Question about steamers (Downy dunk)

[brazilian_girl]

Hi again [img]smile.gif[/img]

I bought a steamer, now I only have to find time to do the downy dunk on Sam, Lissie and Laura (Molly). But the steamer's instructions say that salt must be added to the water... Do you use salt on the water when steaming the doll's hair? Hmmm, maybe it can damage their hair somehow... I am not sure the steamer will work without salt.

[TaffyCheerful]

Yes, I use salt...

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The salt is for softening the water and making the steam form faster. The salt is not in the steam, if I remember my high school chemistry accurately. When water evaporates, it leaves all the chemicals that were in the water behind. That is why you don't need to keep adding salt with every re-fill of the steamer in the same steaming session--there is still salt in the remnant of water that is in the bottom of the steamer.

That is why people buy distilled water in the store. Distilled water is water made from steam that has been cooled. People like to use it for things like vaporizers, because it has no minerals in it that can get left behind in the form of scaly crystalizations that have to be cleaned off.

Also, the instructions should suggest only a pinch of salt, or maybe about 1/8 teaspoon, right?

If you have very hard water in your area, you might have to add a tiny little bit more salt, or you would be waiting longer for the steam to form, or you might get steam coming out at a lower rate, I think.

The main thing is to make sure that there are no metal parts of the steamer that can get hot and come in contact with the doll's hair in any way.
Joy

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ February 05, 2006 10:42 AM: Message edited by: djsnjones ]</font>

[brazilian_girl]

Oh, thank you [img]smile.gif[/img] !!! Now I am happy, I thought the steamer I bought might not be useful, it's made all of plastic, and I now understand that the salt can't harm the doll's hair!!!!