# rainwater in soapmaking



## SubLowe (May 19, 2012)

is it possible to use rainwater in soapmaking? would one have to boil the water first to get rid of any bacteria? 
or is it generally better to just use distilled water?

TIA 
Mirka


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## sudbubblez (May 19, 2012)

Depending on where you are, rainwater would have picked up pollution in the air.  Boiling would not remove that.


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## SubLowe (May 19, 2012)

sudbubblez said:
			
		

> Depending on where you are, rainwater would have picked up pollution in the air.  Boiling would not remove that.



im kind of in the middle of nowhere in NC, well not middle of nowhere but its the country surrounded by farms. we use the rainwater for our farm and we grow bioponic - Hydro+organic.  im pretty sure the water is good. the plants are happy lol.


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## green soap (May 19, 2012)

I used filtered, rather than distilled water for CP soap.  So I would have no problem filtering my rain water.  If I had any rain water to filter that is.


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## SubLowe (May 19, 2012)

green soap said:
			
		

> I used filtered, rather than distilled water for CP soap.  So I would have no problem filtering my rain water.  If I had any rain water to filter that is.



haha yea i just moved from Socal to NC in January ( missing socal  ... ) so i know what you mean haha. how would i go about filtering it?


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## green soap (May 19, 2012)

I have one of those brita filters.  Would't that work?  Is it really dirty?  If so, pre-filter with coffee filter?


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## busybee (May 20, 2012)

Why would rain water be dirty?  Surely if you put out a clean container the water collected would have to be one of the purest waters available.  I can remember my parents collecting rain water for the car radiator & battery and my mothers new steam iron because of its purity.


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## Bubbles Galore (May 20, 2012)

I drank un-purified rain water for years so I'd certainly make soap with it.  :wink:


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## SubLowe (May 20, 2012)

Bubbles Galore said:
			
		

> I drank un-purified rain water for years so I'd certainly make soap with it.  :wink:



k i think i will try making it with our rain water. maybe ill just run it through coffee filter.


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## fiddletree (May 20, 2012)

No, coffee filter isn't the same thing.  Water filters, like those Brita makes, can filter out a lot more than a coffee filter, which just separates out big stuff from the water, small icky stuff can still get through. 

if I remember correctly from the 25 years or so that I lived in NC, there are some problems with acid rain, and depending on where you are, there can be some significant pollution that floats over from Charlotte, Winston, and other cities.  I don't know that I would use rainwater there, personally.


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## SubLowe (May 20, 2012)

fiddletree said:
			
		

> No, coffee filter isn't the same thing.  Water filters, like those Brita makes, can filter out a lot more than a coffee filter, which just separates out big stuff from the water, small icky stuff can still get through.
> 
> I remember correctly from the 25 years or so that I lived in NC, there are some problems with acid rain, and depending on where you are, there can be some significant pollution that floats over from Charlotte, Winston, and other cities.  I don't know that I would use rainwater there, personally.



ive only lived here 4 months. so thanx for letting me know about acid rain. i dont know much about NC at all.  ill check the ppm and ph of our rain water. i really wanted to use rainwater, but i dont want to ruin the soap or anything. maybe ill just get distilled water then. 
thanx


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## Woodi (May 20, 2012)

This is a very good question!

We like to assume that rain is pure, don't we? (and I suppose long ago, not sure how long....it was!)

One way to find out how pure it is would be to take a sample (in a purified container of course) to your local government water purification place, and have them test it for you....do you have one nearby?

Because we live on a well, we need to have our water tested frequently, so there is a nearby testing place, government operated. Each time I bring in a sample for testing they give me a clean bottle for next testing.

I don't do this anymore, because we have a home water-purification system consisting of two tanks of potassium salt crystals, and also a UV filter. Well-water out here is not to be trusted....is it anywhere? another good question!!!


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## SubLowe (May 20, 2012)

Woodi said:
			
		

> This is a very good question!
> 
> We like to assume that rain is pure, don't we? (and I suppose long ago, not sure how long....it was!)
> 
> ...



very true. after posting this it got me thinking how we are surrounded by all these non organic believeing or practicing farms and how they spray everything and im sure theres some kind of a run off which is polluting our local rain water. so maybe i will just use distilled water.  
would spring water or water bottle water work if there is no distilled water available?


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## VanessaP (May 20, 2012)

Most grocery stores sell gallon jugs of distilled water. Walmart carries it and I think it was 85 cents for 1 gallon, probably a little less than that. I've made about 12 pounds of soap total with this new gallon and actually threw out one measurement of water because I ended up not soaping then, and I still have about half a gallon left from that gallon. It will go a long way, especially if you're doing smaller batches.


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## serfmunke (May 20, 2012)

I live near Philly and use rainwater unfiltered and it is fine. I do keep it in the fridge or freezer if it is going to be a while before I use it.


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## sudbubblez (May 20, 2012)

Back in the day, like of our grandparents and great grandparents, rainwater would have been perfectly fine.  My grandmother used to say, when she was a kid, they would pick up snow on the ground and cover it with maple that came out of the trees and eat it.  You can't do that today because of pollution.  The pollution isn't bad enough that it would make you obviously sick the first time you drank it, but over time, those pollutants are building up in your system... it could cause a mystery sickness or do things to the body that arent so obvious.  Rainwater for soapmaking, fine.. but I wouldn't be drinking it.

One thing to keep in mind with brita filters or any other carbon filters is that once the carbon becomes saturated with the impurities, it will actually leech out into the water and make it dirtier.


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## new12soap (May 21, 2012)

I would use rainwater, caught in a clean container.


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## Cubic22 (May 10, 2019)

So interesting to read everyone's opinions.  I was thinking to collect some rain water for my soap making . It's just continued raining in England for a week now.  Just wondering would I still have to check if it is okay to use?


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## jcandleattic (May 10, 2019)

Cubic22 said:


> So interesting to read everyone's opinions.  I was thinking to collect some rain water for my soap making . It's just continued raining in England for a week now.  Just wondering would I still have to check if it is okay to use?


This post is over 7 years old and none of the OP's are around anymore. Might get more relevant answers if you start a new thread, and link to this one.


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## Lin19687 (May 10, 2019)

@jcandleattic party pooper


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## Cubic22 (May 11, 2019)

jcandleattic said:


> This post is over 7 years old and none of the OP's are around anymore. Might get more relevant answers if you start a new thread, and link to this one.


Thank you for that.  I am new to the site I thought someone would reply.


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## lsg (May 11, 2019)

I will reply.  I have used rain water in my soap making.  I did bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a little bit, just to try and kill any harmful bacteria.  The lye would probably have taken care of that, but I didn't want to take any chances.  You might want to filter the water.  Who knows what chemicals are in our polluted atmosphere?


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## Cubic22 (May 12, 2019)

lsg said:


> I will reply.  I have used rain water in my soap making.  I did bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a little bit, just to try and kill any harmful bacteria.  The lye would probably have taken care of that, but I didn't want to take any chances.  You might want to filter the water.  Who knows what chemicals are in our polluted atmosphere?


Thank you so much for your comment. I'm still learning and I value good advice and practice.  ;-)


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## Mobjack Bay (May 12, 2019)

Cubic22 said:


> So interesting to read everyone's opinions.  I was thinking to collect some rain water for my soap making . It's just continued raining in England for a week now.  Just wondering would I still have to check if it is okay to use?



Rain will bring down almost anything that’s in the atmosphere.  That can include exhaust from power plants and cars (https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatcauses.html) that forms acid rain, as well as fine particulates (from tires, dust, pollen, etc.).  In areas that have a lot of animal farms, ammonia can be released to the atmosphere and then come down in rain. Rain will bring down constituents of smoke, as well as persistent organic pollutants (the chemists call them POPs) like hydrocarbons and pesticides.  There are pesticides (like DDT) in Antarctica that got there by “grasshoppering” from areas near the equator through cycles of evaporation and rain.  The rainwater will get cleaner over time if the rain event is extended.  The organic pollutants can be reduced with a charcoal filter and the fine particulates with a coffee filter.  Dissolved materials like ammonia can not be filtered out.  I am not an an environmental scientist, but I had a dear friend who was.  She studied “dry” and “wet” deposition of pollutants from the atmosphere at locations around the world, including Antarctica.


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## nonna oakie (May 12, 2019)

I have been soaping for years - always used "rain water". Never had a problem.  I do live out in an Oklahoma rural area.  I can't imagine
anything is wrong with it.


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## Mobjack Bay (May 12, 2019)

I would think that rainwater from most rural areas would be fine and perhaps better than some municipal water supplies and wells. If there is mostly just dust and pollen it would be easy to filter. Rainwater from urban areas might be more questionable, especially if there is ever noticeable soot deposition from planes or highways.


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## lenarenee (May 12, 2019)

I have doubts that rural rain is necessarily much cleaner. Storms are a culmination of factors, moisture/clouds can travel across many states, wind, temperatures, humidity,  updrafts bring particles that can contaminate clouds.

You’ve heard of those rare news stories where fish rain down from the sky?  It’s possible....some even hundreds of miles from their original home (experts id the species).  So if it can rain ocean fish onto land 300 miles away, the pollutants are in rural rainwater.  

Also, just the farm soil alone, contaminated  pesticides and fertilizers and a breezy spring day can travel great distances.


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## Iluminameluna (May 13, 2019)

FWIW, I'm in a rural area in El Salvador and my water supply isn't municipal but from a water co-op, so, for soaping I collect rainwater, purify it with bleach and let it sit, covered, for at least 5 days. At least during the rainy season. During the dry, I take a gallon or so of water from the house, and let it sit, also covered, for a week or so, to let the little bit of chlorine in it to break down. So far, so good. I can't get into town often, and I don't feel ruthless enough to ask my caretaker to haul a gallon of distilled water on a bus.
My water is clear, doesn't smell like anything, and leaves a tiny amount of white deposit in a pot if I boil it. My soaps bubble and lather great, don't irritate my sensitive skin, and a half brother and his wife took it to Canada (Saskatchewan) and they love them.
I figure it's a wash-off product so it's not going to transfer whatever is in the water to my body, any more than what the atmosphere anywhere does already.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 13, 2019)

I luv soap made with rainwater or snow... it's "soft" water. Makes nice soap. Just don't collect the stuff that runs off the roof of the house.


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## Dawni (May 13, 2019)

I also use rainwater whenever possible. I don't collect the stuff that pours down in the beginning though. 

I stand my bucket in the middle of the garden where it won't get the water dropping from the trees or roof maybe after about 20mins or so of rain. I only filter it for bigger sold particles, that's it.

I have no explanation as to why this is what I do though lol


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## Rsapienza (May 14, 2019)

I too have used rain water in soap. I put a bucket in the middle of the yard and filtered through a sieve. I didn't notice any difference in the soap. It gives some label appeal, IMO.


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## Liesel Atwood (May 14, 2019)

Rain water sounds so lovely, but here in Nova Scotia, we have a lot of acid rain.  I suppose being so near the ocean has something to do with it.  We can't drink our own well water as it is too acidic, and bath time yields no bubbles in the water...only on our skin.  (I'm referring to my own home, as I can't speak for others.)  Does anyone else who uses rainwater for their soap know if it is acidic or not?  If I thought it would work, I'd try it too!


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## Zany_in_CO (May 14, 2019)

Liesel Atwood said:


> Does anyone else who uses rainwater for their soap know if it is acidic or not?


A quick google revealed an interesting bit of information:

*https://novascotia.ca/nse/air/acidrain.asp*

I think you're out of luck for using rainwater there.


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## Mobjack Bay (May 15, 2019)

Liesel Atwood said:


> Rain water sounds so lovely, but here in Nova Scotia, we have a lot of acid rain. I suppose being so near the ocean has something to do with it.



Actually, the ocean does not cause acid rain. Ocean water is slightly basic (pH >8). Natural rainwater, which could include water that evaporates from the ocean, has a pH in the range of 5 to 5.5 because it dissolves carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which then changes to carbonic acid (as in soda water).  Acid rain has a pH in the range of 4.2 to 4.4 as shown here: https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/phscale.html  From the link I posted above (#24) acid rain is caused by chemical reactions in the atmosphere that turn some of the chemicals from industrial emissions and car exhaust into sulfuric and nitric acids.  Prevailing winds carry the compounds from the heavily industrial areas of the US to New England and Canada, which is why those areas have had the highest levels of acid rain in North America.  The good news is that air quality is improving significantly (and acid rain is decreasing) due to tighter air quality regulations:  https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/07/16/acid-rain-tree-recovery.

Back to soapmaking... For comparison, pure water has a pH of 7 and the pH of lemon juice is around 2.  pH is a log scale, which means (I think) that a pH of about 4 for acid rain is 1000 times more acidic than a pH of 7.  My chemistry is too rusty to work out if this difference would require a lye correction. Maybe @DeeAnna or another soapmaking chemistry wiz will see this and weigh in.


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## Liesel Atwood (May 16, 2019)

Wow, I am impressed with everyone's chemistry knowledge!  Thanks for the explanation of acid rain.  I'm glad to know that the air quality should improving.  I recall making my first batch of soap, and making many mistakes back then! LOL!  One of them was using well water.  Back then it was okay to drink it, but we still had acid rain.  The soap did turn out okay, if you don't mind DOS, warping and a few other problems!  I can't blame all those things on the well water, but it does make me wonder.  Thankfully I've learned some things since then.


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## Carol B Smith (May 19, 2019)

I usually use distilled water in my soaps, but I have an Alkaline water machine so of course I have experimented with making soap with acid water (5.5 pH), and alkaline water (9.0 pH).  I was expecting  there would be big differences between the two, but I didn't see any.  Since our skin is about 5.5 pH,  rain water (about 5.5 pH) should work fine.


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