Alum vs Aluminum

its my pet peeve because I see people say, 'I don't want alum in my deodorant' great so lets smell you pits! it kills bacteria... duh and its not aluminum

it works to keep pickles crisp when you are pickling dill or sweet pickles.

you cant fix stupid

 

I call it Anumalum .
I have worked with so much aluminum in my life time repairing boats and other things it's like play dough in my hands.
The first thing I learned how to TIG weld, was aluminum pontoon boats. ( only slightly thicker than a beer can.)

 

ALUM, ALUM, ALUM, ALUM..... get it?

 

Common Uses Of Alum Powder

• Alum is frequently used in the purification of drinking water in industries. It is dissolved in the water tanks which make the colloidal parts heavy so that they can easily be removed. This makes way for further purification of water.
• It is most commonly and frequently used as an after-shave. Applying powdered alum mixed with a little water or in the crystallized form over the face while it’s still a little wet, aid in blood clot on the minor cuts that occur from shaving.
• During the end of 16th century, it was commonly used as a base in many skin whiteners and in treatments for sunburns.
• Alum powder is known to keep the body odor in check as it is easily soluble in water and eliminates the odor causing bacteria. This explains as to why it is used as one of the primary ingredients in the manufacturing of deodorant sticks.
• Alum is used as a soothing agent to be applied on the freshly waxed skin.
• Alum is used as a readily available remedy for the treatment of mouth ulcers. Applying a pinch of alum powder on the ulcers will relieve the pain and heal them.
• It is also used as an ingredient in many toothpastes and toothpowders as it helps in maintaining a good oral hygiene.
• Alum is used as a preservative when making pickles out of fruits and vegetables as it maintains the crispiness in them.
• Many baking powders involve alum powder as an ingredient for providing the acidic content in them.
• Alum is consistently used for its flame retardant properties as it’s found in many fire extinguishers and is also used with clothes, wood, and paper materials to increase their resistance to fire.
• Alum is also known for its acne fighting properties when mixed with other ingredients like rosewater or egg white.

 

Types of Alum

• Potassium Alum: Potassium alum is also known as potash alum or tawas. It is aluminum potassium sulfate. This is the type of alum that you find in the grocery store for pickling and in baking powder. It is also used in leather tanning, as a flocculant in water purification, as an ingredient in aftershave and as a treatment to fireproof textiles. Its chemical formula is KAl(SO4)2.
• Soda Alum: Soda alum has the formula NaAl(S O4)2·12H2O. It is used in baking powder and as an acidulant in food.
• Ammonium Alum: Ammonium alum has the formula N4Al(SO4)2·12H2O. Ammonium alum is used for many of the same purposes as potassium alum and soda alum. Ammonium alum finds applications in tanning, dyeing textiles, making textiles flame retardant, in the manufacture of porcelain cement and vegetable glues, in water purification and in some deodorants.
• Chrome Alum: Chrome alum or chromium alum has the formula KCr(S O4)2·12H2O. This deep violet compound is used in tanning and can be added to other alum to grow lavender or purple crystals.

• Selenate Alums: Selenate alums occur when selenium takes the place of sulfur so that instead of a sulfate you get a selenate, (SeO42-). The selenium-containing alums are strong oxidizing agents, so they can be used as antiseptics, among other uses.
• Aluminum Sulfate: This compound is also known as papermaker's alum. However, it is not technically an alum.

Uses of Alum
Alum has several household and industrial uses. Potassium alum is used most often, although ammonium alum, ferric alum, and soda alum may be used for many of the same purposes.

• purification of drinking water as a chemical flocculant
• in styptic pencil to stop bleeding from minor cuts
• the adjuvant in vaccines ( a chemical that enhances the immune response)
• deodorant "rock"
• pickling agent to help keep pickles crisp
• flame retardant
• the acidic component of some types of baking powder
• an ingredient in some homemade and commercial modeling clay
• an ingredient in some depilatory (hair removal) waxes
• skin whitener
• ingredient in some brands of toothpaste

Get the Facts About Alum, What It Is, the Types, Uses and More

 

Thank you Ganado.

 

Yes most of these salts do contain some aluminum. Sometimes the call aluminum hydroxide alum too but it is not a salt like the others. Its found as gibbsite in nature and part of bauxite. We mine the crap out of it for refining into alumina for smelting into aluminum. Aluminun is an interesting element and is not found in its pure form naturally. It is most happy being an oxide or a salt. Aluminum is basically solidified electricity because it takes a ton of power to make it. It is not energetically favorable to be pure. It would much rather be an oxide! However, its oxide is amorphous and very protective and that is what gives it its corrosion reaistance. For more on protective vs non protective oxides you can look up pilling bedworth ratio.