Before you blend anything, try the dose step. Every base pigment is sold at four strengths, and moving up or down the ladder changes how deep the color is without changing what color it is. That is what most people are actually after. Blending is the tool for moving the hue itself — and it comes with one hard rule and one piece of arithmetic.
Start with the step, not the blend
The range is built so that one pigment gives four named results. If a color is close but not deep enough, you do not need a different pigment — you need more of the one you have. Work through the color chart a step at a time before you reach for a second code, because a single-code shade is easier to order, easier to repeat and easier for anyone else to match later.
The arithmetic that catches people out
The 10% ceiling applies to the total pigment from every code combined — 9.4 lb per 94 lb sack of cement — not to each code separately. Two colors at 5 lb per sack each is 10 lb per sack, and that is over the limit even though neither code on its own would be.
Add the doses together first, check the total, and bring it under the ceiling by reducing both proportionally rather than by cutting one. Loading above the ceiling can affect strength, set time and finish.
Developing the shade, lab-style
- Pick a base and a modifier. One code carries the shade and the second shifts it. A small amount of the second code does more than people expect.
- Work in small, weighed batches. Everything is weighed — the cement, and each pigment code separately. Bulk density differs between codes, so a blend measured by scoop is not a blend you can repeat.
- Change one variable at a time. Hold the cement, the water and the total dose constant and move only the ratio between the two codes. If you change two things you learn nothing from the result.
- Cast a panel per candidate, not a puddle in a cup. Judge it cured, dry and sealed the way the work will be sealed — see how to make and approve a test panel.
- Label every panel on the back as you cast it, with both codes, both weights and the cement. Unlabelled panels are worthless within a week.
Documenting the formula so it survives
A custom shade only exists if it can be rebuilt. Record it as pounds of each code per 94 lb sack of cement, and record the conditions with it:
- Both codes and both doses, by weight per sack
- The total dose, and its percentage of cementitious weight
- Which cement — gray or white, brand and source. Gray mutes every color, so the same recipe on white cement is a different shade
- The sand and aggregate used in the panel
- Whether the panel was sealed, and with what
What Direct Colors does not publish about blending
Worth being straight about the limits here. The powder data sheet does not prohibit blending, which is not the same as recommending it. Direct Colors publishes no recommendation either way, and no guidance on how a blend behaves across the dose range. So:
- Prove a blend on a cured panel before it goes anywhere near a job.
- Call 405-275-6657 before committing a blend to a pour of any size.
- If you want the match made for you, send the cement and sand intended for the work and the color lab will work one up against your materials — a prepared match still has to be confirmed on a panel made the way the job will be made.
Common questions
Can you mix two concrete pigment colors together?
Powder, yes — nothing in the powder data sheet prohibits blending two codes. Liquid paste, no: do not blend a paste with another paste, with a powder, or with any other colorant. The rule is opposite between the two lines, so do not carry the habit across.
How does the maximum dose work when I blend two colors?
The 10 percent ceiling applies to the total pigment from every code combined, not to each code separately. Two colors at 5 lb per 94 lb sack each is 10 lb per sack, which is over the limit. Add the doses together and check the total against 9.4 lb per sack before you batch.
Should I blend, or just change the dose step?
Try the step first. Each base pigment is sold at four strengths and moving up or down a step changes depth without changing hue, which is what most people actually want. Blending is for when you need to move the hue itself, not just how strong it is.
Does Direct Colors recommend blending?
Direct Colors publishes no recommendation either way, and no guidance on how a blend behaves across the dose range. The data sheet does not prohibit it for powder, which is not the same as endorsing it. Call 405-275-6657 before committing a blend to a job of any size.
How do I make a custom shade repeatable?
Write the recipe down by weight, in pounds of each code per 94 lb sack of cement, and record the cement and sand you tested against. A blend recorded as proportions or by volume is not repeatable, because bulk density differs between codes.
Will Direct Colors match a color for me?
Yes. Send the cement and sand intended for the work and the color lab will work up a match against your materials. A prepared match describes the color achieved in the laboratory from those materials, so it still has to be confirmed on a cured panel made the way the job will be made.
What’s Next
- Gray or white cement → White Cement vs Gray Cement: How the Base Changes Pigment Color
- Why more is not darker → Why Adding More Pigment Eventually Stops Making Concrete Darker
- Every shade and its dose step → Concrete Pigment Color Chart
- Approve it on a panel → How to Make and Approve a Concrete Pigment Test Panel
- Mixing it evenly → How to Mix Concrete Pigment Powder Without Streaks
- Quantities → Per Cement Sack or Bag
- Why the paste rule differs → How to Use Liquid Concrete Pigment
- Test first → Pigment Sampler
Direct Colors. Shawnee, OK. Manufacturing the full decorative concrete system since 1997.
