CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SCOURING AND CLEANSING
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
WHITEHEAD, of Hereford Cottage, Old Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty William the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the
Fifth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, in the
sixth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Whitehead, His special licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Whitehead, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Whitehead, my exors, admors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, 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
SCOURING AND CLEANSING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
that I, the said John Whitehead, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said invented improvements, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery,
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will there fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Whitehead, do hereby declare that the nature of my said invented
improvements, and the manner in which the same are to be performed, are
fully set forth and explained by the following description of my methods of
cleansing and scouring, and of the ingredients and compositions used therein,
that is to say :-
I melt, in the first placo, six parts in weight of cocoa-nut oil, and gradually
stir therein two parts of fine sand as free from colouring matter as it can be
procured, and I add thereto about one dram of spirit of hartshorn; I then lay
the article to be cleansed on a board, and with a brush, dipped from time to
time in the mixture above described, I scrub the same well on both sides,
(when the article is of. very delicate toxture, such as lace or guaze, I wash it
carefully by hand in the said mixture instead of scrubbing it; after being so
washed or scrubbed the article is drawn once or twice through pure cocoa-nut oil
to free it from any gritty particles or remaining dirt adhering thereto; I then
place it on a smooth and clean board and wipe every part of it thoroughly with
a brush or dry cloth or cloths; I then subject it to pressure between two pieces
of flannel, in order to squeeze out the oil or unctuous mixture which it shall
have imbibed, or as much thereof as can be discharged by such means without
injury to the article, which pressure may be effected by means of a screw press,
hydraulic press, or any other known mechanical means of pressure, and if on
examining the article 1 find that the whole of the oil or unctuous mixture bas
not been expressed, I rinse it well in sufficient spirits of turpentine to take up or
combine with any remaining particles of oil, after which I suspend the articlo
in an air-tight box or chamber having a still head communicating with a worm
surrounded with cold water in a worm tub, and a pipe inserted in or near to
the bottom thereof for the introduction of steam or hot air; a current of steam
or hot air is then passed through this box or chamber by means of the
pipe aforesaid, and this carries off with it the spirits of turpentine, which
becomes condensed in the worm and again fit for use; and when spirit of
turpentine has been so used I afterwards hang up the article in a room,
the temperature of which is kept at or about one hundred and forty degrees
Fahrenheit, and allow it to remain there till as much as can bo of tho
unpleasant smell caused by its use has evaporated. Articles which are not
of a nature to imbibe the oil or turpentine, such as bullion fringe or wire
gauze, do not of course require to be subjected to pressure at any stage
of the preceding process; but they must be rinsed in spirits of turpentine,
and the spirit be afterwards discharged from them and recondensed, both in
the manner before described. And though the said processes are those which

page_text: .
I commonly follow and consider to be the most economical, I occasionally
use the oil or other unctuous matter without the sand or the spirit of harts-
horn, in which case I follow out the process in the same manner as if they had
both, or either of them been used in conjunction with the oil or other unctuous
matter; but I prefer the previously described method to this or any other
deviation from the same as respects economy both in the material and labour.
I also occasionally make use of a cleansing mixture, composed of spirit of
turpentine (instead of coca-nut oil) and fine sand, with the addition of about
a dram of spirit of hartshorn, in which case, after the article is scrubbed or
washed as aforesaid, it is immediately rinsed in successive quantities of pure
spirit of turpentine until thoroughly clean, after which the spirit of turpentine
is discharged and recondensed as before described.
And having now particularly described my methods of cleansing and scour-
ing, and the ingredients and compositions used therein, I declare that the
same are applicable to all sorts of woollens, linens, cottons and silk, mixed or
unmixed, to skins, furs, haircloths, hair, metallic tissues, leather, whalebone,
paper, and generally of all articles admitting of being cleansed or scoured of
their dirt or grease; and though cocoa-nut oil and spirit of turpentine are tho
materials which I ordinarily make use of in the cases, and for the purposes
herein-before specified, I declare, that instead of the cocoa-nut oil any other sort
of oil or unctuous matter, and instead of the spirit of turpentine, alcohol, æther,
naptha, or any other solvent of oils or fats may be made use of, providing the
materials so substituted are such that, when imbibed or taken up by the
article cleansed, they can be afterwards discharged therefrom, as also all smell
arising therefrom, by means of mechanical pressure, or exposure to a high
temperature. I declare also, that I do not confine myself to the use of fine
sand to mix with the cocoa-nut or other oil or unctuous matter, and with the
spirit of turpentine, alcohol, æther, or naptha, or other solvent of oils or fats;
but that I claim the right of using any other hard body in a finely divided or
pulverized state, which will serve the purpose equally well; and, instead of
spirit of hartshorn, I declare that any other saponifying alkali may be employed
to produce the same effect as is obtained from the spirit of hartshorn. And I
further declare, that it is not indispensable that only one sort of oil or unctuous
substance, or that spirit of turpentine, alcohol, æther, naptha, or other solvent
oils or fats should be employed, but that the whole may be mixed and used in
combination with each other, or one with another, more or less together, with or
without the sand or other finely divided or pulverized hard material, and
though the different operations of scrubbing, washing, and rinsing herein-
before described are directed or understood to be done by hand, I declare that
.

page_text: the same may be also done by means of machinery. And I finally declare
that what I claim as my said invented improvements are the employment, in
cleansing and scouring in the mode or modes herein-before described, of oils
or unctuous substances, or spirits of turpentine, alcohol, æther, naptha, or other
solvents of oils and fats, whether mixed or not mixed with fine sand or any
other finely divided or pulverized hard material, and whether combined or not
combined with spirit of hartshorn or other saponifying alkali, each in or about
the proportions herein-before described, and the whole in combination
with the means herein-before directed to be used, or any other means of
evaporation and condensation for freeing the articles cleansed and scoured of
the materials used, and as far as can be of all sensible traces of the same.
And I claim for myself full power and liberty to make any alteration or modi-
fication in the process or processes or apparatus before described,-which shall
not involve any essential departure from the general plan or course of mani-
pulation followed therein; and such my invented improvements being to the
best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never before used within
that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, His said Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that
I do verily believe this my. said Specification doth comply in all respects fully
and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in
part recited Letters Patents contained, wherefore I do hereby claim to main-
tain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Whitehead; have hereunto set my
hand and seal this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the fifth day of May,-in-the-year-
of our Lord-1836, the aforesaid John Whitehead, 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.

page_text: In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to JOHN WHITEHEAD of
Hereford Cottage, Old Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Experimental Chemist, for his Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN SCOURING AND CLEANSING," bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth
day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATIONS entered by the
said John Whitehead with the Clerk of the Patents of England, pur-
suant to an Act made and passed in the fifth and sixth year of the reign
of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled "An Act to
amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
I, the said JoпN WHITЕHвAD, do hereby declare that, inasmuch as that I
have found in the course of working out and carrying into operation my said
Invention, certain of the methods of scouring and cleansing set forth in
my said Specification are not so clearly explained as might be; and also,
inasmuch as it is doubtful whether the evaporation and condensing box or
apparatus described and claimed in my said Specification is properly covered
or included by the title of my Patent herein-before set forth, I therefore
hereby disclaim such parts and make such alterations as are immediately
herein-after set forth (that is to say):-I disclaim that part of my Specifica-
tion occupying from the 67th line to the 91st line [24th line, page 2, to the
12th line, page 3] of my said Specification, as written upon the Rolls of Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery, and commencing with the words "after
which I suspend the article in an air-tight box or chamber having a still
head, &c. and ending with the words, "and recondensed, both in the manner
before described;" and instead thereof insert the description of that of my
invented improvements in scouring and cleansing following (that is to say) :-
"After which I free the article as completely of the spirit of turpentine
as I can without injury to the texture, by subjecting it to pressure, and
then hang up the article in a room, the temperature of which is kept
at or about 140 degrees of Fahrenheit, and allow it to remain there till
as much as can be of the unpleasant smell caused by the use of the tur-
pentine has evaporated. Articles which are not of a nature to imbibe
the oil or turpentine, such as bullion fringe or wire gauze, do not of course
require to be subjected to pressure at any stage of the preceding process.

page_text: And though the said processes are those which I commonly follow, I
occasionally use the oil or other unctuous matter without the sand or the
spirit of heartshorn, in which I follow out the process in the same manner
as if they had both, or either of them, been used in conjunction with the oil
or other unctuous matter; but I prefer the previously described method to
this or any other deviation from the same as respects economy both in
material and labour. I make use also of spirit of turpentine (instead of
cocoa-nut oil and fine sand), with or without the addition of about a dram
of hartshorn to every gallon of turpentine, and in either case, after the article
is scrubbed or washed, it is immediately rinsed in successive quantities of
spirit of turpentine until thoroughly clean, after which I discharge by pres-
sure as much of the spirit of turpentine as can be done without injury to the
texture of the article, and then place the article cleansed in the heated
chamber, as in the previously described process, for the purpose of freeing
it as much as possible of all unpleasant smell caused by the use of the spirit
of turpentine." I insert in that part of my Specification in which I declare
that mixtures of the cleansing ingredients might be used one with another,
and in the 147th line [37th line, page 3] of my Specification as engrossed
upon the Rolls aforesaid, after the words "pulverised hard material" the
words "and with or without the spirit of hartshorn or other saponifying
alkali." I insert in the 159th line [7th line, page 4] of the inrollment of my
said Specification after the words "saponifying alkali," the words "and in
cases where a mixture of two or more articles is used, each," &c. I dis-
claim in the 162nd and 163rd lines [9th and 10th lines, page 4] of the
inrollment of my said Specification the words, "or any other means of conden-
sation and evaporation." And lastly, I disclaim in the 168th line [13th
line, page 4] of the inrollment of my said Specification the words, "or
apparatus."
In witness whereof, I, the said John Whitehead, have hereunto set my
hand, this Twentieth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and
To the Clerk of the Patents.
This is to certify that John Whitehead of Hereford Cottage, Old Brompton,
in the County of Middlesex, Experimental Chemist, has applied to me for
leave to enter with you the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alterations of part of the Specification of a certain Invention, for which
Letters Patent were duly granted to him under the Great Seal, dated the

page_text: Fifth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, and the
Specification of which was enrolled on the Fifth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-six, and on considering of the said application, I
directed him to advertize the said Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alterations
in the London Gazette and in two daily newspapers, and such advertisements
have been duly made in the said Gazette and two daily newspapers, and no
objection having been made to the said application, I have accordingly granted
leave to the said John Whitehead to file his said Disclaimer and Memorandum
of Alterations pursuant to the Statute passed in the sixth year of the reign of
His late Majesty, entitled, "An Act to Amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions."
Da
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1838, the aforesaid John Whitehead came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Disclaimer
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Disclaimer aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, pursuant to the Act of
Parliament 3rd and 4th William the 4th, cap. 74.