Turning a batch into a product

Decide which category it is

The VOC limits are set by product category, and the categories are defined by intended use in the regulation. A product that could be described two ways may face two different limits, so settling what it is for is the first regulatory decision rather than a marketing one.

Decide whether it is sold diluted or concentrated

Because the limit applies after the minimum recommended dilution. A concentrate with a clear dilution instruction is measured differently from a ready-to-use product, and that changes what the formula may contain.

Write the dilution instruction carefully

It is the thing the limit is applied to. An instruction with a range in it, or one suggesting concentrated use for stubborn marks, interacts with the rule in ways that need thinking about rather than improvising.

Pick the sprayer against the formula

A trigger sprayer has a viscosity range and the parts that touch the product have to resist it. Solvents and silicones attack some materials, and the failure shows up weeks later as a sprayer that has gone stiff or leaks.

Then the label

Net quantity, ingredients where required, the responsible party, hazard information where the product is hazardous, and the directions. For a chemical product the safety data sheet accompanies it.

Test the assembled, filled unit

Real formula, real bottle, real trigger, sprayed until the bottle is empty and then left for a few weeks. Almost every failure in this property shows up in that test and almost none shows on a bench.

The order of these decisions matters

Category, then dilution, then claims, then closure. Taken in that order each answer narrows the next; taken backwards you choose a sprayer, discover the formula attacks it, and reopen a question you thought was closed. Writing the decisions down as you make them is what keeps the sequence from unravelling.

References