Quote:
Originally Posted by polobear
So I have a question, which I thought about when I saw the comment to only use distilled water to recharge. Note, I use the HCM beads and am thrilled with them, and I have not had to recharge them after months of use in Colorado.
On to the question, what difference would it make if distilled water (vs. tap) was used to recharge them if the water was being applied as a vapor (as in, evap'd from a sponge or water, etc). By definition, isn't turning the water into vapor going to be creating 'distilled' water in the process? I'm a biology guy, not a chemistry guy, so maybe I'm missing something critical.
I've always used distilled (back when I used traditional humidifiers, anyway) but got to thinking about what the difference would be in this application.
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I had the same question not so long ago. The small part is that evaporated water isn't distilled. It'll carry stuff away with it, to some extent.
That isn't the biggie, though.
If you use tap water, you take tons of spores, dirt, mold food, and crap to your humidor. Plus if you are using a sponge, it'll mold in a very short time.
By using distilled water, you keep a much more sanitary condition for a longer period of time.
There are mold spores everywhere, so in time, a distilled water soaked sponge will eventually mold, but it'll mold umpteen times faster with tap water. Both because there's more spores present and because tap water provides them food.