Thread: Distilled water vs. Tap water?

Club soda man, that's the ticket.

Thank you gentlemen! I appreciate the feedback and the kind words!
Sincerely!

The type of water can really make a difference? I have a high iron content in my water...will that matter? Will it stain my stones?

Well, you're rubbing steel (with iron in it) on your stones. I don't think the iron will be a problem as long as you filter out the bigger stuff. If you really are concerned, you could buy one jug of distilled water and see if you notice any difference.

Forget the water try lemon juice for a sharper edge

Lets face it, some of us have well water, some have really crappy water like parts of L.A., some have mountain spring water, snow melt and some totally toxic fracked water. I proposed about 5 years ago that users of natural Japanese finishing stones use distilled I my article HERE , and I quote in part:

""Three ingredients create a useful sharpening stone; a stone that will cut steel, a person who can manage the stone and steel, and water. Nothing more and nothing less. Keeping it that way will insure your successful relationship with your toishi. Sharpening stones are tools, use them as tools and don't play with them excessively with bare hands, try to limit exposure that might transfer natural oils or contaminates from your hands to the stone. Keep your hands clean, do not use hand lotions or hand cleaners before you use your toishi. Do not use chlorinated or tap water on your toishi. Keep all chemicals away because, over the many years of use, they will accumulate to
ever and ever higher toxic levels, those chemicals which will be sucked deeper into your stone through osmosis. Use only distilled water on your natural stones in splashing them or rinsing them, and it might be a good idea to rinse your hands in distilled water before sharpening.
Keep your blades free from chemicals that will be transferred to your toishi during the sharpening process. These stones are unique because of the properties in which they come to us in their natural form. Any additional minerals or solvents or airborne dust and dirt or even ozone will affect the toishi's abilities to cut steel to a greater or lesser degree. Take pains to minimize any alteration in their natural composition.""


I still feel the same way and continue to use distilled or mid-storm rain water that I collect for my stones. I have to admit that I have talked to stone dealers and miners in Japan about what water to use. All of them said just use what you have, no elaboration one way or the other. I guess they partially agree with me. A couple of bucks of really clean water in my spray bottle and rinse tray is no big deal to me and give me a bit of comfort. How may readers of this forum really know what is in their water? It cannot hurt to use purified water and that is my objective. Alx

P.S. Sorry to break up the party just as drinks are being served. alx

Alx,
I will definitely consider your opinion. I'll even experiment with it, but I gotta ask...

Why "mid-storm rain water" as opposed to plain old rain water? If the rain is collected from a roof, then it's obvious why the first water would not be collected, but why "mid-storm?"

I have to steam clean the shower every three months because there is a build up of rust colored staining built up in the shower. I was wondering if I would have a similar problem. Particularly on the white norton 4k.

Originally Posted by jcsixx

I have to steam clean the shower every three months because there is a build up of rust colored staining built up in the shower. I was wondering if I would have a similar problem. Particularly on the white norton 4k.

I highly doubt that you would. This is because as you use the hone, you occasionally need to refresh the honing surface anyway, so any contaminant would be eliminated from the surface. Now, because the hone is porous, some of the contamination might work its way into the hone, but again, I doubt that much of it would get far enough into the hone to lead to any significant accumulation of dissolved solids.

Excellent. That's what I look for. My 4k/8k combo is usually sitting in water and it hasn't happened yet. So it should be good.