Does anybody know what's actually IN a styptic pencil or powder? What is the active ingredient or how do they work??
Hi Cinder & Smoke!

Our little vial of Kwik Stop brand styptic powder lists the following ingredients: ferric subsulfate, aluminum chloride, diatomite, bentonite, copper sulfate, ammonium chloride, iodophor. I'm certainly no chemistry Nobel laureate here, so what exactly these things are or how they work is pretty much beyond me. Still, many of the chemicals look similar to other recognizable ones I know (like iodine and diatomatious earth). Weird stuff, but it sure works!