While you can refer to prescribed charts for diet and vaccination, choosing the right grooming product can be challenging. But why do we say so? You see, there are tons of manufacturers that offer a wide variety of grooming products for your dog.
Although most products have identical compositions, you might have confusion regarding their potential benefits.
Today, we will help you understand the concept of the dog shampoo dilution system and how you can choose the best shampoo for your dog.
Table of contents
What is a dog shampoo dilution system?
A Dilution system is a process of diluting a shampoo to achieve a specific degree of grooming. In short, you can determine the quantity of your dog’s shampoo in water to get the desired results.
Furthermore, most manufacturers insert some instructions for dilution ratios on their packs, which helps users to determine how much they should dilute the product.
However, you may also find shampoos that feature more diluted parts, which means they are already diluted by the manufacturer.
Why is dilution crucial?
When you purchase a dog shampoo, you will often notice a tag that indicates the dilution ratio. This dilution ratio portrays how much dilution a manufacturer has processed in the shampoo. Confused? Let’s break it down.
You see, dog shampoos contain two primary parts – solids and liquids. The solids represent the active ingredients that are present in the product. The active ingredients are responsible for providing the results like more shine to your dog’s coat, making the fur clean, or making your dog smell good.
On the other hand, the liquid portion represents the soluble part or water, which forms a significant amount of your dog’s shampoo.
For instance, a consumer store dog shampoo can contain 5 to 12% of solids (active ingredients), which means you will have around 88 to 90% of water in the product.
Since this product contains more water, it will be less dilutable. However, less dilution doesn’t mean that the shampoo is bad or would not provide desired results.
Likewise, you can also find shampoos with a higher solid concentration of 40 to 42%. However, these shampoos are often used by professionals to address specific conditions or during treatments.
How do you dilute dog shampoo?
As we said before, most dog shampoos state the dilution ratio on the bottle. For instance, when a bottle states a dilution ratio of 1:10, you can add one part of shampoo and ten parts of water to create a diluted solution.
Make sure to use warm water will dissolve the active ingredients, much better than cold water. Not only is it more optimal but also more comforting for your dog.
If you are still confused, don’t worry! Here is a great video with a step-by-step guide.
Concentrated vs. non-concentrated dog shampoos
Manufacturers formulate dog shampoos to be gentle on your pet’s skin, which means these products do not contain any harsh fragrances or chemicals.
A concentrated shampoo is the best example of this category as it comes with healthy ingredients that are good for your dog’s sensitive skin. Furthermore, concentrated shampoos often come with excellent dilution ratios like 30:1, which promotes lathering for deep cleaning.
Furthermore, concentrated shampoos also promote shine and smoothness without stripping the natural oil from your dog’s hair. These shampoos are also safe for most skin types, provided your dog has a specific requirement.
On the other hand, non-concentrated shampoos do not offer the benefits of concentrated shampoos and are not ideal for regular grooming or cleaning duties.
In short, opting for the right concentrated shampoo will do wonders in your dog grooming schedule and will help you get the best results.
How to choose the right shampoo for your dog
Unlike cats, dogs don’t care much about their grooming or hygiene themselves, which means owners will have to fill their shoes.
Although you can use human shampoo on dogs, frequent usage may cause harm and result in complications. So finding the right dog shampoo is the ultimate goal owners should have on their minds.
Here are the things you need to consider when choosing a dog shampoo:
Natural ingredients
Although finding a dog shampoo with an all-natural approach can be challenging, you can undoubtedly find products that contain naturally derived ingredients.
Since naturally derived ingredients carry the goodness of natural elements, they are highly beneficial for your dog’s skin and health.
Avoid soap
If your dog has sensitive skin, choosing a dog shampoo that contains zero soap properties will offer the best results.
For instance, soap can be harsh on your dog’s skin, especially when your dog suffers from a medical condition. So choosing a soap-free option will help you hydrate your dog’s skin and provide a soothing effect to the coat.
Check the manufacturer
Although most manufacturers ensure that they conduct proper trials and tests before launching their products commercially, checking the manufacturer can help you get a quality dog shampoo.
For example, dog shampoos made in the United States often contain naturally derived ingredients that are good for your dog. However, you can also get quality products from other locations as well.
A dog’s skin is very sensitive
Did you know that a dog’s skin is its largest organ? If not, you should, as anything good or bad has effortless access inside a dog’s body through the skin. In short, using a shampoo that contains toxic materials can cause damage.
However, checking the ingredient list of a product is not that easy, and you might skip it altogether if the product is from a reputable brand.
We are not saying that reputable brands make bad shampoos, but the point is to make you aware that the tricky definition on a product’s pack does not define the manufacturing process.
There may be an ingredient present in your dog’s shampoo that might have possible skin irritant properties, depending on how the brand manufactured the product.
Likewise, manufacturers also sort to mix different chemicals to develop or mimic the properties of an ingredient like coconut oil. In short, your dog’s shampoo might have harmful byproducts that can even cause cancer.
Final Thought
A dog is a man’s best friend, and nothing should come in the way when preserving that friendship. Dog shampoos play an integral role in the grooming process, and a wrong decision can land your dog in trouble.
In short, it would be best to check the ingredients, dilution ratios, and possible side effects before choosing a dog shampoo.
