Hello all, I have a question/advice. I never make soap in the summer, it's just too busy and hot & humid. So any leftover oils etc I store in my cool cellar. I decided to make soap today with my new round mold,and realized I forgot to go to the grocery store and buy distilled water. I had an opened, but sealed gallon stored in my cellar, would you use it or make the 20 minute trek to the grocery store? I'm pretty sure I know the answer and should start the car now, lol. But thought I would ask.....
Distilled Water
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Lion Of Judah
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use it ! it will not hurt anything
I 2nd that!
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I would use it. The lye should get it hot enough that any nasties will be killed.
judymoody
Well-Known Member
It often takes me a few months to work through a gallon of distilled water. Never had a problem so far.
In my oh so humble opinion 
tapwater is fine. I live on the side of a mountain with really hard water, I use nothing but tap water for soap and save distilled for lotions and creams. I have never had a problem.....
tapwater is fine. I live on the side of a mountain with really hard water, I use nothing but tap water for soap and save distilled for lotions and creams. I have never had a problem.....falldowngobump
Well-Known Member
I have well water, and I'm lucky that it's very soft and pure. I make soap with tap water all the time with no problems. Go for it!
I think if you have well water that may be better than using tap water in the USA. Our city tap water has fluoride in it which I've read could impact your soap. I've never tried it so I can't swear by it though.
I use distilled just because I don't trust our city's water supply. However, I may switch to tap once the new water plant is completed.
LOL I was just answering the question! But as so many have said, why distilled ? I never buy water either however I also have well water.
rjalex
Well-Known Member
FWIW I live in Rome which is known for it's very hard water but also very good to drink (no chlorine etc.). I did my first two batches with it and so far everything seems to be aok. I would be more wary of "distilled" water living for god knows how long in plastic jugs with the potential of chemical contamination (did you ever taste distilled coming from plastic bottles ?).
Tap or well water that is perfectly safe to drink can contain calcium and magnesium and other chemical impurities. These chemicals can affect the quality of your soap in ways that might not be ideal. Metallic contamination can trigger DOS (rancidity). Calcium and magnesium will react with the fats to make their own insoluble soaps -- aka "hard water scum". The impurities in tap water can vary with the season, the source of the water (for example, big cities often use water from rivers supplemented by water from wells), the type of pipes used to deliver the water, and the type of water purification treatment.
There's no rule that one MUST use distilled ... if tap water works for you, it works. But if you have odd problems pop up, don't rule out that your tap water might be a culprit. I prefer distilled because I prefer to do my chemistry as an engineer or chemist would do it, since that is my professional background. If I didn't have access to distilled, I'd use filtered rainwater instead.
As long as distilled water kept in a chemically-inert, tightly closed container in a clean environment, it will be fine -- your goal is to simply maintain the chemical purity of the water. There are two reasons why distilled water doesn't taste especially good. One is there are no dissolved minerals to give the water a "good" taste. The other is there is no dissolved oxygen, which also enhances the taste of water.
There's no rule that one MUST use distilled ... if tap water works for you, it works. But if you have odd problems pop up, don't rule out that your tap water might be a culprit. I prefer distilled because I prefer to do my chemistry as an engineer or chemist would do it, since that is my professional background. If I didn't have access to distilled, I'd use filtered rainwater instead.
As long as distilled water kept in a chemically-inert, tightly closed container in a clean environment, it will be fine -- your goal is to simply maintain the chemical purity of the water. There are two reasons why distilled water doesn't taste especially good. One is there are no dissolved minerals to give the water a "good" taste. The other is there is no dissolved oxygen, which also enhances the taste of water.
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I think that milk contains much more calcium than tap water.
Also, don't you think that banana puree contains more magnesium than any tap or well water?
And the beer? I think that they don't use distiled water in beer.
And we use milk, banana and beer in our soap...
I have made it really clear that I think people should use tap water if it works for them. I've offered a respectful comment about the reasons why I choose to use distilled water instead. Moving on....
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I too choose to use distilled water. Don't want to take the risk of something funky going on in my soap. Sometimes I have enough probelms with it (quick trace, oils seeping, overheating etc...).
Hope that my answer was also respectful.
