The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

NEW WATER-PROOF CLOTH.

According to a recent statement of M. Payen, a chemist of some note, cloth is rendered water-proof by the aid of alum and sugar of lead, without the aid of India-rubber or gutta-percha, or any other gums or oils. The process given is very simple, and is claimed to render any species of tissue water-proof. “Dissolve two pounds and a half of alum in four gallons of water; dissolve, also, in a separate vessel, the same weight of acetate of lead in the same quantity of water. When both are thoroughly dissolved mix the solutions together, and when the sulphate of lead, resulting from this mixture, has been precipitated to the bottom of the vessel in the form of a powder, pour off the solution, and plunge into it the tissue to be rendered water-proof. Wash and rub it well during a few minutes, and hang it in the air to dry.”

When dry, the fabric or cloth so treated will repel rain and moisture, but allow the air or perspiration to pass through it.

Immerse dry timber in a strong solution of alum, and dry it in a kiln, the warmer the better, and we will warrant it to be the best and cheapest substance for preserving wood from decay and burning. To those who are acquainted with the nature and effects of alum, they know what a great heat alumina can stand, and alum when deprived of its water by strong heat, does not easily combine with it again, by any common means. Therefore, the reasonableness of the foregoing statements.

By washing wood with strong soap suds, allowing it to dry, and then washing it with a strong solution of alum, a most excellent water-proof coating is the result.

Make up a weak solution of soap containing a very small quantity of glue, and immerse paper in it until it is wet through. Now take it out, dip it into a solution of alum, and dry it.

The alum, gluten, gelatine, and soap unite together, and form an insoluble compound, which coats every fibre of the textile fabric, and when dry repels water like the natural oil in the feathers of a duck. There are various substances which are soluble in water singly, but when combined form insoluble compounds, and vice versa. Alum, soap, and gelatine are soluble in water singly, but form insoluble compounds when united chemically. Oil is insoluble in water singly, but combined with caustic soda or potash it forms soluble soap. Such are some of the useful curiosities of chemistry.