Employing an aqueous acid‐base reaction, the minimum mixing rate of turbulent vortex rings was investigated in a water tank. Vortex rings were generated by a simple apparatus with a cylindrical geometry. The released fluid surrounding the vortex core mixed very rapidly when compared with the fluid in the toroidal core. Moreover, the fluid within the core did not mix uniformly in the azimuthal direction. The normalized distance a vortex ring must travel, in order to completely mix with the ambient fluid to a specific volumetric ratio, depends on the aspect ratio of the generating cylinder. Scaling arguments are presented that relate the above distance to the spreading rate and the generating apparatus parameters. Due to the very small net entrainment rate of vortex rings, the detrainment of core material cannot be ignored when the mixing rate of the core is considered. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.