• Carrier
• Fixative (usually 10%)
• Concentrate
  

(06-13-2012 12:25 PM)zerosix85 Wrote:  A fixative controls the rate at which the molecules will fly off your body. Without a fixative, you may as well kiss your money goodbye.

(06-13-2012 12:25 PM)zerosix85 Wrote:  Also, EtOH is the preferable alcohol to use even though you can use something weaker.

(06-13-2012 9:23 AM)alexhaj Wrote:  I don't have DPG, what are fixers can I use?

(06-13-2012 11:02 PM)Fly So Hi Wrote:  Didn't know that. Why so?

Quote:I just picked up some silk base. Im wondering, are there different rules when it comes to mixing with it? Would I even need alcohol still?

(08-23-2012 1:43 PM)Fly So Hi Wrote:  *O*

I thought I was the only crazy one!

Amazing Kmacc!

(02-27-2012 6:07 PM)Fly So Hi Wrote:  Hello pherotruthers! This is a long and boring post, so only read it if you need it.

Thought I would write a comprehensive guide for those who want to dissolve their molecules or make their own mixes. We're going to broach the dilution of one single molecule first. We need three basic materials:

• Carrier
• Fixative (usually 10%)
• Concentrate
  

Those are the basic components in any pheromone blend. Of course, essential oils or scents can be added as well.
You can mix everything using a 1ml syringe for the concentrate and two 5ml syringes: one for the fixative, one for the alcohol. It is very useful if you have a micropipette, especially if you're going to be working with dosages on the nanogram (nG) scale. When working with micropipette, you must use one tip to each component. So...



To avoid cross contamination, the ideal is to use one syringe per component, be it DPG, alcohol, molecule, essence, or other. You can buy packs of ten 1ml syringes in drug stores, and label them with the component names they were used for, so you can reuse them. They're generally used by people with diabetes to apply insulin. To work with the DPG, use a 5 ml syringe, once the liquid is thicker and needs a larger needle to be sucked in.


Note:
If you think one of the syringes or other pieces of equipment were contaminated or are dirty in any way, boil water and dive the equipment into it for a few minutes. You can also use a pressure cooker to make it closer to the real autoclaving process.


If you want to use volumetric flasks, beakers and graduated cylinders, it's great. Just remember you can mix all the components in the bottle they will go in.

It's also a good idea to use gloves and a mask.


Has no money for a micropipette, must be a Weasley.


Okay, so first we need to decide how much mass of a molecule (M) we want to dispense per application. That's the dosage in micrograms per spray, or dabs, or whatever. The amount of concentrate that must be used for the desired dosage to be dispensed can be determined through the following equation:





Or put more readable:





Vc "“ Volume of concentrate in microlitres.

M "“ Mass of molecules (the desired dosage per spray) in micrograms.

Va "“ Volume of application (drop, spray, dab or inch) in microliters. As a rule of thumb, one dab is 20 μl, one drop is 50 μl and one spray is 130 μl.

Vb "“ Volume of total bottle content (volume of the carrier [alcohol, oil, silicone] plus fixative [DPG, silicone] plus the concentrates) in microlitres.

K "“ Concentration of concentrate, in milligrams per millilitre.


So we'll dilute some alpha-androsterone, into a spray bottle type. The total amount of liquid inside the bottle is 15 ml, so Vb=15000. We want a dosage (M) of 1,25 mcg/spray. My concentrate is diluted in alcohol, at 2mg/ml concentration (K).

A spray can vary from 80 to 140 μl, or 0.08 to 0.14 ml. For this example, assume 1 spray (Va) = 140 μl.





Using combinatorial proof:





Okay. So we're going to need 67 μl of concentrate to dispense the intended dosage. We are aiming for 15ml of total content. 10% or 1,5ml of it is fixative. 0.67 of it is the actual concentrate. So we take 15ml minus 1,5ml minus 0.67ml and we have 12.83, the volume of alcohol we need to complete the process.





Vr "“ Volume of carrier.
Vb "“ Volume of total bottle content.
Vf "“ Total volume of fixative, in millilitre.
Vc "“ Volume of concentrate.


In case you are mixing a blend, calculate how much concentrate you're going to need for each molecule and sum them up to use as Vc before using the above equation.

The rest is quite simple now. Just add everything together and shake the bottle. Label it with component name and dosage per spray, or dab, or inch, whatever you"˜ve chosen your dosage method to be. To minimise evaporation of components, it is best to add into the bottle the fixative first, then the carrier, then the concentrate. Let it rest for a day in a cool, dark place.

Sucking the DPG should be quite hard at first, because it is really thick. But you'll soon get used to it. (Wait, that could've come out wrong...)



EDIT: Corrected misspelled measures and formulas.

(10-14-2013 12:01 PM)Fly So Hi Wrote:  Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you liked it.

Very well. As you can see in the first formula, Vc is measured in microlitres.

Microlitre = uL.

Once, as you've correctly stated, 1 mL = 1000 uL...
then 0.67 mL = 670 uL.
And 0.067 mL = 67 uL.
And 0.0067 will be 6.7 uL.
And 0.00067 will be 0.67 uL or 670 nL. That is six-hundred and seventy nanolitres.
And so on, and so forth.

Now I don't have a rule of thumb for the increase in pheromones concentration in a mix, according to the carrier you're using. I know that for that ratio, the diffusion will be more linear along time, against a pure alcohol carrier, which would have a more "spiked" profile/diffusion curve. More or less like this:


Alcohol carrier


DPG carrier

Anyway, this thread can give you a hint:

http://pherotruth.com/Thread-Pheromones-Versus-Temperature?pid=36707#pid36707


Cheers!