Best water for mixing lye

[amberlou]

:?: Hi, I am very,very new to soap making (only 3 days ).I am managing to source most things but i'm totally lost with the entire water issue. Where do you buy distilled water from or can you use filtered( To be honest have made 2 batches with mineral water and have today discovered that this is wrong .Is it ?. the soap does'nt look to good , it's very soft and powdery shall I throw it away or wait and see or can it be rescued) .PLEASE HELP AND ADVISE

 

[heyjude]

Distilled water can be found at most grocery stores and pharmacies. Some folks use filtered water or even rain water. Most probably use distilled though.

Give your soap some time to harden up. It might just be ash on top of your soap.

 

[fionab]

If you live in hard water area the deposits in it can cause DOS (Dreaded Orange Spots) on your soap. If not then some people just use tap water.

I prefer to err on the side of caution. I don't use distilled water but de-ionised water which you can buy very cheaply for things like your car battery.

De-ionised water has had all the minerals taken out.

 

[LadyM]

I'm not sure if you have them near you, but I get my distilled water from Smart N' Final. They do usually carry it at most grocery stores as well!

 

[ChrissyB]

I've used filtered water, distilled water, spring water and just plain old tap water. Our tap water is pretty good here though.

 

[dubnica]

I use filtered water.

 

[DottieF.]

If you have decent water don't waste your money on distilled water. I have slightly hard water so I run all my water (for soaping) through a Brita pitcher. Funny thing is, the water tastes better before filtering! The filter takes out the minerals that sweeten the water. Dottie

 

[heartandsoap]

I use reverse osmosis because I can't find distilled.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I normally use distilled but have used "still" mineral water, rain water, tap water and de-ionized water.

 

[SummerlandSoaps]

I prefer distilled, but most times I just use reverse osmosis. It's cheap where I live (25 cents a gallon) and I have never had DOS!

 

[pixybratt]

did you use carbonated mineral water or flat mineral water?

 

[amberlou]

did you use carbonated mineral water or flat mineral water?

Hi, I used flat mineral water. Also I was all prepared for fumes from lye when I mix it but there was none although temp did rise but only slightly, does this mean wont make soap .Very difficult and expensive to buy distilled water here in u.k. and my tap water is hard

 

[MsB]

You should be able to find distilled water at the grocery. Usually ours has it by the soda/drink section. Sometimes you can find it in the baby section.

We personally use Reverse Osmosis water. We have an RO system (thanks to our secondary hobby of keeping salt water fish) so we make it ourselves. It's pretty much water that's been filtered to strip out everything other than the water itself.

 

[pixybratt]

I think your soap will be just fine.

You may want to just run tap water through a water filter and use that, or you can use juice or milks instead of water if you aren't comfortable with using your tap water. you can even put a bucket outside and catch rain water to use, there are so many options I'm sure you will find something you like.

 

[amberlou]

I think your soap will be just fine.

You may want to just run tap water through a water filter and use that, or you can use juice or milks instead of water if you aren't comfortable with using your tap water. you can even put a bucket outside and catch rain water to use, there are so many options I'm sure you will find something you like.

I decided to try deionised water as that is cheap in the u.k., so far so good!

 

[Bubbly Buddha]

I, too, use Reverse Osmosis water.

 

[Bean13]

I use filtered water. So far so good. But you can make your own distilled water. Here's how.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4728943_own-dis ... water.html