US patent specification No. 41,350, granted January 19, 1864 to Robert Tennent Shaw of New York, for a process of freeing flax and hemp fibers from woody matter. The fiber-bearing plant material is soaked in an alkaline solution (preferably caustic potash), washed, then treated with chlorine gas or bleaching-salt solution so the fibers separate easily. A second claim covers moistening the fibers with coal-oil or naphtha to give them a slight curl like wool, which aids carding and spinning.