What is concentration (dilution ratio)?
Concentration is how much cleaner concentrate is present in the working bath, written as a percentage or a ratio. Power Clean aqueous concentrates run from 1:100 (1%) for light maintenance soils up to about 5% for heavy machining oil, buffing compound and carbon.
Also called: dilution ratio, dosage
- Light soils
- 1% (1:100)
- General machining
- 2–3%
- Heavy oil, buffing compound
- 3–5%
A 1:100 dilution means one part concentrate to a hundred parts water — 1% — so a 500-litre tank takes 5 litres of concentrate. Ratios and percentages are used interchangeably in the field, and confusing 1:100 with 1:10 is a genuinely common and expensive error.
More is not better past a point. Cleaning improves with concentration until the surfactant system saturates, after which the only effects are higher cost, more drag-out onto the rinse, more foam, and on aluminium a real risk of etching.
The right approach is to start at the low end of the recommended band, confirm cleanliness on the actual part, and step up only if it fails. Then hold that figure with weekly titration rather than by topping up whenever the bath looks tired.
