Part 218

«For Textiles.»—I.—Up to the present this has generally been accomplished by the use of a combination of water glass or soluble glass and tungstate of soda. The following is cheaper and more suitable for the purpose:

Equal parts, by weight, of commercial white copperas, Epsom salt, and sal ammoniac are mingled together and mixed with three times their weight of ammonia alum. This mixture soon changes into a moist pulp or paste, that must be dried by a low heat. When dressing the material, add 1⁠/⁠2 part of this combination to every 1 part of starch.

II.—Good results are also obtained from the following formula: Supersaturate a quantity of superphosphate of lime with ammonia, filter, and decolorize it with animal charcoal. Concentrate the solution and mix with it 5 per cent of gelatinous silica, evaporate the water, dry, and pulverize. For use mix 30 parts of this powder with 35 parts of gum and 35 parts of starch in sufficient water to make of suitable consistency.

III.—As a sample of the Melunay process, introduced in France, the following has been published: Apply to a cotton fabric like flannellet, or other cotton goods, a solution of stannate of soda (or a salt chemically equivalent) of the strength of 5 to 10° Bé., then dry the fabric and saturate it again, this time with a solution of a titanium salt; any soluble titanium salt is suitable. This salt should be so concentrated that each 1,000 parts may contain about 62 parts of titanium oxide. The fabrics are again dried, and the titanium is ultimately fixed by means of a suitable alkaline bath. It is advantageous to employ for this purpose a solution of silicate of soda of about 14° Bé., but a mixed bath, composed of tungstate of soda and ammonium chloride, may be employed. The objects are afterwards washed, dried, and finished as necessary for trade. A variation consists in treating the objects in a mixed bath containing titanium, tungsten, and a suitable solvent.

IV.—Boil together, with constant {342} stirring, the following ingredients until a homogeneous mass results:

Linseed oil 77 parts Litharge 10 parts Sugar of lead 2 parts Lampblack 4 parts Oil turpentine 2 parts Umber 0.4 parts Japanese wax 0.3 parts Soap powder 1.2 parts Manila copal 0.7 parts Caoutchouc varnish 2 parts

V.—For Light Woven Fabrics.—Ammonium sulphate, 8 parts, by weight; ammonium carbonate, 2.5 parts; borax, 2; boracic acid, 3; starch, 2; or dextrin, 0.4, or gelatin, 0.4; water, 100. The fabric is to be saturated with the mixture, previously heated to 86° F., and dried; it can then be calendered in the ordinary way. The cost is only 2 or 3 cents for 16 yards or more of material.

VI.—For Rope and Straw Matting.—Ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac), 15 parts, by weight; boracic acid, 6 parts; borax, 3; water, 100. The articles are to be left in the solution, heated to 212° F. for about 3 hours, then squeezed out and dried. The mixture costs about 5 cents a quart.

VII.—For Clothing.—The following starch is recommended: Sodium tungstate, perfectly neutral, 30 parts; borax, 20; wheat or rice starch, 60. The constituents are to be finely pulverized, sharply dried, and mixed, and the starch used like any other. Articles stiffened with it, if set on fire, will not burst into flame, but only smolder.

VIII.—For Tents.—

Water 100 parts by weight Ammonium sulphate, chemically pure 14 parts by weight Boracic acid 1 parts by weight Hartshorn salt 1 parts by weight Borax 3 parts by weight Glue water 2 parts by weight

Boil the water, put ammonium sulphate into a vat, pour a part of the boiling water on and then add the remaining materials in rotation. Next follow the rest of the hot water. The vat should be kept covered until the solution is complete.

IX.—For Stage Decorations.—Much recommended and used as a fireproofing composition is a cheap mixture of borax, bitter salt, and water; likewise for canvas a mixture of ammonium sulphate, gypsum, and water. Ammonium sulphate and sodium tungstate are also named for impregnating the canvas before painting.

X.—For Mosquito Netting.—Immerse in a 20 per cent solution of ammonium sulphate. One pound of netting will require from 20 to 24 ounces of the solution to thoroughly saturate. After withdrawing from the bath, do not wring it out, but spread it over a pole or some such object, and let it get about half dry, then iron it out with a hot iron. The material (ammonium sulphate) is inoffensive.

«Fireproofing of Wood.»—Strictly speaking, it is impossible to render wood completely incombustible, but an almost absolute immunity against the attacks of fire can be imparted.

Gay-Lussac was one of the first to lay down the principal conditions indispensable for rendering organic matters in general, and wood in particular, uninflammable.

During the whole duration of the action of the heat the fibers must be kept from contact with the air, which would cause combustion. The presence of borates, silicates, etc., imparts this property to organic bodies.

Combustible gases, disengaged by the action of the heat, must be mingled in sufficient proportion with other gases difficult of combustion in such a way that the disorganization of bodies by heat will be reduced to a simple calcination without production of flame. Salts volatile or decomposable by heat and not combustible, like certain ammoniacal salts, afford excellent results.

Numerous processes have been recommended for combating the inflammability of organic tissues, some consisting in external applications, others in injection, under a certain pressure, of saline solutions.

By simple superficial applications only illusory protection is attained, for these coverings, instead of fireproofing the objects on which they are applied, preserve them only for the moment from a slight flame. Resistance to the fire being of only short duration, these coatings scale off or are rapidly reduced to ashes and the parts covered are again exposed. It often happens, too, that such coatings have disappeared before the occurrence of a fire, so that the so-called remedy becomes injurious from the false security occasioned. {343}

Some formulas recommended are as follows:

I.—For immersion or imbibition the following solution is advised: Ammonium phosphate, 100 parts; boracic acid, 10 parts per 1,000; or ammonium sulphate, 135 parts; sodium borate, 15 parts; boracic acid, 5 parts per 1,000. For each of these formulas two coats are necessary.

II.—For application with the brush the following compositions are the best:

a. Apply hot, sodium silicate, 100 parts; Spanish white, 50 parts; glue, 100 parts.

b. Apply successively and hot; for first application, water, 100 parts; aluminum sulphate, 20 parts; second application, water, 100 parts; liquid sodium silicate, 50 parts.

c. First application, 2 coats, hot; water, 100 parts; sodium silicate, 50 parts; second application, 2 coatings; boiling water, 75 parts; gelatin, white, 200 parts; work up with asbestos, 50 parts; borax, 30 parts; and boracic acid, 10 parts.

Oil paints rendered uninflammable by the addition of phosphate of ammonia and borax in the form of impalpable powders incorporated in the mass, mortar of plaster and asbestos and asbestos paint, are still employed for preserving temporarily from limited exposure to a fire.

III.—Sodium silicate, solid 350 parts Asbestos, powdered 350 parts Water, boiling 1,000 parts