Distilled water is the old-school method. You basically boil the water until it turns into steam, then catch that steam and let it cool back into liquid. It’s like making a cloudy pot of pasta water magically turn into a crystal-clear glass.
When water boils, all the heavy stuff—minerals, salts, bacteria, even some nasty chemicals—gets left behind in the pot. That steam is pure H₂O, no extras. It’s why your grandma might have used distilled water in her iron to avoid that white crusty buildup.
But here’s the catch: distillation is slow and uses a lot of energy. It’s like taking a road trip in a steam locomotive—charming but not exactly speedy. Plus, it doesn’t always remove all volatile organic compounds that boil at lower temperatures.
