CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN DYING
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
BADNALL the younger, of Leek, in the County of Stafford, Silk Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing
date at Westminster, the Third day of June, 1828, in the fourth year of His
reign, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Badnall, my exors, admors,
and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Richard Badnall, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN DYING;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso that if I, the said Richard Badnall, shall not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all
liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, deter
mine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Badnall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: in the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My improvements in dyeing consist,―
First, in the application of Prussian blue to the purposes of dyeing silk,
cotton, wool, or any other article; and,
Secondly, in the application of pressure to dyeing in general.
7
The following is my method of dyeing by means of Prussian blue :-The
Prussian blue being previously ground as fine as possible is to be put into any
convenient vessel of glass or of earthenware. Strong muriatic acid is to be
poured upon it a little at a time, and the mass is to be kept constantly stirred
with a rod of white wood, a piece of tobacco pipe, or any other material not
liable to be acted on by the acid. The stirring must be continued till the
mixture has become a smooth pulpy homogeneous mass of a semi-gelatinous
consistence. The proportion of acid requisite for that purpose depends in
some degree on the quality of the Prussian blue, and therefore cannot be
precisely set forth in words; but, by proceeding carefully as above described,
it is impossible to fall into error, as the mixture if made too thin from excess
of acid may be rectified by the subsequent.addition. of more Prussian blue.
This mixture, which I call Prepared Prussian Blue, may be used as soon as
made, but it is better after three or four days, and I have not found that its
qualities are altered by age. In dying silk with the Prussian blue prepared as
above I proceed in the following manner:-The gum having been discharged
from the silk by any of the usual means, I steep the silk for three or four
hours in a cold solution of alum in water, of the common strength employed
by silk dyers. I then rince it well in cold water. The dye vat is composed
by diluting the prepared Prussian blue with cold water till its color is of the
required depth, according to the particular tint intended to be given to the silk.
The silk prepared as above is then to be put on sticks and immersed in the
bath, taking care that it be constantly turned, that the color may be perfectly
level, and that it remain in the bath till it has acquired the proper tint or
shade. It is then to be well washed in running water till the water ceases to
be discoloured by it. Lastly, the silk is to be dried either in the shade or in a
stove, heated to not more than a summer temperature. From Prussian blue
prepared as above various greens and purples may be obtained either by com-
bining it with the ingredients usually employed for such colours, and dipping
the silk in this compound bath, or by using the bath of prepared Prussian blue
either before or after the application of the .other ingredients, according to cir-
cumstances and to the nature. of such ingredients. These, however, it is not
necessary to recite, the object of this part of my Patent being merely my new

page_text: mode of preparing Prussian blue, so as to dye silk, cotton, wool, or any other
article by means of it, either alone or mixed, and combined with other dying
materials.
The second Invention I claim is, the application of pressure to dying in
general, whether it be that of thick cloths, hats, woods for veneering, or any
other purpose, or any other or more delicate materials, such as linen, cotton, or
silk goods, lace, &c. For this purpose the materials to be dyed are to be
placed with the dyeing liquor in any suitable vessel of wood, copper, iron, or
other material, the aperture of which vessel can be secured water-tight by a
lid fitted to it by any suitable and well-known means. To this vessel is to be
fitted a hydrostatic pressure pump, or any other machinery employed for the
purpose of increasing high pressure, such as a colomn of water or mercury of
sufficient height, &c. All things being thus adjusted the lid is to be fitted
securely on, and the pump worked until the necessary pressure is obtained,
when it is evident that if the goods are put in dry or well wrung the pressure
thus produced will greatly facilitate the introduction of the dyeing liquor within
the internal pores, particularly in heavy cloth goods, hats, woods, hard-twisted
silk or lace; and, if necessary, suitable mechanical means may be employed to
agitate and wring the goods while under pressure, but I do not claim this
exclusively, but only the application of pressure to the forcing of the dyeing
liquor into the pores of the cloths, hats, silk, woods, &c., &c., or the joint
application of pressure with suitable means for producing agitation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Badnall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of our Lords
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.
RICHARD (L.s.) BADNALL, Jun.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1828, the aforesaid Richard Badnall came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.