Distilled Water?

[Rich Cohen]

DO NOT EVERY DRINK DISTILLED WATER! IT WILL RID YOUR BODY OF MINERALS, AS THERE ARE NO MINERALS IN DISTILLED WATER!!!
If you want a worry free himidifier machine that puts out mist, then use only distilled water, as it will minimize deposits in the atmosphere of your room. And not clog up your humidifier.

 

[Bill Ashton]

"Ever," Rich, "Ever." I don't know it true, but have heard in the past that distilled water one buys is not for oral consumption...perhaps someone else can either dispel or continue this controversy...

Next time I am in CVS I will ask a pharmacist...

 

[RBSinTo]

Oy!
For a couple of dollars, once a year I buy a five liter bottle of distilled water to fill my 7 Oasis humidifiers once a week.
No fuss. No muss. No bother.
RBSinTo

 

[mavuser]

I've used the Oasis ones for a while. They do say to use distilled water in the instructions, to help prevent mold etc. in the sponge. I always used distilled water in them and had 5 or 7 or so over the past 10 years. 1 or 2 of the sponges did get a little funky and I had to toss them (that is ok because i've been selling off the vast majority of those acoustics)

 

[Neal]

I run a mist humidifier in my music room around the clock in winter. Right now, it is running full blast, due to exceptionally low temperature and humidity outside.

i will probably go through two gallons of water today, alone. A winter’s worth of distilled water would easily exceed 150 gallons. Just lugging all of that into the house and finding a place to store it is a non-starter.

I use regular tap water, and clean the humidifier frequently. No problems. No white residue. No funkiness.

I do keep the humidifier completely across the room from the guitars (all of which are uncased in racks), so that mist never lands directly on them.

And, having purchased several nice used acoustics that had water stains inside from a dripping sound hole humidifier, I have vowed never to use one.

 

[RBSinTo]

I run a mist humidifier in my music room around the clock in winter. Right now, it is running full blast, due to exceptionally low temperature and humidity outside.

i will probably go through two gallons of water today, alone. A winter’s worth of distilled water would easily exceed 150 gallons. Just lugging all of that into the house and finding a place to store it is a non-starter.

I use regular tap water, and clean the humidifier frequently. No problems. No white residue. No funkiness.

I do keep the humidifier completely across the room from the guitars (all of which are uncased in racks), so that mist never lands directly on them.

And, having purchased several nice used acoustics that had water stains inside from a dripping sound hole humidifier, I have vowed never to use one.

Neal,
Do you live in the Atacama Desert?
Just wondering, because especially in the winter our house is so dry that we constantly get static shocks, and yet the seven Oasis humidifiers (which reside inside guitar cases, but not in the sound holes) are never completely dry when I top them up weekly.
Of course everyone's circumstances are different, but two gallons of water per day seems excessive.
RBSinTo

 

[Prince of Darkness]

"Ever," Rich, "Ever." I don't know it true, but have heard in the past that distilled water one buys is not for oral consumption...perhaps someone else can either dispel or continue this controversy...

Next time I am in CVS I will ask a pharmacist...

If water has only been distilled it will be harmless. Although some of the lost minerals are beneficial to health, it's not as if water is their only source (also, the degree and type of mineralisation in domestic water varies massively). On the other hand, demineralised water can be produced by other means, such as ion exchange and I'm not sure whether these will always be safe

 

[Neal]

Neal,
Do you live in the Atacama Desert?
Just wondering, because especially in the winter our house is so dry that we constantly get static shocks, and yet the seven Oasis humidifiers (which reside inside guitar cases, but not in the sound holes) are never completely dry when I top them up weekly.
Of course everyone's circumstances are different, but two gallons of water per day seems excessive.
RBSinTo

Current temperature in Charlottesville is 38 degrees, with a relative humidity outside of 32%. I live in a 105-year-old house with forced air gas heat. We are in a drought situation. Everything is dry as a bone.

 

[West R Lee]

I guess maybe I should have clarified when I began the thread. I used to use the Kyser sound hole humidifiers, which lay flat across the sound hole. I never really cared for them as I've always been just a bit worried about leaving them too wet, which could allow them to drip in the sound hole, and cause water marks inside the guitar. Over the years I've seen more than one Guild guitar with water marks on the sound hole tag, and you know this type of humidifier caused it.

Since, I had inherited 2 of the Oasis humidifiers, which would contain any excess water within the sponge housing and keep that from happening........I like them, I decided to replace my other 3 Kysers with the Oasis humidifiers, but found the Oasis becoming difficult to find, though you certainly can. That's when I opted for these "Music Nomad" humidifiers, and I've found them to be even more user friendly than the Oasis.

Anyway, I had inherited both Oasis humidifiers with a couple of guitars I'd bought, so I had no paperwork or instructions with them. All I knew was to wet and wring out the sponges and had never considered distilled water. When I bought these Music Nomad humidifiers a month or so ago, they obviously did come with instructions. That was the first time I'd read of using distilled water.........hence the question. A great discussion in which as always, I learn something.

West

 

[steve488]

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

Not so true. That water will still contain minerals and salts. Distillation boils off the water as vapor, then distills it via a condensor and is essentially 99.9% pure (presuming your condensor and system are sterile!). I have a sample we ran at work in 2009 and placed in a sterile container, and the chemical analysis certification to go with it. Distilled water should be mineral free and is better for any cooling or humidity needs (or similar....... it is better in your car battery as well!). Sadly it cost money to actually distill it.

 

[Rocky]

Not so true. That water will still contain minerals and salts. Distillation boils off the water as vapor, then distills it via a condensor and is essentially 99.9% pure (presuming your condensor and system are sterile!). I have a sample we ran at work in 2009 and placed in a sterile container, and the chemical analysis certification to go with it. Distilled water should be mineral free and is better for any cooling or humidity needs (or similar....... it is better in your car battery as well!). Sadly it cost money to actually distill it.

Most 'distilled' water is actually 'deionized/filtered.' Distilling takes a lot of energy to do.

Truly pure liquids are 'sub-boiled' rather than distilled. If it's boiled, the bubbling generates aerosols of the liquid (containing the contaminants) in addition to vapor. Sub-boiling, using the example of water, would be heated to 99 C or 99.5 C, and the vapor collected from the steam. Assuming you don't have any hydrogen-bonded solvents, such as ethanol, mixed in.

 

[chazmo]

Not so true. That water will still contain minerals and salts. Distillation boils off the water as vapor, then distills it via a condensor and is essentially 99.9% pure (presuming your condensor and system are sterile!). I have a sample we ran at work in 2009 and placed in a sterile container, and the chemical analysis certification to go with it. Distilled water should be mineral free and is better for any cooling or humidity needs (or similar....... it is better in your car battery as well!). Sadly it cost money to actually distill it.

I'll vouch for the car battery comment. Only add distilled water to a lead-acid battery.

 

[GardMan]

I worked in/ran biological research labs for more than 40 years, and dealt with many "qualities" of water. From "worst (most impure)" to "best (most pure):"

Frog water (don't ask)
Tap water
"Tap" deionized water (usually generated by reverse osmosis, and piped thru plastic or glass pipes to labs)
Double-deionized water (tap de-ionized run thru a "polishing" filter just before use to capture more ions)
Distilled water (any distilled water where the construction of the still isn't known, or includes metal components)
Glass-distilled water (distilled water were ALL parts of the still touched by water are made of glass, and stored only in glass containers)
Double-glass distilled water (water that has been distilled twice, thru all-glass stills, and stored only in glass containers).

The latter, double-glass distilled, was primarily used for growing cells in culture and preparing solutions used for electron microscopy.

 

[Rocky]

The latter, double-glass distilled, was primarily used for growing cells in culture

Ugh. Media prep. We usually just bought stuff from Grand Island Biological. One Uni I worked at had a lab that made media. For political reasons, we were obligated to buy that stuff that was just 'off' (cherry-colored), which we would promptly pour down the drain, and use the GIBCO stuff. However, we were also obliged to save our empties for them to refill, so we could dump them again....

 

[merlin6666]

I worked in/ran biological research labs for more than 40 years, and dealt with many "qualities" of water. From "worst (most impure)" to "best (most pure):"

Frog water (don't ask)
Tap water
"Tap" deionized water (usually generated by reverse osmosis, and piped thru plastic or glass pipes to labs)
Double-deionized water (tap de-ionized run thru a "polishing" filter just before use to capture more ions)
Distilled water (any distilled water where the construction of the still isn't known, or includes metal components)
Glass-distilled water (distilled water were ALL parts of the still touched by water are made of glass, and stored only in glass containers)
Double-glass distilled water (water that has been distilled twice, thru all-glass stills, and stored only in glass containers).

The latter, double-glass distilled, was primarily used for growing cells in culture and preparing solutions used for electron microscopy.

Oh some nice methods. This brings back memories of when I did analytics in a remote field lab. I routed water from a glacier stream, that was already very dilute, through three de-ionization columns. I simply estimated the TDS from electrical conductivity and figured it was distilled enough to do the analytical work.

 

[Neal]

I prefer that my spirits be distilled.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Think we are are talking at cross purposes here...no "sponge" in an Oasis humidifier, I suspect that if you squeezed one
to wring it out you would destroy it! It is a short cloth tube with a Gore-Tex-like liner and some special "magic crystals."

Overnight, humidity in our home dropped to 26% last night , so this morning my flotilla of Oasis-es were lined up in
the bathroom, filled and then checked a few hours later for leaks. No suspects, which was good, all went into guitar cases,
one in the sound hole and one (case mounted) in the neck pocket...and one each in my mando cases.

 

[West R Lee]

Think we are are talking at cross purposes here...no "sponge" in an Oasis humidifier, I suspect that if you squeezed one
to wring it out you would destroy it! It is a short cloth tube with a Gore-Tex-like liner and some special "magic crystals."

Overnight, humidity in our home dropped to 26% last night , so this morning my flotilla of Oasis-es were lined up in
the bathroom, filled and then checked a few hours later for leaks. No suspects, which was good, all went into guitar cases,
one in the sound hole and one (case mounted) in the neck pocket...and one each in my mando cases.

This is the Oasis humidifier to which I was referring Bill.

 

[West R Lee]

And this is the "Music Nomad" humidifiers I bought........same thing really. The "user friendly" part to me is simply that the door on top has hinges so the top swivels open. The Oasis has to be unsnapped and snapped back into place.

West

 

[fronobulax]

And this is the "Music Nomad" humidifiers I bought........same thing really. The "user friendly" part to me is simply that the door on top has hinges so the top swivels open. The Oasis has to be unsnapped and snapped back into place.

West

Not than anyone cares but I have been upgrading sound hole humidifiers to Music Nomads (like the above) as the opportunity presents itself. The hinged lid and carrying capacity make them superior for my purposes than anything that holds a sponge. I use, and have only used, distilled water in them. I suspect that is because I actually read the instructions to one of the sponge units years ago which recommended distilled water. Not a big deal because we usually have it in the house for other purposes at least back in the days when some clothes and sewing projects were ironed.