Ingredients glossary

Removes dirt to leave surfaces clean or polished through rubbing/ brushing

Added to a product to improve one or more important properties

Increases the alkalinity of the product to help in the washing away of dirt.

Helps prevent the removed dirt in washing water from reattaching to a surface

Prevents excessive foam or bubbles forming when a product is used

Helps to reduce the amount of bacteria on a surface or body (part)

Helps to prevent reactions promoted by oxygen in the product, which can cause product spoilage.

Helps to make you hair, skin, clothes, kitchen ware or hard surfaces feel better by reducing static charge

Helps materials to bind or stick together

Boosts the performance of bleach to make it more effective at low temperatures

Becomes a bleaching substance during washing

Ingredients from herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, leaves or seeds

Maintains the right acidity / alkalinity balance of a product

Reduces water hardness, makes cleaning products more effective

Diluant. Dilutes solids or liquids to allow for more accurate dosing

Probiotics , in their activated state, secrete secondary metabolites that work as cleaning agents

Colours the product, your hair or skin

Prevents corrosion of packaging

Changes the taste of a product to prevent ingestion. Typically used in alcohol-containing products.

Prevents colour rinsed out from clothes into wash water being deposited on to your other clothes during the wash

Helps two or more liquids, that don't usually combine to form a single solution; often referred to as an 'emulsion'

Prevents a mixture from separating and helping to increase a product's shelf life

Boosts the cleaning properties of a product to help remove specific stains at lower temperatures e.g. fats, egg, blood.

Makes an enzyme last longer in liquid detergent

Helps to soften and improve the feel of a fabric

Helps provide a smooth, consistent coverage when applied

Improves the taste of oral or lip care products, such as tooth paste or lip balm

Provides a distinctive, pleasant smell

Helps to retain water in a product, in hair or the top layers of skin

Allows cleaning agents to be uniformly dispersed within a product.

Makes the product appear more opaque or pearly

Provides additional brightness to the surface to which product is applied.

In laundry and household care products stains are removed by oxidation (bleaching).

Controls the acidity / alkalinity balance of products

This prolongs the shelf-life of the product, even once it has been opened, protecting it from bacteria, yeasts and moulds

A secondary component/ingredient which is created when making the product

A compressed gas that helps expel product from a can

Helps prevent impurities from water from causing adverse effects on product performance, appearance, or stability.

Helps to make your skin feel soft, smooth and supple.

Makes a softening agent more effective and last longer

Helps an ingredient in the product dissolve better

Dissolves substances or ingredients

Helps maintain the stability of a product's formulation, appearance and texture

Gives a product form or shape

An ingredient which helps to clean or remove dirt and oil, creating foam when used with water

Helps keep solids separated and evenly dispersed within a product

Helps to protect the product formulation from UV rays

Controls the density or thickness of a product