IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gossage, of Widnes, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP."
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 13th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gossage at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1860.
I, WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP," to be as follows:-
In the Specification which I filed in the Great Seal Patent Office in pursu-
ance of the conditions of certain Letters Patent (No. 908), dated the 23rd of
April 1855, granted to me for my Invention of "Improvements in the Manu-
facture of certain Kinds of Soap," I have described as of my Invention, firstly,
the manufacture of soap, by causing certain oils and fats therein mentioned to
become combined with solution of caustic soda, together with silicate of soda
and common salt (which is a cheap salt of soda), such combination being
effected by the process known to soap manufacturers as "close boiling without
separation of lyes." Secondly, the manufacture of soap, .by causing resin or
certain oily or fatty acids to become combined with silicate of soda, such com-

page_text: bination being also effected without separation of lyes. Thirdly, the manufac-
ture of soap, by causing resin to become combined with soda contained in
solution of caustic soda, or solution of carbonate of soda, and mixing the pro-
duct obtained with some farinaceous or earthy substance, to give the requisite
hardness to the soap produced.
Subsequently to the grant of such Letters Patent, I have made a further
improvement on my former Invention, and have found that I can produce a
more economical and more serviceable soap than those produced by the methods
above described, by combining the three processes which are above mentioned,
and thereby causing resin, either with or without fatty or oily acids, or fats or
oils, to become combined with soda contained in solution of caustic soda, or
contained in solution of carbonate of soda, also to become combined with
silicate of soda and with common salt or other cheap salt of soda, and with or
without the addition of farinaceous or earthy substances, such combination
being effected by the process known to soap manufacturers as "close boiling
without separation of lyes;" and the Invention for which I am now soliciting
the grant of Letters Patent consists in the manufacture of soap by the combi-
nation of such materials by the process known as close boiling without sepa-
tion of lyes, by which means I am enabled to manufacture a serviceable hard
soap, containing a much larger proportionate quantity of resin than has hitherto
been employed in the production of such quality of soap, and consequently I
produce, by means of my Invention, a hard soap, suitable for scouring and
domestic purposes, at a greatly reduced cost as compared with the present cost
of such hard soaps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gossage in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Gossage, Her special license that I, the said William Gossage,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Gossage, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usė,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SOAP," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Gossage, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 William Gossage, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of certain Kinds of
Soap," has for its object the manufacture of hard soaps when using resin alone,
or a large proportionate quantity of resin as the "goods" from which such soap
is manufactured. (The technical term "goods" is well understood by soap manu-
facturers, as indicating the oily, fatty, and resinous substances which are ordi-
narily used with alkali for the production of soap.) I effect such object by the
combined use (together with such "goods") of silicate of soda and caustic soda,
or carbonate of soda, or of silicate of soda and a mixture of caustic soda and car-
bonate of soda, such combination of silicate of soda and caustic soda (with or
without carbonate of soda) with such "goods" being effected or completed by
the method of operating known to soap manufacturers as "close working
without separation of lyes."
Having stated the object of my Invention, I will now describe the means
which I have found to be most advantageous for performing the same. In
manufacturing soap according to my Invention by the use of resin mixed with
other "goods," I melt together in a suitable vessel, having a fire applied to it,
or heated by other means, two tons of resin and one ton of palm oil, or in
place of palm oil alone, to mix with the resin employed I use other oily or
fatty matter, or mixtures of oily and fatty matters, preferring to use such as
can be obtained at a low price, and which shall have been found to be suitable-
for producing the desired quality of soap, and I cause the "goods" employed.
to become heated to a temperature of about 180°. In another vessel, which
can be heated by fire or other means, I prepare an "alkaline mixture," con-
sisting of two tons of solution of silicate of soda, having a specific gravity of
1,500, and twenty-five hundred weights of concentrated solution of caustic soda
containing thirty-eight per cent. of real soda; or in place of this quantity of

page_text: solution of caustic soda, I add to the two tons of solution of silicate of soda three-
quarters of a ton of solution of caustic soda, containing thirty per cent. of real
soda and half a ton of carbonate of soda, containing fifty per cent. of real soda..
I cause the said "alkaline mixture," which I have prepared, to become
heated to a temperature of about 210°. I provide a large vessel (preferring
that this should be of iron) capable of containing about ten tons of soap, and
I transfer simultaneously into this vessel the melted "goods" and the said
"alkaline mixture, (which I have prepared as herein-before mentioned,)
effecting such transfers as nearly in equal proportions as may be convenient.
When at the temperatures I have herein-before indicated, the contact of the
melted "goods" with the "alkaline mixture" occasions a strong boiling to
take place, and this boiling effects a thorough mixing of the materials
employed without requiring mechanical agitation to be used, and a perfect
soap is thus produced. I will herein-after designate this compound as "strong
soap." If such boiling does not occur at the commencement of the operation
the alkaline mixture" should be raised to a higher temperature before being
transferred to the large vessel, or mechanical agitation should be applied to
the contents of such vessel to perfect the mixing. I prefer to allow the
"strong soap" thus produced to remain in the large vessel about twelve hours,
during which time its temperature becomes lowered, and it may then be trans-
ferred to frames to become solid by cooling.
By these means I prepare a powerful soap which is suitable to be used for
applications in which a high detergent power is required; but when I wish to
prepare a soap for personal use, I add certain other materials to the " strong
soap," in order to obtain a soap of milder quality. For this purpose I prepare
a mixture consisting of half a ton of bi-carbonate of soda, and half its weight
of water, taking care that these shall be combined so as to produce a smooth
mixture, and I will herein-after designate this mixture as the "reducing
mixture." I provide a mixing vessel capable of containing about three-
quarters of a ton of soap, and I introduce into this vessel twelve hundred-
weights of "strong soap from the large vessel before mentioned, and if its
temperature be above 160°, I agitate it until this becomes reduced to
about 160°. I then add thereto one and a half hundredweight of the
reducing mixture" above mentioned, and I cause the soap and "reducing
mixture"
to become thoroughly mixed by "crutching," and I then transfer
the mixture to soap frames to become solid by cooling. Instead of performing
such mixing by the well-known operation of "crutching," I can effect the
same by the use of such a machine, or mixing vessel, as I have described in
the Specification of an Invention for which I obtained Letters Patent in the
46

page_text: year 1854, No. 1707, dated August 3rd, and I introduce the "strong soap
and "reducing mixture" into such mixing vessel in the proportions I have
herein-before mentioned, and I effect the mixing in the manner described in
my said Specification.
By pursuing the foregoing directions, but using three tons of resin in place
of two tons of resin and one ton of oily or fatty matter, I can produce hard
soap by the use of resin alone, as the soap-making "goods," but I prefer to use
some proportion of oily or fatty material with the resin employed.
In place of converting all the "goods" which I employ in the manufacture
of soap into perfect soap by the direct use of concentrated solution of caustic
soda without separation of lyes, and at the same time effecting the combination
of the soap produced with silicate of soda, I can so far modify the method of
of operating herein-before described as to convert a portion of the "goods"
employed by the ordinary method of working (with separation of lyes) and add
such soap to the remaining portion of " goods," together with the suitable
proportion of solution of silicate of soda, and of caustic soda, or of carbonate of
soda, and complete the combination by the method of "close working without
separation of Iyes." I can even convert the whole of the "goods" into soap
by the ordinary method of working (with separation of lyes), and add to the
soap so produced the suitable proportion of silicate of soda and of caustic
soda, or carbonate of soda, to make up or approximate to the proportions
herein-before indicated for the quantity of "goods" employed. I then cause
the mixture to be boiled after the manner of "close working," and I continue
the boiling until I find that a sample of the product when cooled has attained.
sufficient hardness to produce soap of suitable firmness.
Although I have herein-before indicated certain modified plans of working,
by the use of which hard soap may be manufactured in pursuance of my
Invention by the employment of such "goods" as I have herein-before indi-
cated, I prefer to effect such manufacture of hard soap by the means I have
first herein-before indicated, that is, by "close working without separation of
Iyes" from the commencement.
I have herein-before indicated certain proportions in which I prefer to use
the materials which I employ for effecting my Invention of "Improvements
in the Manufacture of certain Kinds of Soap," but I do not confine myself
strictly to such proportions in effecting my said Invention, as these may be
varied to some extent without deviating from the nature of such Invention.
I claim as the Invention for which I have obtained a grant of the
Letters Patent herein-before in part recited, the manufacture of hard soaps
from "goods" (this technical term " goods" being used in the sense which

page_text: I have herein-before explained), consisting entirely, or for the greater part,
of resin, which manufacture is effected by causing such "goods" to enter into
combination with silicate of soda and caustic soda, or with silicate of soda and
carbonate of soda, or with silicate of soda and a mixture of caustic soda and
carbonate of soda; such combination being effected or completed by the
method of operating known to soap manufacturers as "close working without
separation of lyes."
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILL. GOSSAGE. (L.S.)