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I've recently read about a few people using de-ionised water to avoid mineral stains, and I had a though as the water from a dehumidifier is condensed it wouldn't have any minerals in it to and would be a much cheaper source.

Anyone doing this already or can see a fault in my reasoning?

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

John, I think it is best to use distilled water - de-ionized water still has minerals in it, I believe.

I have wondered the same thing about using water from a dehumidifier. I would not hesitate to use it in a clothes iron or to water plants but not in an aquarium with sensitive fish because it might be high in zinc and copper from coming into contact with the cooling elements...

Dehumidifier water is considered "gray water" and not safe to drink because it likely contains a high level of bacteria, spores, dust, &c. Unless you are willing to wash the container every day and the coils of the dehumidifier, the dehumidifier water will contain impurities even if the total mineral load is less than tap water. A gallon of distilled water from the grocery will be cheap, pure and last a very long time in my experience.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Just did a bit of reading and I stand corrected - water is de-ionized using a resin to filter out the salts (minerals) (but not organic materials except by incidental trapping). So, which distilled water is more pure, apparently de-ionized water also has a lot of the stuff removed that might cause problems.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

John, you should be fine with either DI water or distilled water. I would NOT use water from the dehumidifier because the condenser will release metal ions into the water. These are exactly the types of ions that you want to avoid. Technically, distilled water could contain ions if a metal condenser was used. I almost positive this is not the case any more. I've used distilled water without any staining problems.

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Randy Muth
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My understanding is that deionized is the purest of the pure, pretty much 100% H2O with the least possible amount of anything dissolved in it. That's why it's used in labratories and for museum restoration etc. (and vintage instrument restoration - see frets.com), because with nothing dissolved in it already, it has much higher solvent power than regular or distilled water. So it's very pure but I suppose for bending sides this could mean it potentially might wash out more of the extractives that give a wood its coloring. Don't know if the difference between deionized and distilled would be much in this regard.

I'd think that dehumidifier condensate is kinda yucky.

Peace,
Sanaka

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...imagine there were no hypothetical situations...

Have you been having problems with mineral stains?

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Sanaka, actually deionized water is NOT the purest of the pure, that would be nanopure water.

The terms, deionized and distilled, do not refer to the purity of the water, but to the process used in purification. Thus, deionized water is deionized by passing it through an ion exchange resin. This does very little in terms of removing neutrally charged contaminants, such as organic compounds. For example, if you passed vodka through an ion exchange resin, you would still wind up with vodka. It would not remove any of the alcohol.

In fact, water distilled through a glass still with enough theoretical plates would wind up purer than deionized water.

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Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
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I knew deionized and distilled referred to the processes used, but thought that deionized resulted in a higher purity result. Thanks for the clarification Randy!

The process used by the local bottled water company here produces deionized water. They have a dispenser outside their building and I have sometimes used their water in my work jug. I notice that drinking it makes me feel like I've just brushed my teeth! Something about deionized definitely has a strong solvent action. Probably not a particular issue as far as bending sides though.

Peace,
Sanaka

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...imagine there were no hypothetical situations...

Dudes,

Water, beer, steam, and ya even the yellow stuff...is all a pile of BS

Heat dudes, heat bends wood. Thats it. Period.

The hot liquids or steams only help to some degree and or other in getting the heat into the wood. So go get a good heat source and then if you must then use the liquid of your particular persuasion.

end of this rant.

the
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Now that's an inspiration. Mmmmmm...

Peace,
Sanaka

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...imagine there were no hypothetical situations...