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References

Primitive ways of Bleaching

The method of bleaching by exposure to the sun was practiced during ancient and medieval times in Egypt, China, Asia and Europe. In the 18^th century, bleaching solutions of potash and lye and of dilute sulphuric acid were used in Holland and France, and in 1785 the powerful bleaching properties of chlorine were discovered by the French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet. Bleaching powder Ca(ClO)₂, produced by the reaction of chlorine gas on slaked lime, with the same effect as chlorine, was introduced in 1799 by the Scottish chemist Charles Tennant. Ca(ClO)₂ was used as the standard bleaching agent until about 1925.

The development of bleaching powder as a source of chlorine by Tennant in patents of 1799 and 1800 revolutionized bleaching processes in the textile industry and led to a rapid expansion in the production of more uniformly high quality bleaches. Furthermore the bleach fields used in the past for exposing the treated fabrics to sunlight were released for agricultural purposes.