# How to work out dilution ratios ?



## johninspain (Sep 30, 2009)

Ok might seam an easy one but what is the best way to work out dilution ratios if not useing a megs bottle ?


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## JC01 (Sep 6, 2009)

i worked out the correct amount of hyper wash for the bucket and dose using a medicine cup ..you know the ones that you get on top of the cough bottle it gives you 25 and 10 ml markings . for larger ratios ....the wifes measuring cup from the kitchen


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

measuring jug for me too, and one done, mark the bottles,










i have done this with my snowfoam bottles, just fill up to the line,


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## Orca (Apr 16, 2007)

Be aware that ratios are different to divisions.

Dilute 3:1 means use three parts water to one part product - so, for a "full bottle", fill it 1/4 product and then top up. 3:1 is made up of four parts - therefore, the 1/4 product in the overall volume.


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## TOGWT (Oct 26, 2005)

Dilution rates are shown as a ratio i.e. a solution of distilled water / Woolite® 5:1, this means that the product is diluted five parts distilled water to one part Woolite®. If you have a container with dilution markings fill the bottle with water to the dilution level required and then add product to the fill line.

First convert the ratio into fractions, add the two numbers of the ratio together then use that number as a denominator for the individual parts, multiply total amount of solution you want by the fraction.

*Example-* distilled water to product with a dilution ratio of 5:1 in a 16oz spray bottle

Water at 5:1 ratio) 5 + 1 = 6 Water =16 x 5 / 6 = 16 (0.833) = 13.33 = 13.25, 16 - 13.25 = 2.75 oz
Product at 5:1 ratio) 16 - 13.25 = 2.75 oz. Product at 20:1 ratio) 16-15.23 = 0.75 oz


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## smyrk (Sep 25, 2009)

I always work out how big the container is that i want to fill. for instance if its 5litres. i change that to ml. 
So its 5000ml. Then divide this buy the ratio. so say the dilution rate is 20:1

5000 / 20 = 250

So you need to mix 250ml of chemical and the rest water.

Should work for any size container or bottles. As long as you convert to ml


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## swiftflo (Jul 28, 2008)

All too clever for me at my age. Tip the container up, guess how much, job done. LOL


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## SteveOC (May 26, 2007)

smyrk said:


> I always work out how big the container is that i want to fill. for instance if its 5litres. i change that to ml.
> So its 5000ml. Then divide this buy the ratio. so say the dilution rate is 20:1
> 
> 5000 / 20 = 250
> ...


A number of posts in this thread tried to assist in avoiding this mistake.

I think you will find that if you put 250ml of chemical in a 5l (5000ml) bottle and then fill the rest of the bottle with water you will end up with a dilution rate of 19:1, unless you are David Copperield, or you will end up with 250ml of water/chemical outside the bottle.

If you want a ratio of 20:1 you would need to divide 5000 by 21 (you need to add the two parts of the ratio together) giving a figure of approximately 238ml of chemical.

Try doing the same calculation you did with a ratio of 1:1 in a 5000ml bottle and you can see it makes no sense.

Steve O.


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## Paintguy (Oct 31, 2005)

Paint mixing sticks would be ideal for this if they'd fit in most bottles!

You could easily borrow the idea from them though. Get some lengths of wooden dowel, sit down and work out several different dilution ratios and mark the sticks accordingly. It'll take a bit of time, but you only need do it once and you'll always have perfect measurements.

Or get some graduated paint mixing cups like these, then decant to your bottle. They only have a limited range of ratios (normally 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 & 5:1), but the millilitre scale on the side could be helpful (and save you getting an earful from the missus for using her best jug) :thumb:


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## smyrk (Sep 25, 2009)

SteveOC said:


> A number of posts in this thread tried to assist in avoiding this mistake.
> 
> I think you will find that if you put 250ml of chemical in a 5l (5000ml) bottle and then fill the rest of the bottle with water you will end up with a dilution rate of 19:1, unless you are David Copperield, or you will end up with 250ml of water/chemical outside the bottle.
> 
> ...


Yea sorry mate your right. That is how i work them out. its easier doing it than trying to explain it. sorry if ive caused confusion.


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

swiftflo said:


> All too clever for me at my age. Tip the container up, guess how much, job done. LOL


Ditto well said!!:thumb:


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## Darren.H (Dec 25, 2006)

Sorry to bring this thread back to the top, but I have this very same problem working out the correct product:water ratio for car shampoo etc...

My dad, a little bit of a maths wiz, said:

Firstly you need to know how much in total you want to make up. Say you use an Autoglym 500ml spray bottle and make up Valet Pro Citrus pre wash to a ratio of 1:8 (half way between what they say - "Dilute min 1:6 up to 1:10")

To work out you need to add the ratio numbers together to get your total parts e.g. 1:8 = 9 because 1+8=9

500 divide-by 9 = 55.5ml 

In the bottle you put 55.5ml of citrus pre wash, then fill with water to the 500ml marker on the bottle. you will end up with 1 part product and 8 parts water - ratio 1:8.


Another example could be Wolfs White Satin 1:500 ratio

I use Chemical Guys buckets with dollys and make up approx 14ltr 

1:500 = 501

501 divide-by 14 = 0.0279ml, call it 28ml

in the bucket put 28ml and fill to the 14ltr mark which I have measured.


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## white night (Mar 7, 2014)

So let me get this right....

My wash is a 32oz bottle, the mix on the bottle is 1oz to 2 gallons.

1oz = 30ml and 2 gallons = 7500ml

so my small bucket is a 12ltr bucket (12000ml) and if I have got the math right
I should be mixing 45ml of wash to 11355ml of water?

If this is not the case can someone put me on the right track please


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

white night said:


> So let me get this right....
> 
> My wash is a 32oz bottle, the mix on the bottle is 1oz to 2 gallons.
> 
> ...


 Yes, correct.

Based on US fluid ounce (30ml) and US Gallon (3.79 litres) , I get it to be 47.4 ml in 12 litres of water.


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## dillinja999 (Aug 26, 2013)

http://www.cloverchem.co.uk/2013/uk/ratiocalc.asp


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## Darren.H (Dec 25, 2006)

when using american units and and british units together, it can get a little confusing. 

Like a US Gallon is different from a UK Gallon

The Imperial gallon using here is 4.546 L
The US Gallon is 3.79 L
and the least used is the US Dry gallon at 4.40 L


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## ALLR_155528 (May 20, 2014)

What happened to the good old days of experimenting, if the solution is to weak add more product.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

ALLR_155528 said:


> What happened to the good old days of experimenting, if the solution is to weak add more product.


 Yes you can, but with a bit of simple maths you can make your starting point for your experiments as the place the manufacturer has decided is best.

So you wont be a million miles away first time.


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## Paul04 (Jul 26, 2013)

BUMP to the top. Was looking for a guide to dilution ratios and found this. Look at post 15 by dillinja999. Good link


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## M400BHP (Feb 18, 2015)

I'll just carry on the way i've always done it, inch in the bottom for snow foam.

And 100ML is 50-1 for 5 litres, give or take a few millilitres.


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## V3nom (Oct 31, 2012)

I've never really had difficulty working out the ratios but it can be confusing...I found this a while back for someone else that asked the same question...


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## Paul04 (Jul 26, 2013)

It is confusing and many of us have different size bottles. Thanks for the chart. I will print that out and put in the garage :thumb:


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## V3nom (Oct 31, 2012)

Paul04 said:


> It is confusing and many of us have different size bottles. Thanks for the chart. I will print that out and put in the garage :thumb:


Absolutely! Different bottles everywhere these days. No problems, hope it helps


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## essjay (Mar 27, 2007)

This is how I do it and it seems right against the chart above

add the two parts together e.g 1:5 =6 

The divide 1 by the above number 1/6 = 0.1666666666666667 x by the quantity you require in mls, so a 1ltr bottle wiil be as follows

5+1 =6 
1/6 = 0.1666666666666667
0.1666666666666667 x 1000 = 166mls of product

Hope this helps


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## chrisgreen (Mar 30, 2012)

dillinja999 said:


> http://www.cloverchem.co.uk/2013/uk/ratiocalc.asp


Just tried it, not a very good calculator alas. It tried to tell me that for 1:5 ratio, I need to add 1L of product, rather than 833ml.


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## chrisgreen (Mar 30, 2012)

V3nom said:


> I've never really had difficulty working out the ratios but it can be confusing...I found this a while back for someone else that asked the same question...


This, on the other hand, is spot on - thanks for posting it.


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## supraGZaerotop (Jun 23, 2008)

just share with the amount of product/water you want to dilute to, thats what i do, ie- 10-1 in a 500ml bottle would be 50ml product to 450ml water, 5-1 would 100ml product 400ml water .
i use 1.5ltr compression sprayers, so a mix of acid wheel cleaner in a 7-1 mix would be 214ml product. a 4-1 mix in a 1.5ltr bottle would 375ml product, etc etc. just share the amount of product you want to the size bottle you have.


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## ALLR_155528 (May 20, 2014)

Here is something to help you all out a dilution ratio calculater

http://www.cloverchem.co.uk/2013/uk/ratiocalc.asp?dratio=10&Tlitres=1.5&Tvol=Litres&B1=Calculate


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## greymda (Feb 16, 2014)

so this site gives me 1:5 dilution for 1 litre container 200ml, and the picture above 166ml.

who should i believe?


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## supraGZaerotop (Jun 23, 2008)

ALLR_155528 said:


> Here is something to help you all out a dilution ratio calculater
> 
> http://www.cloverchem.co.uk/2013/uk/ratiocalc.asp?dratio=10&Tlitres=1.5&Tvol=Litres&B1=Calculate


like i said, share the ratio you want with the bottle size you have in ml, that way you'l never be far off


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## supraGZaerotop (Jun 23, 2008)

greymda said:


> so this site gives me 1:5 dilution for 1 litre container 200ml, and the picture above 166ml.
> 
> who should i believe?


200ml is correct, thats 5:1 of 1000ml


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## greymda (Feb 16, 2014)

so why in the picture above for 1:5 is stated 166ml of product to 833ml of water?


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## ALLR_155528 (May 20, 2014)

You can change the dilution ratio on the site don't have to have 1:5



greymda said:


> so this site gives me 1:5 dilution for 1 litre container 200ml, and the picture above 166ml.
> 
> who should i believe?


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## TomWVXR (Mar 16, 2012)

supraGZaerotop said:


> 200ml is correct, thats 5:1 of 1000ml


No its not its 166ml


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## Turkleton (Apr 18, 2010)

Wow. :doublesho


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## greymda (Feb 16, 2014)

okay, once more.

my snow foam lance bottle is 1L.
my snow foam lance dilution ratio should be 1:5

how much product and water i should pour in the bottle?


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## TomWVXR (Mar 16, 2012)

greymda said:


> okay, once more.
> 
> my snow foam lance bottle is 1L.
> my snow foam lance dilution ratio should be 1:5
> ...


 167ml product and 833 ml water


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

greymda said:


> so this site gives me 1:5 dilution for 1 litre container 200ml, and the picture above 166ml.
> 
> who should i believe?


Always add the dilution ratio numbers together and then divide the container size by that figure, to work out what 1 part is.

So in this case its 1 part chemical to 5 parts water, then you have 6 parts altogether.

1 litre divided by 6 parts is 166ml. So :

Chemical is 1 x 166 = 166

and Water is 5 x 166 = 830

add 166 to 830 and you get 996, so there is your 1 litre mixed correctly.


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## greymda (Feb 16, 2014)

thanks. so website calculator is _wrong_.


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## SPARTAN (Nov 20, 2014)

greymda said:


> okay, once more.
> 
> my snow foam lance bottle is 1L.
> my snow foam lance dilution ratio should be 1:5
> ...


1:5 (add the two together = 6) therefore 1000ml divided by 6 = 166.6ml

So for 1lr bottle add 166ml of product.


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## supraGZaerotop (Jun 23, 2008)

TomWVXR said:


> No its not its 166ml


its not going to make a difference how exact the mix is, is it! at the end of the day its not bloody rocket science. like i said before, a 5:1 mix of a litre is 200ml basically , if you want to mix it that way with the extra 1 then do so.


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## TomWVXR (Mar 16, 2012)

supraGZaerotop said:


> its not going to make a difference how exact the mix is, is it! at the end of the day its not bloody rocket science. like i said before, a 5:1 mix of a litre is 200ml basically , if you want to mix it that way with the extra 1 then do so.


 Hardly lol, 200ml made up to 1 litre is 1:4 so not even close


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## V3nom (Oct 31, 2012)

Exactly.

This is pretty simple tbh...if you're making up a product at a ratio of 1:5 then you have 6 parts in total. 

Look at "1:5" as "1+5"

6 in total.

If you want to make up 1000ml of solution at a dilution of 1:5 then you must divide 1000 by 6...166 (approx).

There you go.

166ml of (1) and 830ml of (5).

1 x 166ml + 5 x 166ml = 996ml

Yes? No?


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## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

V3nom said:


> Exactly.
> 
> This is pretty simple tbh...if you're making up a product at a ratio of 1:5 then you have 6 parts in total.
> 
> ...


You're not just a pretty face!


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## V3nom (Oct 31, 2012)

matt-rudd said:


> You're not just a pretty face!


Better believe it sunshine


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## gordonpuk (Mar 14, 2010)

Here we go again................

I brought this very thing up before and it was just as controversial.

Is (Example) 1:5
1 part chemical in 5 parts solvent =6 * OR
* 
1 part in a total of 5 =1+4=5 total.

I researched it on University sites where accurate ratios matter, drugs where lives are at stake,
not shampoo and snow foam where it really doesn't.
In those circles it's 1 IN a total of 5 so it would be 1+4=5 ∴ 200ml+800ml
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned with shampoo and wotnot
it's academic. Just fill a cap. it wont make a damn bit of difference at that level.


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

gordonpuk said:


> Here we go again................
> 
> I brought this very thing up before and it was just as controversial.
> 
> ...


That is exactly right - 1+4=5 total

Working in a hospital, correct dilutions are paramount


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Looks like it's the difference between the dilution ratio and the dilution factor.

As a lay person it would appear that I've always accepted and taken the dilution ratio as it is written:- eg

A good concrete mix is sometimes quoted as 1:2:4 for the ratio of cement to sand to gravel - i.e. one shovel of cement, 2 shovels of sand and 4 shovels of gravel - 7 shovels in total. My dad used this ratio when we would mix concrete, my mother, as it turns out, used a similar mix for her scones! (with a few more shovels of stone though)

This has worked fine for me so far and it would appear by unwittingly using the dilution ratio instead of the dilution factor, I'll never apply too much solvent or concentrate.

If it was pharmaceuticals I'd worry. Cleaning cars - nope!

This post was taken from this thread - Have a look, may be helpful - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=333862&highlight=dilution+ratio&page=3

Cheers,

Cooks


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

I have always taken it as a ratio, being 1 part chem to 5 parts water.

When I have worked with stuff where it is more critical, there has been specific mixage instructions. When I worked in a photo lab years back, they would specify 1 full bottle to xx gallons of water etc as well as putting a 1:xx on the packaging and would also specify American gallons or imperial for the avoidance of any doubt 

For the volumes that we are mixing up her of one or two litres, it isn't going to make a massive difference really I suppose.


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## supraGZaerotop (Jun 23, 2008)

gordonpuk said:


> Here we go again................
> 
> I brought this very thing up before and it was just as controversial.
> 
> ...


exactly, who cares if its bang or not, it dont matter, only matters for the anal people on here, the ones who fold they're underwear


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## RichieM (May 11, 2007)

You could use the method they use in the Chemical Guys videos.
1oz of product is about a 1 second squeeze of the bottle 
So 2 seconds of Mr Pink in a bucket of water


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

I created this ages ago... but nobody was bothered about it :lol:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=324048&highlight=ratios


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