Stop eyeballing your APC and wasting product. Enter your dilution ratio and bottle size, and get the exact amount of concentrate and water to add — every time.
A 1:10 dilution means 1 part product to 10 parts water — the calculator fills your bottle to the exact total above.
You cannot stop mid-job to take a call, and you should not have to. Text-back replies the second you miss one, and the customer's answer buzzes on your phone for whenever you are free.
See how it works →Real answers to the dilution questions detailers actually Google. Short version: get the ratio right and you cut chemical cost per car dramatically without hurting results.
Most concentrated detailing shampoos list a dilution ratio on the bottle — often anywhere from 3:1 to 10:1 for a wash bucket, or 100:1 to 1500:1 for a foam cannon. The ratio is parts water to parts product.
To mix it: divide your container size by (ratio + 1) to get the product amount, then top up with water. For a 32 oz bottle at 10:1 that's 32 ÷ 11 = about 2.9 oz of product and the rest water. Add the water first, then the chemical, so it doesn't foam over.
Enter your bottle size and ratio in the calculator above and it gives you the exact ounces of product and water to pour.
For U.S. detailing chemicals it almost always means 10 parts water to 1 part product — so 10 oz water + 1 oz product = 11 total parts. The first (bigger) number is the water.
Rule of thumb: the higher that first number, the weaker and more diluted the mix. A 4:1 all-purpose cleaner is much stronger than a 20:1 one.
Divide the bottle size by (ratio + 1). A 32 oz bottle at 4:1 needs 32 ÷ 5 = 6.4 oz of product; at 10:1 it needs about 2.9 oz; at 20:1 about 1.5 oz. Fill the rest with water. The calculator does this for any bottle size and ratio instantly.
Concentrates are formulated to work at their labeled dilution. Using them neat wastes money and, with strong APCs or degreasers, can streak glass, dry out trim, or damage leather and delicate paint.
Diluting correctly also keeps results consistent between techs, and it can cut your chemical cost per car by 50–90% — that's the single easiest way to raise your margin per detail.
Yes. Hard water (high mineral content) can weaken some soaps and leave spots. For final-step products like drying aids or spray sealants, distilled or deionized water avoids water spots. For wash soap, normal tap water is usually fine.
