Naturally Fresh - Alum Block?

[TheVez2]

After seeing an alum block in person the first time, I thought, "hey I've seen one of those before". I dug out my box of camping gear and pulled out a Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal that I still had from a backpacking trip I took over a decade ago.

Looks just like an alum block, the website says it contains alum, but I couldn't tell if it was 100% alum or if there was other stuff in there. I called them and they said it was pure ammonium alum. Now from what I can tell most alum blocks sold for shaving are potassium alum, cause it stings less than the ammonium alum.

I'm going to try it out to see how it works.

If it works well, this might be a cheap alternative to alum blocks. They are about $5 for a 3 oz. crystal.

Ayone else try something like this?

 

[mblakele]

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Alum should tell you more than you want to know. You are brave to try the ammonium alum - it's supposed to be quite irritating on broken skin.

$5 is a good price, but you might be able to beat that at an Indian grocery store, and they will have potassium alum (or more properly: aluminum potassium sulfate).

 

[buyandhold2018]

I sell a potassium Alum stick so take this with a grain of salt...

I've tried Ammonium alum on my shaved face and the results weren't fun... beet red, cruddy performance and a lot of burn.

Ammonium Alum is a synthetic compound and costs pennies to manufacture. In my opinion you're better off spending the same $5-6 and getting Potassium alum. YMMV though.

 

[Marco]

I sell a potassium Alum stick so take this with a grain of salt...

I've tried Ammonium alum on my shaved face and the results weren't fun... beet red, cruddy performance and a lot of burn.

Ammonium Alum is a synthetic compound and costs pennies to manufacture. In my opinion you're better off spending the same $5-6 and getting Potassium alum. YMMV though.

This answer given by Joe is 100% correct.

 

[TheVez2]

Well, I tried it.... once. Will not do that again. It stung. Not really as bad as I expected, from what I had read, but the sting lasted for quite a while. Like a few hours. Will definitely be on the lookout for some potassium alum crystals next time I am out.

I'm glad I at least tried it. Didn't cost me anything, since I already had it. Now I have somehtign to compare the other alums to. My biggest thought about it now, is this stuff was meant to be a deodorant. If you shaved your armpits, then used this thing, you'd be in a world of hurt. That type of sting would not feel good in the sensitive skin of the pits.