Crystals Powdered: I crushed several teaspoons worth of gum as small as possible, removing the impurities I could find. There were few of them, much less than the gum ammoniac, but the crystals tended to go flying everywhere each time I pounded them. I then put 3 teaspoons of the powder in a glass jar and added 3 fluid ounces of slightly warm distilled water, stirring the mixture every few minutes until it was dissolved.