Mixing in a separate bucket first... that's smart. It reminds me of this old timer I used to work with on a farm. He was nuts about his tractor's radiator fluid. Would mix the antifreeze in a five gallon pail with distilled water, test it with one of those floating ball testers, then pour it in. Said city water left a film that messed with the heat exchange over time. Never knew if he was right, but he never had an overheated engine.

Yeah that upfront work always feels like a waste of time until you're three weeks in and nobody is asking for a total redo. I had a boss who made us write a one page summary of every project before we could even open Photoshop. Hated it at first, but it killed all the "I thought it would be different" talks later. Turns out forcing everyone to agree on the destination before you start driving saves a ton of gas.