US Patent No. 77,073, granted April 21, 1868 to James Monach of Philadelphia, describes treating jute yarn by boiling it in caustic alkali, then washing it in a weak sulphuric acid solution and drying it. The treatment makes the brittle yarn tougher and more elastic, so it can substitute for or be combined with wool yarns in knitted or woven fabrics. The patent notes an earlier patent of February 4, 1868 covering jute fibres boiled in alkali of about sixty degrees Twaddell.

US patent specification by James Monach of Philadelphia, assignor to himself, Jeffery Hart and Robert Thorp of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, for treating jute fibre so it can substitute for or be mixed with wool. The process boils jute for about two hours in caustic alkali of roughly 60° Twaddell, then washes it, neutralizes it in weak sulphuric acid, washes and dries it. The treated fibre can be carded, bleached, dyed and spun like wool. The claim is for jute fibres treated with caustic alkali of that strength.