01
Start with the wash count
Choose three to six diluted wash cups. Solid black remains a separate anchor rather than being hidden inside the diluted sequence.
Free tattoo artist utility
Tattoo Grey Wash Calculator.
Build the black-drop sequence you use at the station. Start fast with drops plus a consistent fill level, or switch to a measured cap for exact dilution counts and ratio scaling.
Free to useNo accountQuick + exact modesSaved on your device
Recipe setup
No account. Saved locally.
Build the wash line you actually use.
Start with black-drop counts and fill each cap to the same level. If you have measured the total capacity, switch to Exact ratio for countable dilution amounts and scaling.
Wash cups
Solid black stays outside this diluted set.
Editable line
The starting numbers are examples to edit. Changing cup count keeps your current dark-to-light profile instead of resetting it.
Editing cup 1
Dark
10 drops
Black drops
Then fill to the same level with your established dilution.
Black
10 drops
Then
Fill to level
Ratio and repeatability only. This tool does not predict a healed shade or replace your tested tattooing workflow, material instructions, or applicable hygiene requirements.
Your wash line
See the whole scale. Tune one cup.
Visual density is approximate
Drop counts are the source of truth
Station recipe
Count the black drops, then bring each cup to the same established fill level. Exact concentration stays intentionally hidden until the cap is measured.
01Dark10 black + fill
02Medium6 black + fill
03Light3 black + fill
No denominator, no percentage. The interface keeps the drop recipe useful without pretending an unmeasured cap is exact.
Edit
One cup at a time
Setup
Drops + same fill
Return
Saved locally
Two levels of precision
Do not invent an exact ratio for an unmeasured cap.
Many station recipes are remembered as black-drop counts plus a consistent fill level. Quick setup keeps that workflow intact. Exact ratio only appears when you supply the missing denominator: measured total drops per cap.
02
Edit the black drops
Tap a visual cup and change only that cup. The complete dark-to-light line stays visible so the sequence is easy to scan on a phone at the station.
03
Quick setup stays honest
When the final cap amount has not been measured, the recipe says black drops plus fill to the same level. It does not manufacture an exact percentage.
04
Calibrate when useful
Switch to Exact ratio and enter the measured total drops per cap. The tool can then calculate dilution drops and the actual counted percentage.
05
Scale a measured recipe
Change the calibrated total capacity and the calculator scales each current ratio as closely as whole-drop counts allow.
06
Keep the recipe
Copy a compact station recipe or save the current setup locally on the device. No account or cloud recipe storage is required.
The 10 / 6 / 3 example
A starting example is useful. A universal recipe is not.
The default three-cup line uses 10 / 6 / 3 black drops because that exact style of setup is documented in tattoo education material. It is deliberately labeled editable instead of being presented as the correct recipe for every ink, cap, or artist.
Tattooing101 documents a practical black-and-grey station layout using solid black, then 10, 6, and 3 drops of black in separate caps before filling those wash caps. Its grey-wash setup guidance also notes that smaller caps make the same drop counts darker.
That is why Quick setup records what you can actually count while keeping cap level visible in the instruction. If you want percentages, first measure the common total and use Exact ratio.
The visual cup darkness on this page is only a relative interface cue. It is not a simulation of a particular ink on skin and is never used as the source of truth for the recipe.
Why cap capacity matters
Six black drops is not an exact percentage by itself.
The same black-drop count represents a different proportion when the final amount in the cap changes. Exact ratio therefore asks for the denominator instead of assuming one.
Measured total
6 / 12
Six black drops in twelve measured total drops equals a 50% counted ratio.
Different total
6 / 30
The same six black drops in thirty measured total drops equals a 20% counted ratio.
Quick setup is faster when you already work from a consistent cap and fill line. Exact ratio is stronger when you want to move a known recipe between measured capacities.
Method & safety boundary
Recipe math is deterministic. Tattoo outcome and material safety are not.
StencilStudio calculates counts and ratios locally in the browser. We separate that math from claims about healed tone, material compatibility, or sterile practice, and point to primary public-health guidance where safety is involved.
Public health
FDA: Think Before You Ink: Tattoo Safety
FDA notes that contaminated inks can cause infection and identifies non-sterile water used to dilute pigments as a common contamination source.
Open sourcePublic health
CDC: Tattoo-associated NTM infections
CDC states that distilled and reverse-osmosis water should not be assumed sterile and recommends sterile water when tattoo ink dilution is needed.
Open sourcePractice reference
Tattooing101: Gray wash setup
Documents multi-cap drop workflows and explicitly notes that cap size changes the strength produced by the same measurements.
Open sourcePractice reference
StarBrite: Grey wash ratios and repeatability
Shows a drop-count approach and emphasizes documenting ratios and keeping the mixing setup consistent.
Open sourcePractice references are included to explain why artists use drop-count recipes; they are not treated as universal safety standards. For materials and hygiene, follow applicable requirements and manufacturer instructions.
FAQ
Grey wash calculator questions.
The tool does one job deliberately: make an existing wash setup easier to build, scale, record, and repeat without pretending recipe math predicts the finished tattoo.
It helps you record and repeat a black-drop sequence across several wash cups. Quick setup keeps the familiar drops-plus-fill workflow. Exact ratio mode is for a cap whose total fill capacity has actually been measured, so black drops, dilution drops, and percentage can be calculated without inventing a denominator.
Quick setup records black drops and tells you to fill each cup to the same established level. Exact ratio adds a measured total drop capacity, which lets the calculator show the remaining dilution amount and scale the counted ratio to another capacity.
No universal recipe exists. The 10 / 6 / 3 setup is included as an editable example because that type of drop-count workflow is documented in tattoo education material. Ink, cap size, fill level, material system, and artist workflow all change what a recipe means in practice.
Yes. Gray wash and grey wash are two spellings for the same black-and-grey tattoo workflow. This page uses grey wash in the interface while supporting both spellings in the page language.
No. In Exact ratio mode, the percentage describes only the counted mixture. Ink formulation, application, skin, healing, and other workflow variables affect the final appearance, so the tool deliberately does not convert a recipe into a predicted healed shade.
The same number of black drops becomes a different dilution when the final amount in the cap changes. Quick setup therefore avoids displaying an exact percentage. Use Exact ratio only when you have a measured common total to use as the denominator.
Exact ratio mode converts proportions back into whole drops so the result stays countable. Some percentages cannot be represented exactly with a small number of whole drops, so the tool reports the concentration created by the rounded count rather than fake decimal precision.
Yes. Save on this device stores the current setup in local browser storage so it can be restored when you return. The calculator does not require an account or upload the recipe to StencilStudio.
No. The calculator handles recipe counts and proportions only. Follow applicable requirements plus the tattoo ink or dilution manufacturer's instructions for materials and handling. Public-health guidance also warns that distilled or reverse-osmosis water should not be assumed to be sterile.
Related tattoo tools
Keep the rest of the stencil workflow measurable.
Grey wash solves the ink-ratio setup. Use the print tools when the next job is physical stencil size, true-scale output, or checking printer behavior before transfer.
View all tattoo tools01Needle FinderStart with the tattoo job and compare a short set of source-reviewed RL, RS and Magnum configuration families, or decode the physical specification fields you already know.Job-first explorerStructured spec decodeSource-reviewed geometry02LetteringType a name, date, or phrase, compare curated tattoo lettering fonts, tune spacing and arc, mirror for transfer, and export SVG, PNG, or a true-size PDF.Curated tattoo fontsSVG + PNG1:1 PDF03Size & PrintSet an exact physical stencil size, preview paper fit, and export a true 1:1 PDF including multi-page layouts.Exact cm / inches1:1 PDFMulti-page tiling
Practical guides
Need the stencil first?
Turn the reference into a cleaner tattoo stencil before the station setup.
StencilStudio handles the reference-to-stencil workflow. The Grey Wash Calculator stays separate and free so each tool does one job well.