Distilled Water?

[West R Lee]

I used to use these (Oasis), but they became hard to find, and I don't think they make them anymore. I always just applied tap water to the sponge.

HH Combo OH-30 Humidifier / Hygrometer - Sweetwater

Looking for Guitar Humidifiers? Sweetwater has 0% Financing, FREE Shipping, and FREE Sweetwater Support for Guitar Humidifiers!

www.sweetwater.com

So I've just bought these:

MusicNomad The Humitar One Guitar Humidifier and Hygrometer (3-pack) Bundle | eBay

All-in-one Humidification System.

www.ebay.com

And they (Music Nomad) say to use only distilled water on their sponge.

Can anyone think of ANY reason you'd have to use distilled water on these sponges? Residue in the guitar?.....I can't imagine. Residue on their little temp gauge and hygrometer? Why in the world would they recommend distilled water?

West

 

[AcornHouse]

I used to use these (Oasis), but they became hard to find, and I don't think they make them anymore. I always just applied tap water to the sponge.

HH Combo OH-30 Humidifier / Hygrometer - Sweetwater

Looking for Guitar Humidifiers? Sweetwater has 0% Financing, FREE Shipping, and FREE Sweetwater Support for Guitar Humidifiers!

www.sweetwater.com

So I've just bought these:

MusicNomad The Humitar One Guitar Humidifier and Hygrometer (3-pack) Bundle | eBay

All-in-one Humidification System.

www.ebay.com

And they (Music Nomad) say to use only distilled water on their sponge.

Can anyone think of ANY reason you'd have to use distilled water on these sponges? Residue in the guitar?.....I can't imagine. Residue on their little temp gauge and hygrometer? Why in the world would they recommend distilled water?

West

There's a lot of hard water out there. Distilled water avoids any issues with mineral deposits, etc.

 

[MLBob]

West,

I have always used distilled water with sponge type sound-hole case humidifiers, and that was a standard recommendation when there were instructions included with them. Have now switched to Boveda packs.
I believe the recommendation to use distilled water is because tap water is likely to contain minerals that can lead to the growth of bacteria. When released into the air, these minerals often appear as white dust.

Distilled or demineralized water has much fewer minerals than does tap water - just less chance of “ gumming up the works” I’d guess.

 

[Stuball48]

Does a dehumidifier yield distilled water? Logic tells me it should be free of any treatments?
And you can laugh or roll your eyes - just wondered.
I know you can buy distilled water, inexpensively.

 

[Rocky]

I've never had issues with tap water and sponge humidifiers. You just rinse and squeeze them a few times when you refill them. If you can't do that, I could see how they'd get funky.

Now, for room humidifiers, those things will grow all sorts of nasty slime if you don't use distilled water.

 

[Rocky]

Does a dehumidifier yield distilled water? Logic tells me it should be free of any treatments?

My dad called it that, and yeah, it sort of is. But it gets contaminated with dust and all sorts of crud in the process, unless there's some sort of enclosure to keep it clean.

Cheapest distilled water around here comes from WalMart, at about $1.20/gallon. Sometimes it's hard to come by, especially in quantity, because it's used in CPAP machines and things other than humidifiers. I typically order it on-line and pick it up to make sure I don't waste a trip.

 

[West R Lee]

West,

I have always used distilled water with sponge type sound-hole case humidifiers, and that was a standard recommendation when there were instructions included with them. Have now switched to Boveda packs.
I believe the recommendation to use distilled water is because tap water is likely to contain minerals that can lead to the growth of bacteria. When released into the air, these minerals often appear as white dust.

Distilled or demineralized water has much fewer minerals than does tap water - just less chance of “ gumming up the works” I’d guess.

Or tap water might possibly facilitate mold growth in the guitar? The only other thing I wondered was if the minerals in tap water might have an effect on the absorbency of the sponge itself?.......you know those sponges in them that are hard as a rock until you wet and wet them.

West

 

[GardMan]

I don't think the tap water will promote bacterial or mold growth to any great extent. But...

The problem with tap water is that it contains variable amounts of mineral components, depending on how hard the water is. In an evaporative system, the water evaporates to humidify your room, guitar, whatever... but the minerals do not evaporate. So, every time you refill your sponge evaporator, you add MORE minerals that will be left behind when the water evaporates. Eventually, the sponge will become saturated with these mineral deposits, and will essentially become encased in "rock" (all the minerals). Needless to say, this dramatically reduces the evaporative efficiency of the humidifier! This isn't really a problem if you use a home-made sponge in a plastic bag/soap dish humidifer... you just go out and buy a new sponge. But you don't want to replace your expensive guitar humidifier on a regular basis...

Just as an example... I use regular tap water (SLC tap water is quite hard) in two room/house evaporative humidifiers, one on the main floor of my house, the other in the 9' x 10' room where my guitars live on wall hangers and a stand. The main floor humidifier is set to 35% RH, and gets filled (about a gallon) every day... so about 30 gals/month. The guitar room humidifier is set to 45% RH, and get filled about every 4 days.... since it's working on a much smaller volume). After about a month, the "wick" for the humidifer on the main floor is hard as a rock, and has to be changed. I could prolong the life of the wick by using distilled (or deionized) water... but the cost of replacing the wick (about $15) every month is less than the cost of buying a month's worth of distilled water.

 

[West R Lee]

I don't think the tap water will promote bacterial or mold growth to any great extent. But...

The problem with tap water is that it contains variable amounts of mineral components, depending on how hard the water is. In an evaporative system, the water evaporates to humidify your room, guitar, whatever... but the minerals do not evaporate. So, every time you refill your sponge evaporator, you add MORE minerals that will be left behind when the water evaporates. Eventually, the sponge will become saturated with these mineral deposits, and will essentially become encased in "rock" (all the minerals). Needless to say, this dramatically reduces the evaporative efficiency of the humidifier! This isn't really a problem if you use a home-made sponge in a plastic bag/soap dish humidifer... you just go out and buy a new sponge. But you don't want to replace your expensive guitar humidifier on a regular basis...

Just as an example... I use regular tap water (SLC tap water is quite hard) in two room/house evaporative humidifiers, one on the main floor of my house, the other in the 9' x 10' room where my guitars live on wall hangers and a stand. The main floor humidifier is set to 35% RH, and gets filled (about a gallon) every day... so about 30 gals/month. The guitar room humidifier is set to 45% RH, and get filled about every 4 days.... since it's working on a much smaller volume). After about a month, the "wick" for the humidifer on the main floor is hard as a rock, and has to be changed. I could prolong the life of the wick by using distilled (or deionized) water... but the cost of replacing the wick (about $15) every month is less than the cost of buying a month's worth of distilled water.

And that seemed like the only reasonable explanation Dave. Thanks.

West

 

[Bill Ashton]

West, do you have CVS stores in Texas, always have gallons of the distilled water here, under the counter on the customer side at the pharmacy...also, maybe Rite Aide or Walgreen's...

You also worry me about Oasis not being available, have used them for years, but always seem to need to replace one or two of them once the "heating season" arrives...which is about NOW!

 

[Bernie]

Is it my first humidifier recommending distilled water, or is it Bob Taylor first time I heard about humidifying guitars in one of his videos, or both maybe, anyhow I've always used distilled water... I heard Bob Taylor again, answering a question that might have been "is it necessary to use distilled water later on ?" answering a clear "no"...
So I bet it's better to use distilled water if you've got some left, and normal water when it's over, rather than let the guitar dry...
I think those chemical elements used to purify water and make it drinkable, may be even worse for those little sponges in the long run than minerals an al. So if you want to make them last longer, use distilled water ...

 

[Bill Ashton]

Home Oasis

Guirar Humidifiers for fine wooden instruments including guitars, ukuleles, 3/4 bass and mandolins. Accessories for classical guitar players.

oasishumidifiers.com

I used this link as it has a "where to buy" button

Have bought them, and suggested them several times as gifts to ME, from this website...

 

[RGSmith265]

I found that tap water leaves a lot of mineral deposits on my guitars so I always use distilled in my guitar room humidifier. It is cold and dry here in NE Ohio in the winter so I go through a lot of it… but it is worth it.

 

[chazmo]

Oh, I use tap water, Jim, in my wicking-filter humidifier. It's better to use distilled, but my guitars are cased in my guitar room and mineral deposits from the hard water in my area are not an issue. It definitely leaves deposits on the humidifier itself, which warrants a cleaning once in a while, and it means I have to use more of the filter material (I'm changing filters every 3 weeks to a month).

 

[davismanLV]

After about a month, the "wick" for the humidifer on the main floor is hard as a rock, and has to be changed. I could prolong the life of the wick by using distilled (or deionized) water... but the cost of replacing the wick (about $15) every month is less than the cost of buying a month's worth of distilled water.

This right here ^^. To use distilled water in the humidifier is significantly more expensive than just replacing the wicks. Many times, when the wick gets hard I'll soak it in vinegar and water for a while and then rinse. It does extend the life of the wick by quite a bit. But it's work and sometimes easier to just put a new one in.

 

[adorshki]

This right here ^^. To use distilled water in the humidifier is significantly more expensive than just replacing the wicks. Many times, when the wick gets hard I'll soak it in vinegar and water for a while and then rinse. It does extend the life of the wick by quite a bit. But it's work and sometimes easier to just put a new one in.

Guitar players. Always lookin' fer a better way to wet their wick.

 

[crank]

I have a humidifier I picked up at Home Depot. The instructions say nothing about distilled water. They do say to clean it with vinegar every day. I clean it out once or twice a week.

No wet wicks here.

 

[JerryR]

Freshly collected rainwater or the ice collecting in your fridge or freezer will effectively be distilled water.

 

[merlin6666]

Tap water is good for drinking but nasty for devices as evaporation leaves behind lime and other dissolved solids. On the weekend I replaced the evaporation pad of my new furnace humidifier for the first time and I was amazed at how heavy it was compared to the fresh pad. And also not surprised that it didn't really humidify any more at end of last heating season as its pores were all clogged. I will have to be more diligent to replace it every two months or so.

 

[West R Lee]

Freshly collected rainwater or the ice collecting in your fridge or freezer will effectively be distilled water.

And a guy with a name like "Cryogenic Jerry" should be an authority for sure! How are you my brother?

West