Rain Water in Soaps

[Krickett]

I was reading in another forum about rain water used in soaps. Actually the thing said this "For best results, use rain, distilled, reverse osmosis or de-mineralized water. Your water should be 0.38 of your fat by weight. Don't worry too much about getting it exact, however, as this measurement isn't terribly critical.
Questions now has anyone used rain water in soap making and if so how well did it work? What the heck is reverse osmosis or de-mineralized water? And on a different note what are the differences in essence oils and essential oils if any? In advance many Thx for the help.

 

[Tabitha]

Rain Water Soap Co would be an awesome name for a soap company.

I know someone around here uses rain water. I think it's Paul but I could be wrong...

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I do. Or used to before I started using aloe vera juice. I did capture 2 gallons during the rain last week. I still run it through a Pur Water Pitcher.
You don't want minerals in the water, or hard water. Rain water is the best, IMHO, followed by distilled water.

38% weight of water by oils is the standard, and gives you about a 28% lye concentration. I soap at 30 to 33% lye solution concentration, which is called a modest water discount.

Paul

 

[Krickett]

Oh cool, I will have to remember that and may just have to start catching rain water for soaps.

 

[Missjulesdid]

I use distilled water. I have a pretty decent water distiller but it is slow so Making water is an all day event!

Reverse osmosis is a fancy method to filter water. Most Reverse osmosis filter systems also have a carbon filter as part of their system. Reverse osmosis forces the water through a membrane.

My water is pretty soft anyway, I prolly could get away with using tap water, for soap, but I feel more comfortable using distilled

 

[IanT]

jules- I know your pain believeeeee me!... my RO system takes FOREVER to get water, I usually leave it on while im reading, and store water in a 5gal bucket from home depot

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Rain, 5 gallon bucket with a top, hole cut in it, big plastic funnel in the hole, set bucket under roof edge. Lots of soft, free, great rain water fast!

 

[arjay]

you don't catch a lot of roof... goo? that way? i've seen what's on my roof (forget about what's in my gutters) and i wouldn't want it in my soap.

i would've thought that placing the catch bucket out in the middle of the yard, to catch only the falling rain, would be a lot cleaner source. (which is assuming that the rainwater is clean to begin with, and here in jersey, i'm definitely sticking to distilled.)

 

[Soapmaker Man]

you don't catch a lot of roof... goo? that way? i've seen what's on my roof (forget about what's in my gutters) and i wouldn't want it in my soap.

i would've thought that placing the catch bucket out in the middle of the yard, to catch only the falling rain, would be a lot cleaner source. (which is assuming that the rainwater is clean to begin with, and here in jersey, i'm definitely sticking to distilled.)

After 7 inches of rain in 24 hours, toward the end there was nothing on there I guarantee that. I still run it through a Pur water pitcher and boil for 15 minutes. I wanted to fill up a few gallons fast. 2 gallons of rain water in less than 20 minutes, fast!

 

[LaLuna]

Lovely cloud juice! We live too far away from town to get their water, so rainwater is all we drink/wash in/ water the garden with/ use in our soaps! Regarding the 'roof goo', I don't know what your roof looks like, but I'd prefer to drink my roof goo than the chemicals they pour into the water to 'sterilise' it! Anyway, there's bound to be goo somewhere in the process that gets the water from the clouds/dams/underground water sources to your kitchen taps ~ it's just out of sight! :?
Having said that, I have heard advice not to consume water from a roof in a city due to the air pollution settling on rooves, and being collected in the water. You can always just start collecting the water after the initial downpour, so it's been pre-rinsed! :wink:
Different water form different sources and areas varies in pH ~ I wonder if it's a big enough variation to alter the outcome of soap? :?:

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Thats what I did LaLuna, toward the end of the 20 hours of downpour here in SW MO, I caught the tail end of the rain water.