Hydrating disk

[echopipe]

Would it be horrible to use tap water or bottled water in a hydrating disk? I know it says use distilled water but...

Thank you

I have a lot of questions lately thank you for indulging me.

Happy smoking

 

[pstlpkr]

There may be some issues with calcification over time.

Or if there is a mineral taste in your water, that may translate to some taste being imparted to your tobacco. But, I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal.

 

[bubbadreier]

I think it really depends on the compilation of the water you are using. But I agree with Lawrence!

 

[viceroy]

I didnt have a problem with tap water, but my disk stopped working afte the first use.

 

[juni]

I always use distilled water, I mean, why not?

 

[unclearthur]

I am too cheap to pay for water. Got a good clean well and use that.

 

[juozapas]

Exactly, I use the rain water that I collect at the side of my house... :rofl: :crazy:

 

[cortezattic]

Aside from consideration of odd tastes that Lawrence mentioned, I should think your chances of introducing mold would increase. If you store properly hydrated tobacco in Mason jars you won't need to use a disk.
Bob's article on tobacco rehydration covers some options.

 

[jaysin]

before i moved I had hard well water and used that with no issues now I have city water and use that with no issues

 

[pipedisciple]

I use distilled water, mainly because of my cigar humidors and I have to use it in my CPAP machine. ::

 

[tokerpipes]

I didnt have a problem with tap water, but my disk stopped working afte the first use.

Umm it helps to soak it after a few days, they dont last for ever. :crazy:

 

[bailey331]

I just use the water from my well. You could always take a few minute to boil some water and use that instead of distilled.

 

[sirsmokesalot]

I smoke all the tobacco in my jars before it drys out :rofl:

 

[spartan]

For those who are concerned about using tap water for rehydrating tobacco please read THIS thread. Or at least get the jist of it and read Mr. Pease's responce. He usually hits the nail on the head.

 

[havanarick]

I have 200+ cigars and 6-7 pounds of pipe tobacco, been smoking for years. When it comes to tobacco it needs to be distilled water.

 

[tokerpipes]

I guess it depends if you live TAD order to TAD ordero or if you cellar the TAD. If you cellar distilled is best. If you smoke it all down TAD-TAD it doesn't really matter. Besides the little hydration discs are usually only good for about a week tops.

 

[spartan]

Quoting Mr. G. L. Pease and his 100% correct account of the process of hydrating tobacco in regards to TAP water.
Read THIS THREAD to get the context of the quote.

The evaporation of water, even at room temperature, actually is a simplified form of distillation. The water vapor that escapes the moist towel and finds its way to the tobacco below will be quite pure. However, there may be, and from your description of your water, there likely are more volatile, smelly chemicals in your tap water that may be getting into your tobacco. Personally, I always use tap water, but the water that flows from our faucets is some of the best water available. (Blessings to our water company!) My rule of thumb is simply this: if yo wouldn't drink it happily, don't use it on your tobacco. If the water is smelly, you can always boil it first, which will drive off the volatiles and give you a cleaner tasting/smelling water, or. Certainly, any dissolved minerals and salts will stay behind, never reaching escape velocity. As an example, if you leave a dish of salt water out to dry, the water will disappear, but the salt will be left behind. If you put a glass plate over a bowl of salt water, and taste the condensate, it'll be pure water. The same thing is true of the minerals in the water; they're not going to find its way into the tobacco unless you apply the water directly, which is one of the reasons I recommended my wet towel method in the first place.
All that notwithstanding, the more probable explanation is that if the tobacco affected you in the way you described, it's far more likely the tobacco itself than the water you used to rehydrate it, and there's just a fundamental disagreement between the tobacco and your own body chemistry. It happens. Since your experiences were with two different tobacco blends, as well as two different water supplies, there's no way to isolate which was the source of your problems. In order to derive any meaningful data, you'd have to repeat the informal experiment in reverse. But, given the unpleasantness of the result, I can certainly understand any reluctance to do so...
It's often tempting to draw conclusions based on incomplete data, but we have to be particularly careful when doing so. This is precisely what the antis do when presenting their "facts" regarding tobacco use.
-glp