Distilled water?

Maxine · Apr 13, 2010

Hey all!

This may seem like a silly question- but the majority of lotion recipes I've seen call for distilled water (or mint or rose water- which isn't distilled I assume?).

My question is: is distilled water completely necessary? Obviously, I won't be using tap water, but would bottled water work?
Or is distilled water essential as it shouldn't have many of the impurities that regular tap/bottled water has?

And if so- is this something I can make, or buy at a drug store?

Thanks!
Cheers,
Max

carebear · Apr 13, 2010

distilled isn't necessary BUT
- it's quasi-sterile so if you don't use it make sure to boil your water for 10 minutes (you should probably do this anyway
- it's got no metals or minerals in it. these metals and minerals are usually not problematic but CAN speed rancidity or other issues

so it's better, but not necessary

you really cannot make your own but you can get it in the drug store or even some grocery stores.

Maxine · Apr 13, 2010

awesome, thanks for the info!

lauramw71 · Apr 16, 2010

it's pretty cheap at the grocery stores... in my small town it's 99 cents for a gallon! I just add preservative right to the gallon so I don't have to individually preserve my sprays.

madpiano · Apr 24, 2010

If you have a tropical fish shop near you, you can also use Reverse Osmosis Water (sold as RO water). It's made for very sensitive fishies. You can also buy an RO unit, but unless you leave the shop with a fish tank (very good possibility), it wouldn't be worth it as they need to run all the time or the membrane dries out.

While I am playing with recipes I use tap water, but once I am happy I will switch to RO water as I have a fish shop just round the corner.

Distilled and RO water are both very soft. It may not be a good idea to store them in plastic containers as they can leach all sorts of chemicals out of those. One of the reasons I no longer buy bottled water (and if I do I make sure it's a hard water). Most distilled water is sold here in plastic bottles and not necessarily in food safe plastic as it is used for irons and cars (drinking RO or distilled water is very bad for you). That's another reason for me to take a glass bottle to the fish shop and buy it that way.