Improvements in Soap for Removing Hair from the Skin.
Year: 1893

page_text: Deing date Of nrst Foreign Application (in 16th Mar., 1893
United States of America),
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 5th Oct., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 5th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Soap for Removing Hair from the Skin.
I, JACOB MELLINGER, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at
No. 2510 Madison Avenue, in the City of Baltimore, County of Baltimore, and State
of Maryland, Physician and Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to a soap for removing hair without injury to the cuticle ;
and the object in view is to produce an improved soap which will lather freely
when applied to any part of the human body, and after remaining thereon for a few
minutes, can be washed off with cool water and which will effect the thorough and
easy removal of the hair from the skin without the use of a razor or in any manner
injuring the skin.
My composition for a hair removing soap consists of a suitable soap-vehicle com-
prising tallow, cocoa-nut oil, oil of rhiccini, and lye, combined with glycerine as an
emollient to the skin, starch or its equivalent as a binding agent, and natrium
sulphide hydrate to act as the hair-removing agent. Any suitable perfume may be
incorporated in the composition, as for instance, oil of citronella, in order to relieve
the soap of the pungent odor of the natrium sulphide hydrate, but this particular
aetherical oil is not essential and can be varied at pleasure.
I desire to add that the lye used by me is lye-NaHO, per cent. 35.87.
This is the formula of the lye but of course I claim the right to use other kinds of
lye. With regard to the natrium sulphide hydrate it is identical with sodium
sulphide hydrate.
The proportions of the ingredients are as follows:
Glycerine
Tallow
Cocoa-nut oil
Oil of rhiccini
Lye (35%)
Starch
Natrium sulphide hydrate
Oil of citronella
And water (as a solvent)
one pound;
two pounds;
two pounds;
four pounds;
two pounds;
four pounds;
one-fourth of a pound;
one-fourth of a pound,
three pints.
In preparing my soap, I use one pound of glycerine, chemically pure, and of
specific gravity 1260, (30-8 Bé). I first dissolve the tallow, (two pounds), and
cocoa-nut oil, (four pounds), in a copper vessel, by heating the latter, and then add
thereto the oil of rhiccini, (four pounds), and the glycerine, (one pound), of the
specific gravity and temperature hereinbefore stated, after which the mixture is
allowed to cool until its temperature reaches ninety degrees (90°) Fahr.. and I then

page_text: add the lye, (four pounds), which forms thirty-five per cent. (35%) of the
volume.
I next proceed to make the binding agent by dissolving one-fourth of a pound of
starch, or its equivalent, in one pint of water, temperature eighty degrees (80°) Fahr.
I then dissolve, in an earthen vessel, the two pounds of sulphide hydrate of
sodium, chemically pure, in one quart of boiling water; and when the sulphide
hydrate of sodium is thoroughly dissolved, I pour into the solution the semi-fluid
binding agent, the mass being constantly stirred or agitated while the binding
agent is being mixed with the solution, after which the mixture of sulphide
hydrate of sodium, the binding agent and water are allowed to evaporate to a
third part of the volume. The mixture of tallow, cocoa-nut oil, and other fatty
ingredients, the oil of rhiccini, lye and glycerine forming the soap vehicle are
contained in a suitable vessel, which is placed in a water bath; and this soap
vehicle is agitated or stirred while the solution of sulphide hydrate of sodium and
the binding agent are poured slowly into the agitated mass for forming the soap
vehicle, and then the aetherical oil is added to the whole mass, the vessel in which
the mixture is effected being immersed in the water bath hereinbefore described.
The agitation of the mass is continued until all of the ingredients have been
thoroughly and intimately combined, and the mixture is then placed or poured
into moulds of suitable size according to the size of the soap-cakes it is desired to
produce.
The method of using the soap consists in applying the same by a brush or cloth
to the face to produce a thick lather which is allowed to remain on the skin for a
few minutes, (from two to five minutes), after which the lather and the hair are
readily and effectually removed by merely washing the skin with cool water. The
glycerine acts as an emollient to the skin, the natrium sulphide hydrate as the hair
removing agent, and the tallow, cocoa-nut oil, oil of rhiccini, and lye as the vehicle
to produce the lather.
I do not desire to strictly confine myself to the exact proportions herein stated,
nor to the particular soap vehicle, or aetherical oil, or the binding agent, as I am
aware that the same can be modified within certain limits without departing from
the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A soap for removing hair from the skin, comprising natrium sulphide hydrate
incorporated with a suitable soap vehicle, as and for the purpose set forth.
2. A soap for removing the hair from the skin, comprising sulphide hydrate of
sodium, incorporated with a suitable soap vehicle, and glycerine as an emollient,
as set forth.
3. A soap for removing hair from the skin, comprising natrium sulphide hydrate,
and a soap-vehicle composed of tallow, cocoa-nut oil, oil of rhiccini, and lye, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
4. A soap for removing hair from the skin, comprising natrium sulphide hydrate,
combined with a soap-vehicle, glycerine, and a suitable aetherical oil, all of which
are intimately combined for the purpose described.
Dated the 30th day of May 1893.
JACOB MELLINGER, M.D., Ph.D.