So in my VLOG, I mentioned something about my Alum crystal and mentioned a difference between shaving alum and deodorant alum. The Monkey said he learned something new from that, but I wanted to expand on that a little bit.
Alum is a salt crystal and is used for many many things. For our purposes it is typically used as a styptic, astringent, antiseptic, or antiperspirant. There are two different forms of Alum that we typically see.
Potassium Aluminum Sulfate, or Potassium Alum for short, is what the vast majority of Shaving Alum stones are made from.
Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate, or Ammonium Alum, is what some deodorant crystals are made from. (The majority are still Potassium alum)
Both are effective for either purpose. The Potassium Alum is milder as a styptic, as the Ammonium Alum tends to burn more.
I have the Crystal deodorant stone, the loose stone that comes on the little plastic seashell dish. That one is Ammonium Alum. I actually bought it as a deodorant stone, from the camping supply section to take with me on backpacking trips. When I got into we shaving, I learned that is was the same type of thing used for shaving, so I started to use it. I later learned it was actually a different type of alum crystal than what most folks were using for their styptic.
Styptic Pencils are different and use Aluminum Sulfate as their active ingredient. Aluminum Sulfate is ground up and mixed with a binder and formed into a stick. Whereas the Alum crystals are a solid piece of crystal, typically formed or cut from a larger crystal.
Alum is a salt crystal and is used for many many things. For our purposes it is typically used as a styptic, astringent, antiseptic, or antiperspirant. There are two different forms of Alum that we typically see.
Potassium Aluminum Sulfate, or Potassium Alum for short, is what the vast majority of Shaving Alum stones are made from.
Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate, or Ammonium Alum, is what some deodorant crystals are made from. (The majority are still Potassium alum)
Both are effective for either purpose. The Potassium Alum is milder as a styptic, as the Ammonium Alum tends to burn more.
I have the Crystal deodorant stone, the loose stone that comes on the little plastic seashell dish. That one is Ammonium Alum. I actually bought it as a deodorant stone, from the camping supply section to take with me on backpacking trips. When I got into we shaving, I learned that is was the same type of thing used for shaving, so I started to use it. I later learned it was actually a different type of alum crystal than what most folks were using for their styptic.
Styptic Pencils are different and use Aluminum Sulfate as their active ingredient. Aluminum Sulfate is ground up and mixed with a binder and formed into a stick. Whereas the Alum crystals are a solid piece of crystal, typically formed or cut from a larger crystal.
