AMAZING BENEFITS OF ALUM

Alum is a salt that contains potassium sulphate. It is mined and taken out at Asia minor and South America. From the middle ages, this salt is used as a ''bite'' for the dye fabrics. 

Thereafter, in the 17th century, it was used in making half-timbered houses along with milk and lime. And, now it is very vastly used in the canning of Atlantic cod (dried fish) and to clean the muddy water. The suspended water impurities get closed by alum precipitates. And thus, the water becomes clean and ready for oral drinking. Other than this, since it has astringent, antiseptic and antiperspirant values, so its use for curing many personal problems is highly underlined. Hence, here is an outlook about the different important uses of alum!! take a look right below!!

Many people now want to covet a fair and rosy skin. Unfortunately, the sun can make our skin dark, dry and ugly. Prolonged sun exposure can significantly darken our skin and can also make us more susceptible to the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

The good news is, there are a lot of treatments that can quickly lighten your skin and give you the fair skin that you have always wanted. Let me tell you some of the best ones:

Skin lightening- Mix alum powder and honey. Use this as a mask. Apply it on your skin liberally and let it sit there for an hour before washing it off. Alum crystals can be bought from the drug store or from a health and wellness store. Pound the crystals until they turn into powder. Mix it up with honey.

Alum can help lighten the skin. Honey also has bleaching properties so it can improve the color of your dermis. Use this treatment every night until you achieve the results you want.

 

Skin tightening – Alum powder mixed with rose water if applied on face and washed after 10 minutes makes the skin tight by closing the pores.

Alum is used widely in different skin care products especially in aftershave lotions, pre-shaving oils and creams. Alum can be effectively used as a tonner for different skin types and also to make the size of the open pores smaller. No product is available in the market which will help you to make the size of your pores permanently small. However some tonners and creams will cause mild irritation in the skin which results in swelling of the skin and thus the pores appear less prominent. But after some time these pores come back to their normal size. The open pores can be effectively hidden with some make-up tricks. Try the following home made skin tonner (which has alum as an ingredient) for different skin types which will help you to deal with your open pores.

• For normal skin type – Mix ½ tablespoon of alum and 50 gm rose water in 100 gm of glycerin and store it in the refrigerator. Use this often to tone your skin pores.
• For dry skin type – Boil a 2 handful of fresh mint leaves in 100 ml water. This mint extract derived here can be used as an anti-perspirant. In a cup of distilled water add 2 drop of this mint extract and ½ tsp of alum. Apply this tonner on the open pores with the help of a cotton ball.
• For oily skin type – Alcohol and alum tonner is very effective for this skin type (open pores are most common in people with oily skin). Add 1 teaspoon of alcohol and ½ teaspoon of alum in 100 ml of distilled water. Store it in a fridge as this will not only help increase the shelf life of the tonner but also act as a refreshing agent when you are warm and sweaty. 

Medicinal uses of Alum

Dental health- Alum root is used for keeping a good health of your teeth. And it is, in fact, a very good substance for improving infections from your gums and mouth. You can make the mouthwash by this method: Chop one alum root and transfer it in a bowl. Thereafter, fill it with warm water. Then, leave this one for four to seven hours and after that, rinse it off. You should rinse mouthwash or infusion many times till the symptoms go away. Other than this, it would be great for you to know that alum is also used in some toothpastes.

Bleeding cuts- Some studies show that this one even has the capacity to treat the bleeding cuts. You can sprinkle the alum residue on such cuts to avoid an extra blood loss. But here, keep in mind that if your cut is too deep and the bleeding is just not stopping, then you need some professional medical help. And so, at that time, don't just rely on an alum residue.

Anti-perspirant, anti-septic and astringent qualities- Due to all these qualities, alum  is used in many home remedies or otherwise in the medicinal product based companies. For, example it is used to treat the infection of a sore throat or to give a rear kick to the skin allergies, especially after shave.

Culinary uses of Alum

Alum powder is used in pickling recipes and as a preservative for fruits. Apart from it, this product is also very effective in keeping the crispness of the vegetables alive.

Thereafter, this substance is used as an acidic component in some commercial baking powders. And it is even an item that is used as a bread whitener.

Other important uses of Alum

Apart from the above mentioned important uses of alum, there are some other uses as well that carry the same strength of giving you a high benefit for leading a fine health. So, these uses are as following:

1. Alum is used in depilatory waxes that are used for the removal of body hair. And, in fact, it is even applied to the freshly waxed skin because of its soothing properties.

2. In the 1950s, it was used for sporting the flattop or crew cut hair-styles. And due to its anti-bacterial values, it is now used as a great deodorant. Other than it, there is one more important history of this amazing substance. It is like, in the 16th century, it was used as an ointment for treating acne.