Perfume Dilution & Batch Calculator
How much concentrate and how much alcohol, for any concentration and any batch size — given in both weight and volume, because the bench works in one and the order works in the other.
Your recipe
Batch sheet
| Component | Batch (g) | Batch (ml) | Per bottle (g) | Per bottle (ml) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concentrate | 880.65 | 927.00 | 8.81 | 9.27 |
| Perfumer's alcohol | 3,331.95 | 4,223.00 | 33.32 | 42.23 |
| Total | 4,212.60 | 5,150.00 | 42.13 | 51.50 |
Most alcohol-based blends rest two to six weeks in the dark at stable temperature before filtering and filling. Print this sheet and fill the three fields in by hand — a batch you cannot date is a batch you cannot repeat.
What these numbers are and aren't
They are formulation estimates, not a guaranteed yield. The batch volume adds the component volumes together, and liquids are not always additive once mixed — ethanol and water are the textbook case, and a blend can finish smaller than the sum of its parts. Expect small differences from mixing, temperature and whatever stays in the vessel. Measure the finished batch before you commit it to a bottle count.
This is not a safety assessment. The tool calculates proportions only. It does not check IFRA limits, allergen declarations or anything else required to sell a fragrance legally. Those need your actual formula reviewed by someone qualified to do it — a dilution ratio says nothing about whether a material is within its limit.
How to read your result
Why both weight and volume
Most perfumers formulate by weight. A balance is repeatable to a hundredth of a gram, a measuring cylinder is not, and viscous materials cling to glassware in a way that makes volume measurement quietly inaccurate. But bottles, tanks and purchase orders are all specified in millilitres, so a recipe that only gives one of the two has to be converted by hand at the bench — which is where the mistakes happen.
The conversion runs through density. Perfumer's alcohol is close to ethanol at 0.789 g/ml, and concentrates are usually around 0.95 g/ml but vary by composition — a heavy resinous accord sits higher. Both are editable, and if you have a figure from your supplier, use it.
Loss is overfill, not waste
The loss percentage makes the batch larger than the bottles it has to fill. Three percent on a hundred 50 ml bottles is 150 ml — roughly three bottles' worth left in the vessel, the filler lines and the funnel. Set it from your own experience: hand-filling with a syringe loses more than a bench filler, and a small batch loses proportionally more than a large one because the dead volume in the equipment is the same either way.
Re-diluting a blend that came out too strong
Diluting never changes the mass of concentrate in the blend — it only changes what share of the total that fixed mass represents. So the question is always how much solvent makes the oil you already have into the percentage you want, which is `current mass × (current % ÷ target % − 1)`.
There is no route in the other direction. You cannot dilute a blend up to a stronger concentration; adding concentrate is a reformulation, not a dilution, and it changes the balance of the accord rather than just its strength. The tool says so rather than returning a negative number.
After mixing
Maceration is the part no calculator covers. Most houses rest an alcohol-based blend somewhere between two and six weeks in the dark at a stable temperature before filtering and filling; the harsh alcohol note drops away and the materials settle into each other. The batch sheet carries a date field for that reason — a batch you cannot date is a batch you cannot repeat.
How to improve this
Once the formula is settled, the next decision is commercial: what a bottle costs to make and what it should sell for. The pricing calculator picks up the size and concentration from here, so you do not re-enter them.
If you are approaching launch, the thing that usually decides whether a fragrance sells is not the juice — it is whether the product page communicates a scent somebody cannot smell through a screen.
Methodology and sources
Every formula and every default this tool uses, in full. If a number here looks wrong for your business, change it — the assumptions are inputs, not fixed rules.
- Batch volume
- bottle ml × bottles, adjusted for loss. Loss defaults to 3%.
- What loss means
- Same choice as the pricing calculator. "Extra you make" mixes 3% more than the bottles need; "share you lose" assumes 3% never reaches a bottle, so the batch is divided by 0.97 instead. Volume mode only — in weight mode you state the batch mass outright, so there is nothing to infer.
- Concentrate (volume basis)
- total ml × concentration. Solvent is the remainder.
- Concentrate (weight basis)
- total g × concentration. Solvent is the remainder.
- Weight ↔ volume
- Through density. Ethanol 0.789 g/ml; concentrate 0.95 g/ml by default, both editable.
- Re-dilution
- solvent to add = current mass × (current % ÷ target % − 1). The oil mass is unchanged.
- Concentration presets
- EDC 3%, EDT 10%, EDP 18%, Extrait 25% — mid-range figures, not standards. Houses vary widely and the labels are not regulated.
- Finished volume
- A planning estimate, not a guaranteed yield. The batch figure adds the component volumes together, and liquids are not always additive once mixed — ethanol and water are the textbook case. Measure the finished batch before committing it to a bottle count.
- Weight vs volume
- 18% by volume is not 18% by weight. At the default densities the worked batch is 18% by volume and 20.9% by weight, which is why every result gives both rather than making you convert.
- Not included
- IFRA limits, allergen declarations, and any form of product safety assessment. This calculates proportions only.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is the ratio of fragrance oil to alcohol for perfume?
It depends on the strength you want. Eau de toilette is typically 5–15% concentrate to 85–95% alcohol, eau de parfum 15–20%, and extrait 20–40%. For a 50 ml eau de parfum at 18% that is 9 ml of concentrate to 41 ml of perfumer's alcohol. By weight, at the usual densities, that is about 8.6 g of concentrate to 32.3 g of alcohol.
Should I measure perfume by weight or by volume?
By weight, for anything you intend to repeat. A balance is accurate and repeatable; a cylinder depends on how well you read a meniscus and how much material stays on the glass. Volume is still how bottles and orders are specified, which is why this calculator gives both for every result rather than making you convert.
How do I make a perfume weaker?
Add solvent. To take 200 g of a 25% blend down to 18%, add about 77.8 g of perfumer's alcohol: the 50 g of concentrate stays the same, and 50 g in a 277.8 g total is 18%. Re-dilution mode does this for any starting point. Note that diluting changes more than strength — projection and longevity drop too, and some materials read differently at lower concentration.
Can I use vodka instead of perfumer's alcohol?
Not for anything you intend to sell. Vodka is typically 40% alcohol and 60% water, and water will not dissolve most fragrance materials — you get a cloudy, separating blend that spoils. Perfumer's alcohol is high-proof ethanol, usually denatured and often with a fixative, specifically so the concentrate goes into solution and stays there.
How long should perfume macerate?
Most houses rest an alcohol-based blend two to six weeks in the dark at stable temperature before filtering and filling. The sharp alcohol top note drops away and the materials integrate. Some heavy oriental and oud compositions are left considerably longer. The printable batch sheet includes a date field so a batch can be traced back and repeated.
Will my batch really come out at the calculated volume?
Treat it as a planning figure. The tool adds the component volumes together, and liquids are not always additive once mixed — ethanol and water are the standard demonstration, where the blend finishes measurably smaller than the sum of its parts. The effect is smaller with fragrance concentrate than with water, but it is real, and so are losses to mixing, temperature and whatever stays in the vessel. That is what the overfill percentage is for. Measure the finished batch before you commit it to a bottle count.
Does this replace IFRA compliance?
No. This calculates proportions and nothing else. IFRA standards limit specific materials by product category and application, and selling a fragrance in most markets also requires allergen declarations and a product safety assessment. Those need your actual formula reviewed by someone qualified to do it — a dilution ratio tells you nothing about whether a material is within its limit.
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