Well water?

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Bamagirl

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Will I need to buy gallons of water to make cp soap, or will I be able to use well water? As far as I can tell we don't have hard water, but I'm not sure about minerals ect... Has anyone tried using well water and gotten favorable results?
 
I didn't know I had hard water till I started using my homemade soap and getting major soap scum (never thought about it with detergents). That, and the liquid soap I diluted with 1/2 tap water (that was opalescent from all the minerals and had much lower lather) told me I had hard water.

I believe you can get little detectors that can test the dissolved mineral content of your water. You may want to get one to test yours before you proceed. I also once read about a hard water test using a bubble test of soap with tap vs. distilled water and seeing if you had less bubbles using your tap water. I can't remember exactly where I read that.
 
Page 2 of this article has some average values for Alabama.

If you're not in the white, I would use distilled water for best results. My soaps use no more than a pint of water for a 40 oz loaf mold, and at around a buck a gallon for distilled, why take the chance? There might be iron or sulphur compounds in well water, too.

Also, as much as it pains me to contradict dixie, a Brita will not change hardness. Those just remove chlorines, lead, organics and the like, but not the calcium and magnesium carbonates that cause water harness, nor iron if present. I believe those newer (more expensive?) Zero Water brand pitchers DO remove hardness, but I'm not sure.

ETA: If anyone is interested, I can send you the contact info of a lab that will test a sample of your water and give you all kinds of quantitative results for about $15. People on municipal systems can also call their water company and get a hardness range in just a few minutes over the phone.
 
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I always seem to take things a step past what I need to, don't I?

For what its worth though, my fridge filter (I know, its not a Brita filter) doesn't take out nearly enough minerals for me to soap with. :( I just remembered that's actually what I diluted that liquid soap with.

They do have one called "zero filter" that I think may take out most of the dissolved minerals.

But, you'll be fine either way. Its just the scientist in me...

ETA: lol! cross posted w/ BG!
 
Many states in the US will do basic tests of your water for free if you have a private well. Here in Iowa, I can get nitrate, hardness, and bacteria count for free and only pay a minimum cost for other tests (cryptosporidium and giardia, for example). Go to your county sanitarian or health department and ask for a test kit.

If you live in a city or town in the US, you are authorized by law to view the municipal water test results. The results might be posted in a public place to view or you might be able to get a printed copy to take home. These results should include water hardness.

It's not just about water hardness, however, although that's important. Soap can get DOS from trace metals too. Copper is a big culprit and guess what metal is commonly used for water supply lines? I always use distilled water. If I had to improvise, I would use snow or rainwater after filtering it.
 
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Page 2 of this article has some average values for Alabama.

If you're not in the white, I would use distilled water for best results. My soaps use no more than a pint of water for a 40 oz loaf mold, and at around a buck a gallon for distilled, why take the chance? There might be iron or sulphur compounds in well water, too.

I am in the white areas, so I may try it and see what happens. Then I may switch to distilled water.
 
My bar soap was fine with my tap water, but my LS was cloudy. So I switched to distilled water - its so cheap and 2 gallons goes a long way. Do some tests to see if you notice a difference - I sure did in my liquid soap.
 
I'm on incredibly hard well water and use distilled. Like other folks mentioned... it's cheap and if it keeps my soap happy, why not?

One thing that made a HUGE difference in my soap is including a chelator... more bubbles and much less soap scum. I use EDTA, but sodium citrate works too. You can see threads here on amounts if you want to check out the difference.
 
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