charsuewilson

My mother told me to use the water coming out of the dehumidifier for the iron. The same would be true of the water coming out of your air conditioner. She just kept milk jugs full of the water saved for her iron.

Jingle

I have used distilled water in my previous irons and found it didn't help. Now I use a sray bottle of water when I need it.

PolkaBabe

I use Spring Water in my Rowenta. It seams to me I read it in the care for papers.

0tis

You can make a still to distill your water - you can buy one (I don't know how much) but it would be cheaper to just buy distilled water - as far as dehumidifiers- I assume everyone is back east that has one - I have lived in California all my life and never had a dehumidifier - so I find that interesting. Anyway, I use distilled or spring water - I am on a well system here and have a lot of minerals in my water so I use the other options.

eparys

That is what I used to do when I lived in VA and had dreadfully hard water. We had two dehumidifiers going so there was always plenty of water available - lol!

BellaBoo

Isn't AC a dehumidifier? I know AC cools the air by taking the moisture out of it. Why need AC and a dehumidifier? I live in the south where it's very humid and don't know anyone that uses a dehumidifier.

JNCT14

So water chemistry 101 - distillation is a treatment method used to remove mineral impurities from the water. Most commonly this is done by boiling the water, capturing the steam (impurities are heavy and left behind) and allowing it to condense in a clean container. Some gimmick water filters on the market claimed to remove the impurities in water, leaving behind a distilled like product through the use of a specialized filter (like your mom's). The idea was that the impurities had positive and negative charges and the filter would trap those. A lot of research proved that was basic hogwash.
The reason for distilled water in irons is because when there is a change in temperature or a change in phase, carbonates such as calcium or magnesium will no longer remain in solution but precipitate out and adhere to surfaces. This is called scale build up and it will clog your iron (the white hard crusty stuff).

The problem though with distilled water is that water wants to take on solids (try drinking reverse osmosis or distilled water. You will find it has no 'taste' and it feels funny in your mouth. The minerals add flavor and 'texture' to the water). So when distilled water goes into your iron, it will actually corrode parts of it because it is literally taking in any impurities it can find.

The answer? Use a dry iron and a spray bottle of water!

I used to be a product line manager for Cuno Water Filtration (now 3M). They know a LOT about water.....

eparys

Yes it is - but we had the dehumidifiers in the basement. VA has clay soil and when it gets wet it does not drain well so the basements were always humid. As I am deathly allergic to mold and mildew we tried to keep the basement dry.