Distilled Water in a Travel Humidor?

[Munt]

Right now my travel humidor is just foam and doesn't have any wood in it. Do I need to use distilled water in the humidifcation device or will regular tap water work? My understanding of Distilled water is that it can "clog" the wood fibres.

Thanks in advance,

Sean.

[NCRadioMan]

How long do you expect the travel humidor to be in use? If just for a few days to a week. I wouldn't bother with humidification if the cigars are properly humidified going in.

[gary106334]

If you use water make sure it IS DISTILLED not tap water or anything other that DISTILLED.

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by gary106334

If you use water make sure it IS DISTILLED not tap water or anything other that DISTILLED.

Ditto this,,,when in doubt always distilled water.

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

How long do you expect the travel humidor to be in use? If just for a few days to a week. I wouldn't bother with humidification if the cigars are properly humidified going in.

Like Greg said, if it is only gonna be a couple of days to a week I wouldn't worry about using a humidification device. Most traveldors seal good enough where the humidity from properly humidified cigars will be plenty.

[BigCat]

I've never added water to my herfidors. The longest trip I've taken was 10 days and my smokes were just as good on night #9 as night #1. They seal air tight, so there is very little loss of moisture, even with you opening it to select a cigar.

[Munt]

Wouldn't be more than a week to ten days. Thanks for the help.

Just curious though, why are some BOTL so insistant on Distilled Water even if wood isn't involved?

Munt!

[gary106334]

Originally Posted by Munt

Wouldn't be more than a week to ten days. Thanks for the help.

Just curious though, why are some BOTL so insistant on Distilled Water even if wood isn't involved?

Munt!

The only thing about distilled water was stated as "If you use water..................."

[afilter]

FWIW, if I am taking extended trip (deployment) I use a tube with the crystals and do not mess with filling any foam humidification. Yes it takes up a slot, but in my 15 count cigar caddy works well.

Aaron

[totallytentative]

Distilled water is sterile and doesn't have minerals, chlorine, or other junk dissolved in it that could affect taste or be left behind after the water evaporates. Over time, and especially if you have hard water and a dry climate, deposits left behind by tap water will clog up wood, foam, or humidification devices and make them much less effective.

Distilled water is as close to 100% pure water as you can get outside of laboratory conditions (which also uses distillation anyway).

[ongreystreet]

Distilled water is purer, and doesn't promote the growth of mold like tap water might.

[AggieChemDoc]

Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is more pure than distilled, FYI.

[floydpink]

If I'm travelling more than a week, I put a humi sheet behind the foam.

Less than a week, I use nothing.

[d_day]

Originally Posted by AggieChemDoc

Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is more pure than distilled, FYI.

Let me guess, the RO salesman told you that?

[e-man]

Originally Posted by AggieChemDoc

Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is more pure than distilled, FYI.

Lets just address the needs of your cigars. You want to eliminate minerals, chlorine, phosphates, nitrites, nitrates, heavy metals, parasites, algae/mold spores, etc... Basically, you want to remove life forms and their food sources, as well as anything that could be left behind after evaporation. I think that either RO and Distilled both meet these requirements.

The distillation process involves heating water to a specific temperature and collecting the steam, thereby leaving the impurities behind. However, there are contaminates that may also evaporate, though not at the same temperate as water. If you use a "still" that collects evaporates at specific temperatures (most commercial units), then you can remove chemicals that evaporate at lower temperatures as well (eg. chlorine). Distilled water is as pure as the common man can attain.

RO uses pressure to push the water molocules through a membrane, thereby leaving contaminants behind. However, there are plenty of contaminants (the same size or smaller) that can fit through as well. Also, these membranes work "best" at a specific temperature and water pressure, which almost never exist in your home, and performance suffers as your filters get older. If you read the specs on your RO unit, it will state which contaminants it can filter out. They never claim that they remove 100% of all contaminants, but work much better than a basic carbon filter.


If RO water was pure, then you wouldn't need to de-ionize it (RO DI) for use it in a coral reef tank. De-ionization uses the static charges to remove the rest of the contaminants. First, you have one filter media that has a Negative charge. Any ion with a positive charge will stick to it. Then you go through a similar filter with a Positive charge that removes the negative ions.

Now, I don't think that residential RO systems are anywhere near the same caliber as commercial distillery that is constantly calibrated, monitored, and maintained. Then, consider that RO-DI system are VERY expensive, and you pretty much need a large reef tank to justify it at home.

Distilled water is cheap, easily attainable, and has been proven to be effective in humidifying cigars. But both fit the need just as well, so use RO if you got it.