Distilled water

[Dixie]

How many of you DO NOT use distilled water?

I wondering just how important it could be considering you dump lye into it and it heats to what?...200 something....doesn't that make it steril?

Can soft water vs hard water make that much of a difference? especially if you discount?

Just curious.

 

[Deda]

I used to be quite diligent about the water, only using distilled. Now, good or bad, I just use plain old tap water. My thinking? You are going to bathe in plain old tap water... Anyway, JMHO

 

[Guest]

I started out using distilled.Now I use the filtered fridge water and ice cubes. Haven't noticed any change in my soap.

HTH

Kitn

 

[rubato456]

i THOUGHT about using DH20....but i didn't want to add any more expense to my ingredients and the trouble to store it etc.....i've always used reg h20....i wonder if using Dh20 would cut down on ash.....as this is always a prob for me. i think the issues for water are related to dissolved mineral content....

 

[alwaysme07]

Anyone use spring water? I buy it for drinking, etc., and for some reason can't find the distilled water. So that's what I was wondering.

 

[xyxoxy]

I mostly use aloe juice for my liquid now but I keep a gallon of distilled water handy.

 

[Lindy]

I use regular tap water as well as sea water on occassion - no problems with either. I agree the lye is going to sterilize the water so I'm not worried about it....

 

[Guest]

I use regular tap water as well as sea water on occassion - no problems with either. I agree the lye is going to sterilize the water so I'm not worried about it....

Lindy , do you notice a difference in your seawater soaps ?

TIA

Kitn

 

[Guest]

distilled water.... :?: as in rain water?

 

[vivcarm]

I use tap water, but I live in a soft water area.

 

[ChrissyB]

When I first started soapmaking I was very diligent about just buying distilled water, because that's what all the books said to use.
Then, I ran out, so used cold water that had been sitting in the kettle (already boiled, but cooled down again), so that worked, didn't make any difference. So I started just pouring the cold boiled kettle water into my soaping water bottle and storing it in the fridge. Then one day I ran out of that, and just used normal tap water, straight from the tap. I am one of those people that swears that the tap water tastes funny, you know from whatever is in the water, so I expected some kind of adverse result from using the tap water, but no nothing. Just the same as before.
So now I don't buy distilled water, I do on occasion put the water from the kettle into my soaping water bottle if I remember, I prefer to use that when I am making soap because it is colder than straight from the tap. I also like the term "pure" which is what the water from the kettle should be.
But it doesn't really make a difference.

 

[xyxoxy]

distilled water.... :?: as in rain water?

Distilled water is basically purified by turning it into steam and condensing the steam back into water... essentially removing any impurities, minerals etc. This is the same process used for making grain alcohol
(moonshine).

I have been under the impression that the recommendation for soap use was based on the idea that removing the minerals from the water was somehow better for the soap and the lye reaction... not so much to remove germs.

Either way most municipal water supplies are probably fine IMO without distilling. Well water may or may not have more problems but these days well water should probably be put through UV and carbon filtration processes anyway if it is going to be used as drinking water.