IMPROVEMENTS IN TOILET SOAPS AND DISINFECTING SOAPS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Banks Cooper and Christopher
Webb Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th March
1878.
CHARLES BANKS COOPER and CHRISTOPHER WEBB SMITH, both of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TOILET SOAPS AND
DISINFECTING SOAPS."
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in toilet
soaps and disinfecting soaps, by which improvements soaps are produced having
excellent detergent properties, soft and agreeable to the skin in use, and possessing
valuable disinfecting properties.
In making soaps according to our Invention we take soaps of the ordinary kind,
that is, either hard or soft soap, and in the case of hard soap we liquify it by heat.
We add to and thoroughly incorporate with the said hard or soft soap the com-
pounds or preparations herein-after described, and in the case of hard soap either
solidify it after the addition of the said compounds by cooling it, and then cut it up
in the ordinary way, or before it has solidified we mould it into the form of cakes,
tablets, or other required forms.
The compounds or preparations, the addition of which to soap constitutes the
essential part of our Invention, are camphor and carbonate of ammonia, either
separately or in conjunction.
In order to add camphor to the soap we dissolve the camphor in camphine or
rectified oil of turpentine, or in alcohol. We add this solution of camphor to the
hard or soft soap in any desired quantity according to the use to which the soap
is to be applied.
In adding carbonate of ammonia to the soap we reduce it to fine powder, and
incorporate the powder with the soap by stirring. We add carbonate of ammonia
in the proportion of from one to five parts by weight to every hundred parts by
weight of soap.
The addition of camphor to the soap gives it valuable disinfecting properties;
and the addition of carbonate of ammonia gives great detergent power to the
soap. The camphor may be used without the carbonate of ammonia, and the
Din D71

page_text: carbonate of ammonia without the camphor, or they may both be added to the
same soap.
In addition to the camphor solution and carbonate of ammonia we prefer to
add to the soap borax in the proportion of about ten parts by weight of borax
to one hundred parts by weight of soap. We do not however limit ourselves
to these proportions. We also prefer to employ glycerine in addition to the camphor
solution, carbonate of ammonia, and borax, in the proportion of about five parts
by weight of glycerine to one hundred parts by weight of soap, but we do not
liinit ourselves to these proportions.
In adding the borax we dissolve it in as small a quantity of water as is prac-
ticable, and add the solution in the case of hard soap to the liquified soap. The
glycerine requires no preparation before being added to the soap. After the
addition of the camphor solution or carbonate of ammonia, or both camphor
solution and carbonate of ammonia, to the liquified hard soap, either with or without
the addition of borax or glycerine, or borax and glycerine, the liquid soap is
vigorously stirred so as to thoroughly incorporate the materials before the soap is
allowed to solidify or is moulded into the required forms.
In the case of soft soap the camphor solution and carbonate of ammonia, either
singly or conjointly, and either with or without borax or glycerine, or borax and
glycerine, is simply added to and thoroughly mixed with the soft soap by
stirring. The borax may either _ be added in solution or in the state of fine
powder.
In making soft soap for ships' use we prefer to add tar to the soft soap in
addition to the other ingredients herein-before enumerated. The tar may be added
in the proportion of one part by weight of tar to fifty parts by weight of soap, but
we do not limit ourselves to these proportions. The tar is dissolved in pyroligneous
spirit or alcohol, and the solution is added to the soft soap at the same time as the
other ingredients, and together with them is incorporated stirring.