Another easy way to deal with dilutions that gets rid of the "measurement" aspect all together... You can use anything at all-- a spoon (probably not practical), a cap from a laundry detergent bottle, an orange juice cup, a milk jug. It really doesn't matter. You can use anything you have on hand that will hold liquid. Just choose something that is a practical size.
Now take that "cup" and...
On a 3-1 dilution, fill your "cup" 3 times with water and 1 time with product (pour each into your bottle).
On a 6-1 dilution, fill your "cup" 6 times with water and 1 time with product (pour each into your bottle).
On a 9-1 dilution, fill your "cup" 9 times with water and 1 time with product (pour each into your bottle).
You get the idea. Repeat until you get up near the top of the bottle you are filling. It's a handy method when using unmarked bottles and when you don't have a marked measuring "cup".
Just make sure you fill the "cup" to the same level for each product every time.
Great post!
Good for not having measuring cups and knowing the amount of chemical needed WILL fit into the bottle you have on hand.
The above is probably the easiest way to remember how to mix any dilution so long as you, as another poster mentioned, remember that almost always the smaller number is for the chemical, the larger number is for the water. Don't let the arguing over how to write it confuse you as I've seen professionals have differing opinions on this. (Example: 1:3 or 3:1) For all chemicals relevant to Autogeek the small number is always for the chemical.
A little common sense with regard to using the above quoted method to mix these car wash chemicals is to make sure the container the chemicals will be mixed is larger than the total amount of chemical you need. This negates the need for having to have the right sized bottle all the time.
For marked measuring cups, containers, or both, then the example by Brutalnoodle in post #6 is also handy, especially for specific sized bottles.
In case you don't use bottles with markings or not able to look up ratios, just add the parts per numbers together (1/10 is 1+10, 1/5 is 1+5) and divide the capacity of empty bottle from the sum, and you're good to go.
For example:
1/10 into a 16oz container means 16oz bottle divided by 11 = 1.45 oz. 1.4 oz of concentrate (I tend to round it off to 1.5 for simplicity) and fill the rest with water.
1/5 into 32oz means 32 divided by 6 = 5.3 oz.
You get the idea.
Probably would be helpful to write down and keep handy the examples in posts #6 and #9, as well as the google dilution charts on your computer.
It's also good to remember that regardless of how the chemical ratio is written or who wants to argue about it (I've seen college professors argue this...but at the time those arguing agreed the smaller number represented the chemical. Huh? LOL! ...Stupid argument then. LOL!);
when in doubt, contact the manufacturer of the chemical to know for certain which number represents which part of the ratio.
The above quotes are two of the simplest explanations and examples you will see.
