Talk:Alum

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A new deodorant product seems to be based on alum, is this noteworthy enough for the article? --Bobbagum 01:20, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

A scatalogical snippet of information on alum; not sure where this belongs:

The history of alum production in Britain is quite interesting. Alum was vital to the economically important wool and textiles trade. Britain used to import alum from mines on the continent, but this supply could be cut off by political disputes (e.g. as a result of Henry VIII's dispute with the Catholic church).

A process for producing alum was discovered in the 17th century, involving processing certain shales with ammonia. However it was not until the 19th century that ammonia could be manufactured. Until then - for a couple of hundred years - the ammonia was distilled from human urine. Demand for alum grew, especially with the start of the industrial revolution. This resulted in a healthy(?) trade in urine, which quite out-stripped supplies local to the manufacturing plants. Urine collectors (they probably preferred to be known as 'Alum Production Agents') bought the stuff from households across England, and it was shipped by piss-barges to the manufacturing plants.

I shit you not. c.f. [1] for more details.

I went along and added some stuff from that article in fel64 23:33, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

-Dan Winterstein

Another interesting fact that probably doesn't belong on the main page. Alum is also used in the manufacture of fake eggs in China. It is added with a variety of other ingredients such as gelatin, benzoic acid, and coagulating materials to form an 'egg white'. A fake 'yolk' is also made and the whole thing put in a parafin wax 'shell'. They turn out to be about half the price of real eggs.

I also am not shitting you. http://dontsay.blogspot.com/

-Captain Awesome

Weird-oh! I found pictures: [2] --Arteitle 08:31, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)

but this may be alarming and may be a fact that needs to be added to the actual article.

"Not only do they not contain any nutrients, a Hong Kong Chinese University professor warned that long-term consumption of alum could cause dementia." [3]

24.123.198.38 23:49, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Update: pics came back, but I found extensive information: http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijto/vol2n1/eggs.xml#documentHeading-TheHuman-MadeEggs

24.123.198.38 15:16, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/fake-eggs-china.shtml evaluates this as a hoax --Stevemiller (talk) 05:11, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Contents 1 Needs to be cleaned up? 2 Other uses? 3 heals canker sores on the tongue 4 alum

[edit] Needs to be cleaned up?

I believe this article needs to be cleaned up, as there are no categories.

Seconded. This article needs headings so that one can find the relevant information quickly without reading the whole thing.

Added some headers - modify as needed. Still needs a rewrite of the archaic 1911 stuff. Vsmith 15:36, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

What was the use for Alum in the 1930s/1940s? My only experience with Alum is from the PorkyPig cartoons when Elmer Fudd put alum in milk. Sylvester drank it and his head shrunk.

Of course, it's funny in its own right to see Sylvester's head shrink, but I can't explain any part of alum's usage that would make that funny to somebody. Clearly the joke is dated.

--It would be because alum causes dimentia 128.118.40.79 14:47, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Could somebody in the know put in a few words about why alum was a common household item in the early 20th century?

--Pietbarber 17:16, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

While I admire the exhaustive listing of alkali metals that could conceivably form alum-type compounds, I had thought that francium was far too short-lived (minutes), intensely radioactive, and difficult to produce (it's not found in nature) to actually be of much significance in chemistry. I doubt that any francium alums have ever existed.

-- a chemist

you need to calm down 205.161.196.23 (talk)a reader —Preceding comment was added at 17:56, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Other uses?

I remember hearing once that if you mixed alum in with a dog's food, it would keep them from barking. Seeing as I know absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff, I have to assume that it does so either by

• muting its vocal chords, or
• killing the dog

What's the truth behind this homespun remedy? TKarrde 20:13, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd say because it caused dementia =p (see above) 24.123.198.38 15:16, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] heals canker sores on the tongue

I have a piece of alum cyrstal that my grandmother always keep in her medicine cabinet for canker sores on the tongue or mouth. It really works my just rubbing it on the sore. The next day it will be gone or almost gone. Just repeat one more time and it should be gone in hours. My piece of cyrstal is almost gone. I want to know where I can buy another piece. She died in 1975 and I have protected this piece since then.65.29.86.116 07:22, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] alum

what is the medicinal use of alum

Leon