap is to be applied, of
mineral oils, such, for example, as the oils of petroleum, naptha, and schist,
to the fatty and drying oils usually employed in the manufacture of soap, or to
glycerine, where such substance is employed. The admixture of the different

page_text: oils may be effected either hot or cold, and a constant stirring be maintained
in order to effectually mix the oils together. The rest of the manufacture is
conducted in the usual manner for making soap. The addition of 20 parts by
weight of mineral oil to 100 parts by weight of the soap to be produced gives
a good result if the soap so obtained be intended for use in the ungumming or
treatment of silk, as it leaves the silk perfectly free from the fatty matter
which is found in ungummed silk treated with ordinary soap, whilst the
resinous matter contained in raw silk and in vegetable textile substances, and
which is insoluble in ordinary soap, is readily dissolved out by the soap above
referred to, and may be collected in the vats. Wool washed by this soap is
found to be much softer and of a generally finer texture than when treated
with ordinary soap. A larger proportion of mineral oil will be required for
the treatment of raw silk and vegetable fibres than for ordinary silk and wool.
By the addition of about five per cent. of mineral oil in the manufacture of
glycerine soap, an excellent toilette soap is obtained, the mineral oil tending to
harden the soap and admitting of a greater proportion of glycerine being used
than heretofore, without rendering the soap too soft to be serviceable. A
considerable economy both in first cost and labor is obtained by the use of the
improved mineral oil soaps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Baptiste Vasseur and Alexis Mahot, both of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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:
These improvements in the manufacture of soap relate to the Invention,
preparation, and application of a new description of soap, exercising a much
more powerful detergent action on silk, wool, flax, hemp, china grass, or other
textile fibres or fabrics than the various soaps hitherto made use of for
ungumming, scouring, washing, or cleansing such fabrics or fibrous materials.
Thus, for instance, in ungumming silk by means of Marseilles or other soap-
hitherto made use of for this purpose, a greasy film often remains adhering to
the surface of the fibre, which sometimes is found a great impediment in
dyeing; by employing this improved soap the ungumming, even of the kind of
silk known as "savage silk," is as perfect as may be desired. Vegetable-
textile fibres are by means of my improved soap likewise fully deprived of
the glutinous or resinous matters adhering thereto, and which, for the most
part insoluble in the soaps hitherto made use of or known, are fully got rid of
by employing this improved soap; at the same time this latter does not in the
least cause any destructive action on the fibres, as would be the case if caustie
alkali only had been made use of.
The Invention consists in the adjunction of mineral oils, such as oils of
petroleum, naphtha, rock or schist oil, to the fat or drying vegetable or animal
It will
oils, fats, or greases hitherto made use of in the manufacture of soap.
be understood that the said mineral oils must be sufficiently pure, so as not to
impart any bad colour to the soap or for leaving any extraneous matters on
the fibres or fabrics to be treated by this latter. As for the quantity of the
mineral oil to be mixed with the vegetable or animal oil, fat, or grease, this
will depend entirely on the nature of these latter or of the mineral oils, of the
more or less detergent quality to be given to the soap, or to the nature of the
fibrous materials, or the fabrics to be treated with the said soap, but I may

page_text: state at once that very satisfactory results have been obtained by the addition
of from 5 to 30 per cent. in weight of mineral oil to the vegetable or animal
oil, fat, or grease of which the soap is to be manufactured; it will be under-
stood, consequently, that it would be fully impossible to indicate beforehand the
quantity of mineral oil to be added; thus, for instance, soap intended for
ungumming what are called savage silks ought to contain a larger proportion
of the mineral oil than the soap intended for treating ordinary silk or other
animal or vegetable fibres.
For manufacturing this improved soap any of the known processes commonly
made use of in soap-making may be resorted to, the mineral oil having been
previously intimately mixed, either in the cold or suitably heated state, with
the vegetable or animal oil, fat, or grease to be made use of; such, for instance,
as the oils of olives, colza, linseed, rape seed, hemp seed, poppy, palm, cocoa-
nut, cotton seed, seal, cod, whale, or solid fats, tallow, bone grease, butter, or
others. A suitable quantity of glycerine may also be added, and will greatly
improve the quality of the soap.
As has been stated above, this improved soap may be used in a manner
similar to that of the soaps hitherto employed for disintegrating, ungumming,
scouring, washing, or cleansing of animal or vegetable fibrous materials, without
causing any injurious effect on the fibres, but merely depriving them of any
glutinous, resinous, or greasy matters adhering thereto.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of the Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be put into effect, viz., this
improved soap manufactured and made use of, I declare that I do not intend
to restrict myself to any definite proportions in which the mineral oil or oils are
to enter in the manufacture of the said soap, or to the quantity of glycerine to
be added thereto if found desirable, or to the nature of the vegetable or animal
oil, fat, or grease, in combination with which the mineral oil is to be made use
of; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,―
1ly, the addition of a mineral oil or oils, such, for instance, as the oils of
petroleum, naphtha, rock, slate, or schist oil, in the manufacture of soap, for
imparting to this latter a more powerful detergent quality.
2ly, the new article or soap containing mineral oil in combination with a
vegetable or animal oil, fat, or grease, the said soap being suitable for the
ungumming of silk, the scouring of wool, the desintegrating of flax, hemp, or
other similar fibrous materials, the washing of linen, cotton, woollen, or other
fabrics, or other similar purposes.
"

page_text: 3ly, the combined use in the manufacture of soap of a mineral oil or oils,
and a vegetable or animal oil or oils, fat, or grease, and glycerine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)