To appreciate how momentous this discovery was to cloth
manufacturers, it should be remembered that the old process of
bleaching consumed an entire summer for the whitening of a single
piece of linen; the new process reduced the period to a few
hours. To be sure, lime had been used with fair success previous
to Tennant's discovery, but successful and practical bleaching by
a solution of chloride of lime was first made possible by him and
through Scheele's discovery of chlorine.

Until the time of Scheele the great subject of organic chemistry
had remained practically unexplored, but under the touch of his
marvellous inventive genius new methods of isolating and studying
animal and vegetable products were introduced, and a large number
of acids and other organic compounds prepared that had been
hitherto unknown. His explanations of chemical phenomena were
based on the phlogiston theory, in which, like Priestley, he
always, believed. Although in error in this respect, he was,
nevertheless, able to make his discoveries with extremely
accurate interpretations. A brief epitome of the list of some of
his more important discoveries conveys some idea, of his
fertility of mind as well as his industry. In 1780 he discovered
lactic acid,[7] and showed that it was the substance that caused
the acidity of sour milk; and in the same year he discovered
mucic acid. Next followed the discovery of tungstic acid, and in
1783 he added to his list of useful discoveries that of
glycerine. Then in rapid succession came his announcements of the
new vegetable products citric, malic, oxalic, and gallic acids.
Scheele not only made the discoveries, but told the world how he
had made them--how any chemist might have made them if he