Potassium chlorate is a compound containing potassium, chlorine and oxygen atoms, with the molecular formula KClO 3. In its pure form, it is a white crystalline substance. It is the most common chlorate in industrial use. It is used.
Bluing agents are the result of a simple chemical process. The main ingredient in bluing agent is a finely powdered iron that appears to be a very bright blue. This iron powder is colloquially referred to as Prussian blue, and formally called ferric hexacyanoferrate.
The recipe for the Salt Crystal Garden calls for proportionately large amounts of salt in the presence of little liquid. Thus crystallization takes place very quickly. Mrs. Stewartâs Bluing is a colloidal suspension of extremely minute particles of blue powder (Ferric Hexacyanoferrate). This is not a solution in the true chemical meaning of that word. As the water from the bluing and the clear water which is first added evaporate, two things happen. The blue particles can no longer be supported and the excess salt cannot stay in solution.