Dilution ratio calculator
A dilution ratio is the difference between concentrate being cheaper than ready-to-use and being more expensive. This turns any ratio into the ounces that actually go in the bottle, the number of bottles a gallon fills, and what each finished bottle costs you — which is the number that decides whether concentrate is worth the trouble.
Before you dilute
- Read the label: the ratio is the manufacturer's, not a preference
- Set up one dilution station, not one per van
- Have labels ready before you fill anything
After you fill
- Write the ratio on the bottle, not just on the wall
- Check a bottle at random each week against the station
- Recalculate the cost per bottle when the concentrate price moves
Concentrate per bottle
0.49 fl oz
- Water per bottle
- 31.51 fl oz
- Bottles per gallon
- 260.0
- Metric
- 15.4 ml / litre
- Cost per bottle
- $0.092
- Weekly chemical
- $1.11
- Yearly chemical
- $58
Reading a ratio properly
1:64 means one part concentrate to sixty-four parts water — sixty-five parts in total. That is why a 32 oz bottle takes just under half an ounce of concentrate, not half of 32 divided by 64. Getting this wrong in either direction is expensive: too weak and the product does nothing, too strong and you are pouring money down a drain and leaving residue on the surface.
The metric line is there because a lot of concentrate labels are written in millilitres per litre even when the bottle is in ounces.
Labelling is a legal requirement, not tidiness
Under the OSHA hazard communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(6)): Every container of a hazardous chemical in the workplace must be labelled, tagged or marked with the product identifier and hazard information. A concentrate decanted into an unmarked spray bottle that then sits on a cart is a citable failure. The narrow exception at (f)(8) only covers a container filled and used immediately by the same person.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, read 2026-09-04
In practice: print labels for every product at every dilution you use, and keep the safety data sheets where the crew can actually reach them.
When concentrate is genuinely cheaper
Concentrate wins on the cost per finished bottle, and it wins by a lot — often more than half. It only wins if the dilution is measured. A cleaner eyeballing a glug into a bottle typically over-doses by two to three times, which turns the saving into a loss and leaves streaks that cost you the second visit.
Buy the dosing pump or the wall dispenser before you buy the second drum. It is the cheapest margin you will ever find.