Why are there different varieties of Alum blocks?

D

Deleted member 1045

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Hiya,

I was doing some research about Alum blocks and according to wikipedia in the shaving sense of the word an alum block is just the compound: hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate. So what I was wondering was why they vary between company to company, eg osma = £7.90ish and some cheapie indian/chinese ones are £0.80 to £3, etc. Aren't all these just the same block?

Very puzzling!

What do you all think/know?
 
The cheaper blocks tend to be rougher in texture out of the box... 2-3 uses and that's polished off. The other thing is the crystal structure - the more expensive blocks tend to be more slowly made so the individual crystals are bigger.

The other thing is the wrapper - a 40p block rarely comes with a fancy package.
 
hunnymonster said:
The cheaper blocks tend to be rougher in texture out of the box... 2-3 uses and that's polished off. The other thing is the crystal structure - the more expensive blocks tend to be more slowly made so the individual crystals are bigger.

The other thing is the wrapper - a 40p block rarely comes with a fancy package.
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You are so spot on, on the wrapper front! I paid £11 for a EJ alum block and the box came wrapped in tissue, and opened that small box up (a box like one u put wedding rings in), and inside that was the tiny alum block wrapped in more tissue paper! Crazy! I studied geophysics at uni...might have to find my own source somewhere next time i go on holiday :). I'll source out the good big crystal stuff and polish them as a hobby and send them around, haha! I got so ripped off for the alum block! Stung like hell though when i used it today. Glad i had it else i'd have been in pain all day!
 
hunnymonster said:
The cheaper blocks tend to be rougher in texture out of the box... 2-3 uses and that's polished off. The other thing is the crystal structure - the more expensive blocks tend to be more slowly made so the individual crystals are bigger.

The other thing is the wrapper - a 40p block rarely comes with a fancy package.
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Which Begs the question.. Do we need anything packed in fancy box's, expensive and wastefull.
 
I bought one of these recently: clicky-clicky

It arrived last week and is about the size of a roll-on deodorant. For just over a fiver, it seems fantastic value - especially as I paid about 2 quid for a tiny "pencil" back in May :/
 
The Indian ones for £1 have sharp corners and are fairly small. The £7 Bloc Osma is a bit bigger and has rounded corners so it's nicer on your pits. Big difference in price... I must admit I have Osma but that's because I bought it before I knew the difference. I thought expensive was good.

As stated, they all do the same job and they all smash in the sink when you drop them. (And you will).
 
Canuck said:
The Indian ones for £1 have sharp corners and are fairly small. The £7 Bloc Osma is a bit bigger and has rounded corners so it's nicer on your pits. Big difference in price... I must admit I have Osma but that's because I bought it before I knew the difference. I thought expensive was good.

As stated, they all do the same job and they all smash in the sink when you drop them. (And you will).
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i thought expensive was good. I have a £11 Edwin jagger one...came in it's own wooden box. The crystal in the EJ one is huge. It's a smallish block but has two big and the end of a 3rd crystal and that's it. Might try the cheapo indian one next time just for comparison.
 
new2DE said:
Might try the cheapo indian one next time just for comparison.
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They're fine, some of the Indian markets near me sell them at about 50p a piece and I picked one up once. Worked exactly the same though there are no visible large crystals. I used it twice then dropped it and smashed it, so I'm back to the Osma one which has been dropped twice and bears the loss of 2 corners.

jhclare said:
I've never seen the point of these, but YMMV....
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I don't even use them for shaving any more, just for deodorant. They work very well at killing bacteria. Picked up the tip on here about 8 weeks ago... they make the perfect deo stick.
 
I like using alum, my favourites are the sticks with a holder on the base. I've dropped a couple of the blocks because they can be a bit slippy, but haven't dropped any of the sticks so far.

The big 120g sticks from Connaught are nice, I also got a couple of smaller Razorock versions from Audiolab, not sure if he still sells them.
 
fozz77 said:
I use alum after everyshave, luv the stuff.

Those 120g sticks look like the biz......
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me too! I particularly like how it tightens the skin! Makes me feel younger. I wonder if over time it leads to the skin being tighter and firmer :)
 
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