Weighing products

greatwhitenorth

greatwhitenorth

New member
Joined
Jun 23, 2013
Messages
356
Reaction score
0
Wondering how many of you weigh your products to calculate your usage and cost per vehicle? How do you compensate for the bottle/jar to get an accurate $/gram ?
TIA

-GWN
 
Generally the manufacturers are pretty accurate...if it says 16oz, it will have close to 16oz of product in the bottle.

Weight the full bottle and subtract the overage as the weight of the package

For Example:

32oz bottle of polish actually weighs 34oz

That means the bottle weighs 2oz

When you weigh after each use, just subtract the 2oz for the container
 
I suppose for the next time I could weigh the completely clean empty bottle. But I'm probably just needlessly splitting hairs here.
 
Except that polish and chemicals, etc. are measured in fluid ounces. Has nothing to do with weight.

I you want to see how much you use on a detail, get an 8oz. squeeze bottle and put 3 marks on it (each at 2 oz. intervals. Fill it with 4 oz. or so (middle line) and see how much you use. If it gets down to the next lower mark, you used 2 oz. If it gets in between the lowest mark and bottom of the bottle you used @ 3 oz. etc.

For chemicals, say it dilutes 1:10. So you fill a 32 oz. spray bottle 2:20. If you use half of that bottle for your application, you used 1 oz. of chemical.
 
wdmaccord said:
Except that polish and chemicals, etc. are measured in fluid ounces. Has nothing to do with weight.

I you want to see how much you use on a detail, get an 8oz. squeeze bottle and put 3 marks on it (each at 2 oz. intervals. Fill it with 4 oz. or so (middle line) and see how much you use. If it gets down to the next lower mark, you used 2 oz. If it gets in between the lowest mark and bottom of the bottle you used @ 3 oz. etc.

For chemicals, say it dilutes 1:10. So you fill a 32 oz. spray bottle 2:20. If you use half of that bottle for your application, you used 1 oz. of chemical.
Click to expand...

I’m no mathematician, or a genius for that matter, but does one fluid ounce not weigh one ounce?

I’m thinking of the "what’s heavier, an ounce of feathers or an ounce of lead" adage.
 
allenk4 said:
Generally the manufacturers are pretty accurate...if it says 16oz, it will have close to 16oz of product in the bottle.

Weight the full bottle and subtract the overage as the weight of the package

For Example:

32oz bottle of polish actually weighs 34oz

That means the bottle weighs 2oz

When you weigh after each use, just subtract the 2oz for the container
Click to expand...

When the manufacturer says 16oz, I believe most are talking ounce volume, not ounce weight (stupid US customary system). They are the same for pure water and probably close for most QDs, but could vary a lot for something like polish and compound where you have a lot of elements other than hydrogen and oxygen.
 
Ounce ~ 28.4g (mass)

Fluid ounce ~ 28 mls (volume)

Fluid apothecary ounce ~ 30 mls (volume)
 
primo spaghetti said:
so am i right? lol :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...


Yup. Anything liquid like is usually sold by volume. However, manufacturers may use weight of the liquid to fill the bottle if the specific gravity is known.

You would need to know the specific gravity of a liquid to convert volume to weight or vice versa. Or, you would have to have a reference sample to know an ounce weighs so much.

Quite frankly in detailing - I would say eyeballing your bottle before and after is close enough. As, in order to weigh it - you would have to know what an ounce of compounds specific gravity is to convert it to weight. Or, you would have to measure a fluid oz of all your products to know what an oz weighs.
 
greatwhitenorth said:
Wondering how many of you weigh your products to calculate your usage and cost per vehicle? How do you compensate for the bottle/jar to get an accurate $/gram ?
TIA

-GWN
Click to expand...

No, I use what I need for the job and calculate cost based on how much per application.
 
AeroCleanse said:
No, I use what I need for the job and calculate cost based on how much per application.
Click to expand...

So you eyeball it and it averages out by the end of the bottle?

I'm just trying to figure out an accurate cost per vehicle for products like dp paint coating where I can't see into the bottle
 
greatwhitenorth said:
So you eyeball it and it averages out by the end of the bottle?

I'm just trying to figure out an accurate cost per vehicle for products like dp paint coating where I can't see into the bottle
Click to expand...

I'm not as precise as you are looking to be. If you want to know, weigh a full bottle, then weigh again after each use and you'll find out how much you used on that car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top