<HTML><HEAD> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19088"></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif">Ah, I see what you are referring to. However, we are using it with alcohol which makes that a different situation. If you were to take pure alcohol, i.e. 100% Alcohol, in a bottle, sealed. Open the bottle and you'd better have it in a bowl, because it will immediately begin to draw moisture, (water), from the atmosphere it is present in and overflow into the bowl!<G>. It will do that until it reaches an equalibrium of approximately 10% to 15 % water content. The moisture it absorbs is essentially "distilled water" that is free of any minerals. Therefore, you could actually use the "straight alcohol" and get the desired results of action cloth shrinkage. We choose to make the percentage of water greater, in  order to get a quicker and more predictable result. So...we add water. If we add distilled water, straight from it's container, into the container of alcohol it will not become, enough, acetic to make a wit of difference, IMO.BTW, for those who wonder why we use alcohol, it's because of the decreased surface tension, which is more easily absorbed. The more water we add to the alcohol the less readily it will be absorbed into the felt. So...., there is percentage of water to which we should not exceed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif">Just my take on that.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif">Joe</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif">P.S.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="MS Sans Serif">I use distilled water for mixing my hot hide glue. I do that because of all of the minerals and impurities in tap water that make the glue react inconsistantly. What little acidity there may be in the distilled water, does not effect the quality of the glue.<G></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=tunerryan@gmail.com href="mailto:tunerryan@gmail.com">Ryan Sowers</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=joegarrett@earthlink.net href="mailto:joegarrett@earthlink.net">joegarrett@earthlink.net</A>;<A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 8/9/2011 12:18:58 PM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [pianotech] Distilled water</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2>Distilled water absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere making it slightly acidic. Here's an interesting resource:<BR><A href="http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1055437">http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1055437</A><BR><BR>Ryan<BR><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 7:50 AM, Joseph Garrett <SPAN dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:joegarrett@earthlink.net" target=_blank>joegarrett@earthlink.net</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote>Ted said: (that rhymes<G>)<BR>"Not distilled, as it is acidic. "<BR>Hmmm? Where did you get the idea that distilled water is acidic? Distilled<BR>water is simply devoid of any minerals and is classified as "sweet".<BR>Joe<BR><BR><BR>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain of the Tool Police<BR>Squares R I<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Ryan Sowers, RPT<BR>Puget Sound Chapter<BR>Olympia, WA<BR><A href="http://www.pianova.net" target=_blank>www.pianova.net</A><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>