AN IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING WOOD AND VEGETABLE FIBRES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALEXANDER WILKINSON of 31 Blagrove Road, Notting Hill Middlesex, Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF TREATING WOOD AND VEGETABLE FIBRES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
TEXTILE FABRICS to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the treatment of wood bark, Adansonia fibre plants
and shrubs "Sizel-hemp" or bark of Aloes to be used in the spinning of yarns and
the manufacture of textile fabrics such as those in which cotton, silk, and merino
are now employed.
According to my invention I take say one hundred weight of the before named
fibrous material and place it in a large tank or vessel containing cold water I then
add say four pounds of Potash, six pounds of caustic soda, three pounds of quick-
lime, and four pounds of Nitric acid and stir well together.
The fibre or bark is allowed to remain in this liquid for some two or three days
in order to dissolve and extract the gum or glutinous matter.
The bark or fibre is removed and washed in a cold solution of liquid ammonia
till it becomes entirely free from gummy substance.
It is then boiled in a strong alkali composed of six pounds of soap, ten pounds
of soda, four pounds of sugar of lead, and six pounds of acetic acid for about ten
bours.
(In some cases when the fibre becomes too short in staple and rotten in its
strength it must be removed and placed into cold water in order to stop the alkali
from doing further damage) After this process it is removed and wrung in an
ordinary wringing machine and is then bleached in an airtight stove with shelves
by sulphur dissolved by the action of bisulphide of carbon or nitric acid and then
set light to, an ordinary air blast being used to force the vapours in and around
the shelves to produce a white bleach.
I do not wish to confine myself to sulphur bleaching and as a substitute I take
one pound of pottasium, six pounds of Chloride of Lime, one pound of Common

page_text: Soda, one pound of Sulphur and eight ounces of ammonia and place these
ingredients together in a copper containing about fifty gallons of cold water which
I heat and boil till the ingredients are dissolved, it is then run and filtered to
separate any solid substance that may be left in the chlorine liquor. The liquor
is then poured on the fibrous material and in about one hour a brilliant pearl
white fibre is produced.
The fibre can be removed and dried ready to be broken up in a devil or fibre
reducing machine and carded and spun in a manner well known.

page_text: I ALEXANDER WILKINSON of 31 Blagrove Road, Notting Hill, Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF TREATING WOOD AND VEGETABLE FIBRES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
TEXTILE FABRICS," 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 the treatment of wood bark, Adansonia, fibre plants
and shrubs Sizel-Hemp or bark of aloes to be used in the spinning of yarns and
the manufacture of textile fabrics such as those in which cotton, silk and merino
are now employed.
According to my invention I take say one hundred weight of the before named
fibrous material and place it in a large tank or vessel containing cold water I then
add say four pounds of potash, six pounds of caustic soda, three pounds of Quick-
lime, and four pounds of Nitric Acid and stir well together. The fibre or bark is
allowed to remain in this liquid for some two or three days in order to dissolve and
extract the gum or glutinous matter.
The bark or fibre is removed and washed in a cold solution of liquid ammonia
till it becomes entirely free from gummy substance. It is then boiled in a strong
alkali composed of six pounds of soap, ten pounds of soda, four pounds of sugar of
lead and six pounds of acetic acid, for about ten hours. (In some cases when the
fibre becomes too short in staple and rotten in its strength it must be removed
and placed into cold water in order to stop the alkali from doing further damage).
After this process it is removed and wrung in an ordinary wringing machine and
is then bleached in an airtight stove with shelves by sulphur dissolved by the
action of bisulphide of carbon or nitric acid and then set light to, an ordinary air
blast being used to force the vapours in and around the shelves to produce a white
bleach.
I do not wish to confine myself to sulphur bleaching and as a substitute I take
one pound of potassium, one pound of sugar of lead six pounds of chloride of lime,
one pound of common soda, one pound of sulphur and eight ounces of ammonia
and place these ingredients together in a copper containing about fifty gallons of
cold water which I heat and boil till the ingredients are dissolved it is then run
and filtered to separate any solid substance that may be left in the chlorine liquor.
The liquor is then poured on the fibrous material and in about one hour a brilliant
pearl white fibre is produced.
The fibre can be removed and dried ready to be broken up in a devil or fibre
reducing machine and carded and spun in a manner well known, and the refuse
from which the fibre is removed, may, when strained be used for flocking purposes
or otherwise either in its plain state or dyed as desired.

page_text: 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
The improved method of treating wood and vegetable fibres for the manufacture
of textile fabrics as hereinbefore described.