Ashes to Potashes: Pearl Ash & Expansion (revised)
Ashes to Potashes: Pearl Ash & Expansion Ashes to Potashes: Pearl Ash & Expansion P ot Ashes and Pearl Ashes - also known as Potash - is another term for potassium carbonate, especially from wood ashes. This potassium or potassium compound being often employed in agriculture or industrially and was often used as a leavening agent in breads before the creation of baking powder. Samuel Hopkins was granted U.S. Patent No. X1 in July of 1790 for his process to manufacture Potash. This substance was America’s first industrial chemical. It is an impure form of potassium carbonate mixed with other potassium salts. Until the 1860s it was solely derived from the ashes of hardwood trees and other plants. Potash was a leading industrial alkali from antiquity until the close of the nineteenth century, when it was finally abandoned for most uses in favor of soda (sodium carbonate). It was essential for making soap and glass, dy...
