Concentrates, dilution bottles and labeling both

The concentrate bottle

Small, robust, with a closure that does not leak in transit and a dilution instruction that is prominent. If you are relying on the dilution provision for your VOC position, this instruction is doing regulatory work and has to be unambiguous.

The dilution bottle

Whatever the customer mixes into. If you supply it, it needs fill lines that make the ratio obvious and a label identifying what is in it. An unlabeled bottle of diluted chemical in somebody’s garage is a hazard communication problem as much as a usability one.

Make the ratio impossible to get wrong

A fill line, a dose that matches a whole sachet or cap, and an instruction with no arithmetic. Anything requiring somebody to measure a fraction will be approximated, and here the approximation moves the product away from the dilution the compliance rests on.

Do not invite concentrated use casually

A line suggesting neat application for stubborn marks interacts directly with the dilution provision, which expressly excludes such recommendations from the minimum dilution. If you want to say it, understand what it does to the calculation first.

Concentrates are a real commercial advantage

Less freight, less packaging, a lower shelf price per use and a refill proposition customers in this category understand. The regulatory treatment happens to favor them too, which is unusual.

Supply the data sheet for the concentrate

It is the more hazardous form and it is the one being shipped. The sheet travels with the chemical, and a concentrate sold without one leaves the buyer with no basis for handling it.

Refills are the repeat purchase

A customer who has your sprayer bottle and buys concentrate for it is cheaper to serve and harder to lose. That is the commercial argument for getting the dilution instruction and the fill line right rather than treating the concentrate as a secondary format.

References