Soft Water / Hard Water

Hello there.
I have a question about the type of water to use.
I know that most Cacti don't like hard water and that rain water is best, but could I use water from the clothes dryer, as it is distilled water ?
Another question about rain water, can I still use it, if it has stayed stagnante for a while ? If it start to have some green stuff (very light though :-)) at the bottom of the bucket ?

Thanks.

P.S. Please excuse my English spelling (my mother tongue is French).

I'm not real sure about the distilled water, but I know I've used rain water that's been sitting awhile. We catch rain water from the roof in a big wash tub and our dogs consider that their drinking water. It gets cleaned out when it gets REALLY bad but I've never hesitated using it to water my plants. I figure some of that "natural" stuff in the water might be good for my plants, you know, stuff like bugs (dead), bird "stuff ", whatever may come off of frogs, etc. Last summer the snapdragons I had growing around my bird bath were SO healthy, but I hardly fertilized them. I finally decided that it had to be the water from the birdbath whenever I cleaned it. Natural bird fertilizer!...and it was free :)! Good luck!

Debbie

P.S. Your English spelling is very good!!

MrCairo, your english is great. The algee is what the green stuff is and it will not hurt anything. The most important thing about cactus is to not water too often.
Sidney

Thank you all for your input.
What about water from the drier ? Is it safe ?

Thanks again.

You must mean the clothes washer. That water should be fine. We had a very serious drought here a few summers ago and I was catching the water from the washer to water my plants. I just hated the idea of all that water just going down the drain!!

MrCairo, you might also want to post this question again over on the "Cactus & Succulent" forum here. They may have a better idea as to what water is best to use.

My mother used to water our lilac tree with the dishwater. After she washed the dishes, she'd dump the day's coffee grounds into the pan, walk out the front door and throw it on the lilac. it seemed to thrive. I'm assuming the washer water would be the water left from the rinse cycle. If so, additives might be an issue, such as fabric softeners.

No, I am not talking about the clothes washer water, but from the clothes dryer.
Water that is evaporating from the clothes when drying, drips into a container and I am using that water.
It is actually, distilled water but with a nice smell, from the dryer sheets I am putting in the dryer to softened the clothes. I just wanted to know if there would be a problem with it, especially because of the "nice" smell.

I think we were confused because the dryers in the US are generally vented outdoors and have no evaporation container. I can't tell you for a certainty, but if it were watering cacti, I'd just invest in a gallon of distilled water or collect rain water. I don't think the residue of detergents and softeners would be any better for it than the minerals in tap water... maybe worse... it's just my guess.

Thank you for your input. I'll investigate this further, as I like the idea of having a "plant safe" supply of water and to recycle at the same time.