Distilled Water vs. Tap Water

[Pink Ink]

Does it make a difference if I use distilled water or tap water for diluting and mixing? Distilled water is pure H2O — or at least that’s how it comes out of the distilled water faucets at the labs on campus. Whereas, tap water has minerals in it, and most water districts in the U.S. add flouride into the water supply. But is there enough of these to make a difference when mixing with off-the-shelf inks?

[DanF]

I don't know, but since you have easy access, I'd just go ahead and use distilled.

 

Dan

[lapis]

Assuming that you're talking about water to clean, flush, rinse and wash the pen, I use only distilled/deionized/filtered water. I usually start off with tap water until the colour disappears, but then use only the "cleaner" water. If you're interested in using water to dilute and/or retain wetness and/or improve drying time, then stick to the "cleaner" water in any case.

 

Mike

[dmmcf]

At a buck a gallon, I figure distilled water is cheap insurance. I use if for final rinses of pens as well as for diluting ink.

 

Michael

 

[gyasko]

This is not something i worry about, but i suppose you could use clean rainwater, too.

 

[penhound]

Personally, I do use tap water to clean my pens, but I would never put tap water into my inks. I would most certainly use distilled. I take the water from my dehumidifier filter it through coffee filters and then run it through my Brita (no affiliation) pitch filtering system.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Does it make a difference if I use distilled water or tap water for diluting and mixing? Distilled water is pure H2O — or at least that’s how it comes out of the distilled water faucets at the labs on campus. Whereas, tap water has minerals in it, and most water districts in the U.S. add flouride into the water supply. But is there enough of these to make a difference when mixing with off-the-shelf inks?

I think that would largely depend on the municipal water supply that you're using. Some are all right but some stink! And I mean that they stink! I've run the shower in certain cities' hotels and the odor from the water was overwhelming. So much chlorine probably means that they have some bacterial issues with their water supply.

 

I clean fountain pens with tap water, mine's not bad. I have even diluted inks with tap water sometimes. But since I've gotten some distilled water, it cost me $1.49, but now I'm seeing a gallon for 99¢, I've been only diluting with distilled. Some tap water has a lot of iron in it, some tap waters have other minerals. They can react with the ink.

 

If you have easy, free access to distilled water then I think you should use that.

 

This is not something i worry about, but i suppose you could use clean rainwater, too.

Rainwater's not necessarily clean. Acid rain is still a problem.

[RLTodd]

I have always used tap water, whether to clean the pen or dilute the ink.

 

If I ever have a problem with it I will place a post here.

 

 

[adallak]

At a buck a gallon, I figure distilled water is cheap insurance. I use if for final rinses of pens as well as for diluting ink.

 

Michael

DITTO

[Underskoterskan]

I think that would largely depend on the municipal water supply that you're using. Some are all right but some stink! And I mean that they stink! I've run the shower in certain cities' hotels and the odor from the water was overwhelming. So much chlorine probably means that they have some bacterial issues with their water supply.

 

I agree. I live in the north part of Sweden, just below the arctic circle, and our municipal tap water is considered to be the best in the world.

 

As long as the water is of decent quality, I'd skip distilled water when it comes to cleaning and only use it when it comes to diluting ink.

 

Regards

Undersköterskan

[liapuyat]

This thread is quite interesting. I had no idea that some fountain pen inks - as formulated - needed dilution. In what cases do you dilute inks?

 

I use filtered tap water to clean my fountain pens.

 

(Learning something new every visit.)

[Pink Ink]

This thread is quite interesting. I had no idea that some fountain pen inks - as formulated - needed dilution. In what cases do you dilute inks?

Just to tint the color — for examples, from black to grey or purple to lavender. It’s a way of getting another color without having to buy another bottle.

 

Or to also thin down an ink. As an ink evaporates and loses volume, it might get noticeably thicker.

[GenoJ]

I will put my chemistry degree to work. Safest is distilled water. Tap, rain or other will have ionic impurities that could cause problems. My water in Texas is pH 9+ (very basic due to high carbonate content). Can pose a problem if you mix it with an acidic ink and vice versa using rain water (acidic) with a basic ink. You might precipatate out components in the ink that use a base or acid to get it dissolved. Or change the color of the ink for that matter.

[Johnny Appleseed]

I would second the notion that if you have a source of easy distilled water, go ahead and use it. Personally I use tap water for mixing and rinsing, sometimes filtered tap for mixing.

 

I would be cautious about using the distilled water for a long-term pen soak though (I know that was not the question, but thought I would throw it out anyway, just in case). Distilled water can be significantly more corrosive than standard tap water because it is free of ions and therefore quick to react with CO2 in the air to form carbonic acid. The higher the purity of the distilled water, the higher the risk. I wouldn't expect the stuff you buy for a buck a gallon at the market to be much of an issue, but the lab might be using a very high level of purity which could be more risky.

 

John

[richardandtracy]

We live in a hard water area, and I used to use boiled water. I now use the distilled water from our dehumidifier - the house we're in has no damp-proof course in the study floor & we need to dry it out regularly.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

 

[Robert Hughes]

I will put my chemistry degree to work. Safest is distilled water. Tap, rain or other will have ionic impurities that could cause problems. My water in Texas is pH 9+ (very basic due to high carbonate content). Can pose a problem if you mix it with an acidic ink and vice versa using rain water (acidic) with a basic ink. You might precipatate out components in the ink that use a base or acid to get it dissolved. Or change the color of the ink for that matter.

 

Thanks for your insight, and welcome to FPN, Geno. City tap water changes with the region, municipality and season. If you have known good tap water, use it. If it comes out of your tap colored orange and smells like rusty nails or dead fish (as mine does some seasons), you may prefer to use distilled. I'd recommend against rainwater as it has dust and pollutants.

 

[psfred]

For diluting ink, use only distilled water. It's easy to get, stays good quite a while in the jug, and won't upset the chemistry of the ink.

 

For flushing and cleaning, tapwater is fine so long as you don't leave a large amount in the pen to dry out -- hard water will deposit significant amounts of carbonate film that won't rinse back out.

 

Peter

[dandelion]

I hope I'm not offending anybody, but I feel a bit sad to see that so many of you have problems with your tap water. Until I read this thread the notion of using distilled water instead of tap water hadn't struck my mind for a sec. Like Undersköterskan I'm from Sweden - not from the Northern Part (where the tap water could be bottled and sold as deli-water) and I'd say that even the water in the big cities like Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are real good; crisp, clean, clear and very nice to drink as it is. No chloride, no flouride added - just pure clean water which easily could be bottled as spring water.

 

To even out things a bit: Beside our high quality water we are an extremely underdeveloped nation when it comes to fountain pens. I was in one of my city's great stores for pens and paper and the only bottled ink they had was black Cross. Depressing.

 

(Edited some mistakes)

Edited December 3, 2008 by dandelion