Rainwater or distilled water

"babeedoll" wrote in message
om...
Can rainwater be substituted for distilled water in soap recipes? If
so, should it be prepared in any certain way? Thx.


Aloha,

Maybe it could once, but nowadays
with all the industrial pollution, I don't
know. Probably depends on where in the
country you are, assuming you're in the
USA.

Maybe ask your local agricultural
extension office, if you have one?
Check in the phone book.

If not, do you have a local college or
university with a Human Ecology (used
to be Home Economics) department?
This is up their alley, too.

Or, do you have a local library with an
information desk? They're supposed
to be experts at tracking down answers.

I think some of the major libraries like
the Library of Congress and the New York
Public Library might be online now and
may be set up for you to send questions to
their information desks.

.. . . Oh, here, I did a Google search
(at http://www,google.com )
for [rainwater "distilled water"] and found
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/purewatr.htm
Using pure water in the aquarium, RO, distilled, deionised, rainwater
- - - - begin quote - - - -
...
Rainwater is in theory pure, because it is water which has evaporated
and then condensed, similar to distillation, but on a planetary scale!
However, a lot of rainwater is likely to be contaminated from the pollution
in our atmosphere. If you live in a largely unpolluted part of the world,
and decide to use rainwater, there are a few things which should help to
ensure it is as pure as possible:

Do not collect water after a long dry spell, there is likely to be a
higher-than-normal amount of contaminents from the atmosphere. Collect after
an initial rainfall has 'cleaned' the air to some extent.
Collect the water from a clean roof or other source, and store in clean
well-aerated containers.
Filter the rainwater through carbon as an extra precaution - carbon will
remove a wide range of toxins and impurities.
Apart from the concerns regarding purity, remember that rainwater may be a
rather inconsistent source of water at times, so for many people, rainwater
is not likely to be a practical source of purer water.
Note that spring water,
- - - - end quote - - - -
(I'd recommend reading the whole page,
it looks like some of the other comments
might be important to you.)

Also look at
http://www.rcn27.dial.pipex.com/cloudsrus/acidrain.html
Acid Rain
which includes a rough do-it-yourself test
for acidity of rainwater, which is a very rough
indication of the pollutants in the rainwater.
(Note that it uses red cabbage juice as a
home-made acidity indicator instead of
litmus paper. Litmus paper is based on a
similar coloring agent that used to be, and
maybe still is, extracted from a simple plant,
I forget whether it was an algae, fungus, or
lichen. Lichen, I think.)

Also
http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/oals/dru/...arvesting.html
OALS: Desert Research Unit: Casa del Agua: Rainwater Harvesting
Notice the water is filtered for use in irrigation,
NOT for drinking or washing yourself in.

And
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/o...719003772.html
Can I use rainwater, snow, aquarium water, or dehumidifier water on my
orchids? - Orchids


Good luck,
--
"Mad" (not angry, just strange)
Lansing, Michigan, USA

We sell oak Kentucky whiskey barrels for use as rain barrels. Rain water IS
distilled water but it will need to be filtered for some uses. most of the
solids will settle to the bottom of whatever container you use to catch the
water.

--
Kentucky Rustic Furniture
http://www.moffetts.biz

"babeedoll" wrote in message
om...
Can rainwater be substituted for distilled water in soap recipes? If
so, should it be prepared in any certain way? Thx.


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In article , says...

We sell oak Kentucky whiskey barrels for use as rain barrels. Rain water IS
distilled water but it will need to be filtered for some uses. most of the
solids will settle to the bottom of whatever container you use to catch the
water.

Hmmmmm...ever heard of "acid rain?"

In today's polluted environment, I'd
hesitate to drink rainwater without
at least first boiling it. On the other hand,
rain barrels are an excellent way of
supplementing water for growing plants.