IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter William Reuter, of Buckland Crescent, St.
John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex, Merchant, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING."-A communication from abroad by
Edward Reuter, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Color Manu-
facturer.
Sealed the 28th April 1863, and dated the 4th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter William Reuter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1862.
I, PETER WILLIAM REUTER, of Buckland Crescent, St. John's Wood, in
the County of Middlesex, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING," a communication from abroad
by Edward Reuter, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Color Manufacturer,
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a new process for dyeing or coloring wool, silk,
cotton, or woven fabrics thereof. In carrying out the Invention, I proceed as
follows: I take slacked lime in the proportion of one pound to every one
hundred gallons of water, and after admixture of the same, I take the clear
solution of lime and add thereto powdered oxide of lead, litharge, or massicote,
and I prefer to add such oxide or oxides of lead in the proportion of about
two ounces to every one pound of wool or woollen fabric to be dyed; I then

page_text: add carbonate of soda in the proportion of about one ounce to every pound of
wool or fabric to be operated on. Having thus formed the bath or mixture
intended for the dyeing or coloring of wool, silk, cotton, or woven fabrics
thereof, I proceed as follows:-The mixture being contained in a suitable
vessel, I place therein the wool or other material or fabric to be dyed, and I
gradually raise the temperature to about 180° Fahrenheit, and after the wool
or other material or fabric to be dyed has attained the desired intensity of
color or tint I remove the same and subject it to what is known as a soap
bath, and subsequently to a bath containing water acidulated with hydrochloric
or other suitable acid, and, finally, to several washings in cold water, as is
well understood.
Although I have given certain proportions, as herein-before mentioned, I
do not confine myself to them, as the proportions will vary according to
the materials to be operated upon, and the intensity of the color it is desired
to obtain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter William Reuter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
WILLIAM REUTER, of Buckland Crescent, Saint John's Wood, in the County
of Middlesex, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter William Reuter, Her special license that I; the said Peter
William Reuter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Peter William Reuter, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN DYEING," a communication from abroad by Edward Reuter, of
Paris, in the Empire of France, Color Manufacturer, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Peter William Reuter, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under

page_text: the hand and seal of one of them, 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 Peter William Reuter, 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, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a new process for dyeing or coloring wool or
woven fabrics thereof. In carrying out the Invention, I take slacked lime in
the proportion of one pound to every 100 gallons of water, or thereabouts,
and after the same has been well mixed, I take the clear solution of lime,
and add thereto powdered oxide of lead, litharge, minium, or massicote, or
other salt or compound of lead in the proportion of about two ounces to every
pound of wool or woolen fabric to be dyed; I then add carbonate of soda in
the proportion of about one ounce to every pound of wool or fabric to be
operated upon. Having thus formed the bath or mixture intended for the
dyeing or coloring of wool or woven fabrics thereof, I proceed as follows:-
The mixture or bath being contained in a suitable vessel, I place therein the
wool or fabric to be dyed, and I gradually raise the temperature of the
mixture or bath to 180° Fahrenheit, and after the wool or other material or
fabric to be dyed has attained the desired intensity of color or tint, I remove
it from the dye bath, it may then be removed and dried; but generally it is
preferred to subject it to what is known as a soap bath, and afterwards to a
bath containing water acidulated with hydrochloric or other suitable acid,
and, finally, to several washings in cold water, as is well understood. By this
means any lime or other substances which may have attached themselves to
the wool in the process of dyeing are removed.
Although I have given certain proportions, as herein-before mentioned, I
do not confine myself strictly to them, as these proportions will vary according
to the nature of the materials to be operated upon, and the intensity of
the color it is desired to obtain. Other substances may be used in place of
lime, such, for example, as baryta, and in place of the carbonate of soda,
caustic soda or other alkaline hydrates or carbonates may be applied..
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the

page_text: herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the peculiar process of dyeing
wool or woven fabrics thereof by the use of salts or compounds of lead and
alkaline solutions.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter William Reuter, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
PETER WILLIAM REUTER. (L.S.)