Abstract: Alcohol soluble complexes of basic aluminum chlorides may be prepared by adding zinc bromide or chloride, or zirconyl bromide or hydroxybromide, or zinc or zirconyl mixtures of the above to an aqueous solution of five-sixths basic aluminum chloride, and drying the resulting mixture to a substantially friable solid. The complexes preferably have an Al/Zn or Al/Zr mol ratio of about 3:1 to 20:1, and the complex solids preferably contain about 12 to 30 weight percent water by Karl Fischer analysis. Such complex solids have a high degree of solubility in anhydrous alcohol and a high compatibility with halogenated hydrocarbons, thus making the complexes suitable for aerosol formulations and particularly antiperspirant compositions.