Can I Use Distilled Instead of Deionized Water To Clean My Windows?
There’s a lot of confusion around the differences between distilled and deionized water, especially when it comes to cleaning windows.
The reality is that both are still water and will physically wash away dirt and impurities. However, beyond that, they do both act differently and your choice of water will affect how well your window washing job turns out and how much elbow grease you have to put into it.
Deionized Water
Deionized water is great for the final rinse on windows because its chemical composition means that it basically acts like a vacuum cleaner for minerals that might otherwise cause water spots on windows. It’s also basically pure hydrogen and oxygen - any other minerals normally present in tap water have been removed, so it’s not going to add to the water spot problem.
Although you could use it for each stage of your window washing, there’s not a whole lot of point in doing so until the final rinse because your windows are, well, dirty, and you only need the physical action of water to remove dirt until the final stage where water spots become a concern.
Distilled Water
Distilled water is very pure water. However, unlike deionized water, it does NOT attract minerals to itself. It also still contains a whole host of minerals and elements that can cause water spots. It’s not worse than regular water at causing water spots - but it’s also not much better. While you might spare your windows from some random chemicals often present in regular water, using distilled water does not eliminate the water spot issue.
If you’re cleaning your windows yourself and you want to use a fancy water for your final rinse, we recommend using deionized water over distilled water. Distilled water will rinse, but you’re still going to have to use a microfiber cloth to buff windows dry to eliminate any water spots, so you’re not really saving yourself any effort.
If you’d like to save yourself ALL the effort, give the Salt Lake Valley pros at City Creek Window Cleaning a call today at 801 261 5565 - we’ll have your windows sparkly and spotless in no time!