# The Activator is No Sweat So you can do the math in your head: Do it in 100ml portions, Pour 'say' 100 ml of 'say' 70% ipa into a graduated cylinder - which is 7 parts alcohol 3 parts water . To get to 50:50 you just need to make the parts equal - add 4 parts water (40 ml). 7 parts alcohol:7 parts water. With the activator (and I'm only talking about the activator) - you can probably use 100% distilled water - but the alcohol truly does make that water penetrate down into the primer cup. It (the alcohol) has a second benefit - it helps with the drying action of the primer compound. [Surfactants](https://rumble.com/v14ga31-homemade-primers-primer-activation-surfactants.html) The Activator Calculator [Download a spreadsheet](https://aardvarkreloading.com/resources/Activator+Calculator+v1.21.xlsx)