How much is in that imp anyway?

[zmulls]

I have trouble seeing how much BPAL is in an imp -- I hold it up to the light and rarely can see "through" the label. I can usually tell when it's at the label top, and can tell when it's close to the bottom; but whether it's 1/3, or 1/2 or 2/3....I have trouble. Any hints on how to tell?

 

And what is considered "FULL?" I get imps from the lab that are filled right to the label top, and not all the way up. To my eye, it looks about 2/3 full then -- but then I see that the applicator actually takes up some room at the top of the imp, so it's really more than that. Sometimes the oils are above the label but often not.

 

Any comments welcome.....I have enough stuff now to do a real inventory of it, but want to know what I really have.

[ljaylh]

If I can't see through the label or if the oil isn't visible above the label, then what I do is hold the imp on its side (like flat, as if it were sitting on a table top) and look at/up the bottom of the vial.. if you're holding the imp nice and straight, you'll be able to see how full it is that way. If it's pretty much full, there won't be a lot of space between the top surface of the oil and the vial.. if it's about half space and half oil then the imp's about half-full, and so on

 

I think most people consider an imp to be "full" if the oil is sitting above the label when the cap/applicator is taken off - or at the bottom of the stopper when the cap is on. When I do decants, I usually fill the imp to about 2 or 3mm above the label - then when I put the cap on, that pushes the oil up to just below the top of the vial. Any more than that, and it is usually too full once the cap goes on. I know that the level on Lab imps does vary a fair bit, but most of the time the oil will be either at or slightly above the top of the label when the imp camp is removed - that's what people will refer to as 'Lab full'.

 

I hope that helps!

[zmulls]

"Lab Full" is, I think, exactly the phrase -- and concept -- I was wrestling with! Thank you!

[Marblemeadow]

That's a really terrific idea Sunshine. Makes a lot of sense. Can't believe I didn't think of that! Lol.

[blu°]

When I estimate the level of a less than top-of-label-full imp I usually turn it to the side just until the oil shows and then estimate according to thickness of oil and speed of it moving how far it would go back down when I turn it upright again. It's not perfect, but I think noone could expect you to give more than a vague guess. In order not to disappoint anyone, I tend to write down the percentage of the lower end of my guess, i.e. if I think the level might be between 50% and 60%, I'll put down 50%.

[megank4]

I remove all the paper labels from the Lab and replace them with my own.

[retyped]

How do you ladies judge oil levels? I have a huge bag of imps and I can't tell oil levels without tearing the label.. Any help?

[prettyfish]

I open it and look into the imp, putting the wand in until I can tell it hits liquid. Then I judge based on how far in the wand goes.

[Kayah]

I use a flashlight - it shines through the label and leaves a shadow exactly where the oil is. Once I found out about this method I've never used anything else since.

[Aldercy]

No idea how to really accurately do it without tearing the label. Looking down into the open imp or tipping the closed imp back and forth gives me an idea of "Okay, I know this isn't full. About half?" But sometimes it's a lot less than I think it is once I tear the label and really look.

[portalkat]

I,too, backlight it to see the shadow of the oil level.

[ModderRhu]

i just hold them up to a lamp. my favorite way though is to take an xacto knife and cut a thin thin strip out of the label. i think it looks cool you get to see the color of the oil more that way

[retyped]

Good ideas ladies! i've been too shy to swap imps and I was afraid of selling bad imps to anyone.