The recently introduced random purification channel, which converts 𝑛 i.i.d. copies of any mixed quantum state into a uniform convex combination of 𝑛 i.i.d. copies of its purifications, has proved to be an extremely useful tool in quantum learning theory. Here we give a remarkably simple construction of this channel, making its known properties — and several new ones — immediately transparent. In particular, we show that the channel also purifies non-i.i.d. states: it transforms any permutationally symmetric state into a uniform convex combination of permutationally symmetric purifications, each differing only by a tensor-product unitary acting on the purifying system. We then apply the channel to give a one-line proof of (a stronger version of) the recently established Uhlmann’s theorem for quantum divergences.