Body Paint Coverage Calculator
Body paint from surface area and coats, on all three published formulas — which agree through the middle and reach 10% apart at the corners.
This is for costume and prosthetic work. Body surface area is also used clinically to size drug doses, and this is not a tool for that — a formula that is close enough to buy paint by is not close enough to dose by. Spread rates vary widely by product and by how thickly it goes on, so treat the default as a placeholder and use your own. Nothing is uploaded.
Three formulas that agree through the middle and come apart at the corners
Du Bois multiplies two powers together, Haycock multiplies two different ones, and Mosteller is a square root. Through the middle of the range they are indistinguishable — 0.19% apart at an average adult build. That agreement is local, though, and it does not hold at the edges: swept across every plausible build, the three reach 10.3% apart.
| Build | Du Bois | Mosteller | Haycock | Apart by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 140 cm, 88 kg | Short and heavy | 1.733 m² | 1.850 m² | 1.912 m² | 10.34% |
| 150 cm, 45 kg | Small and light | 1.370 m² | 1.369 m² | 1.370 m² | 0.04% |
| 165 cm, 60 kg | Below average | 1.659 m² | 1.658 m² | 1.661 m² | 0.14% |
| 175 cm, 70 kg | An average adult | 1.848 m² | 1.845 m² | 1.847 m² | 0.19% |
| 190 cm, 110 kg | Tall and heavy | 2.377 m² | 2.409 m² | 2.433 m² | 2.35% |
| 210 cm, 66 kg | Very tall and light | 2.057 m² | 1.962 m² | 1.923 m² | 6.96% |
The corners are where they part company, in both directions: 10.3% short and heavy, 7.0% tall and light, against a fifth of a percent in the middle. It is not a tidy law, either — the closest agreement anywhere in the sweep turns up at 144 cm and 40 kg, which is nobody's idea of an average adult — so this page declines to offer a rule about when to trust which. The sweep covers body mass index 15 to 45.
The number that actually decides how much paint you buy
Body surface area is all of the skin. You never paint all of it — not the soles, not the scalp under hair, not whatever the costume covers. That fraction swings the answer by 150% across the range below, which is 15 times the formulas' worst disagreement — not their most flattering one. Whichever formula you pick, this is the input that decides what you buy.
| How much gets painted | Fraction | Area | Paint, 2 coats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arms, face and a bare midriff | 40% | 0.74 m² | 148 ml |
| Everything a swimsuit leaves out | 55% | 1.01 m² | 203 ml |
| Most of the body, costume aside | 75% | 1.38 m² | 277 ml |
| Nearly everything | 90% | 1.66 m² | 332 ml |
| Every square inch of skin | 100% | 1.84 m² | 369 ml |
At 10 square metres a litre, even painting every square inch of an average adult twice comes to 369 ml — under half a litre. The quantity is small enough that the honest advice is to buy a margin and stop optimising: the coats and the spread rate are both linear, so doubling either doubles the paint, and both are guessed far more loosely than any formula here.
How to use
- Enter height in centimetres and weight in kilograms.
- Set what fraction of the skin actually gets painted.
- Set the coats and your product spread rate.
- Read the paint, and how little the formula choice changed it.
Frequently asked questions
How much body paint does a full body take?
Less than people stock up for. An average adult is about 1.85 square metres of skin, and at 10 square metres a litre, painting every square inch of it twice comes to roughly 370 ml — under half a litre.
Which body surface area formula should I use?
For an average adult, any of them — Du Bois, Mosteller and Haycock land within 0.2% of each other there. That agreement is local, though. Swept across every plausible build the three reach 10.3% apart, so it is not a blanket answer.
Where do they disagree most?
At the corners, in both directions: 10.3% apart at 140 cm and 88 kg, and 7.0% at 210 cm and 66 kg, against a fifth of a percent in the middle. It is not a tidy rule — the closest agreement in the whole sweep is at 144 cm and 40 kg.
So what actually decides the quantity?
The fraction of skin you paint. Nobody paints all of it — not the soles, not the scalp under hair, not what the costume covers. That fraction swings the answer by 150% across a realistic range, which beats even the formulas worst 10.3% disagreement by fourteen times.
What spread rate should I use?
Whatever your product states. Spread varies enormously between a thin alcohol-based paint and a heavy cream, and with how thickly it goes on. The default here is a placeholder, and both coats and spread are linear — double either and you double the paint.
Can I use this for medical dosing?
No. Body surface area is used clinically to size drug doses, and this is not a tool for that: a formula close enough to buy paint by is not close enough to dose by, and the fraction input here has no clinical meaning at all.
How many coats will I need?
That depends on the colour underneath and the opacity of the paint, which no calculator can see. Work in whichever number you have found you need, and buy a margin — the quantities are small enough that running short costs more than the extra tin did.
Does this send anything anywhere?
No. Every figure is computed in your browser, and nothing is uploaded or stored.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.