Preservative
Protects the product rather than the surface. A water-based cleaner is a nutrient broth if nothing stops things growing in it.
In detail
A preservative in a cleaning product is there to keep the product itself from spoiling. Most household cleaners are mostly water and contain organic material that bacteria, yeasts and moulds can use, so an unpreserved formulation can develop growth in the bottle over months of storage — separating, smelling, discolouring, or in the worst case being applied to surfaces while carrying an organism load of its own. This is a different job from disinfection and the distinction is worth holding on to. A preservative acts inside the container at very low concentration to stop growth over time; a disinfectant acts on a surface for a stated contact time. A product containing a preservative is not thereby a disinfectant. The class must be declared on the label irrespective of concentration, and where possible using the common ingredient names established for cosmetics — which is why a preservative often appears on a cleaner in the same wording used on a moisturiser.
Why
- Preservative is explained by Cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting
Sources for this page
Sources
Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 on detergents, Annex VII — labelling and ingredient data sheet
European Parliament and Council, as retained in UK law (legislation.gov.uk), 2004 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That the class must be declared on a detergent label irrespective of its concentration. (states this directly)
Safer Chemical Ingredients List — functional-use classes
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Safer Choice · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That the class is one of the functional-use classes a cleaning formulation is assessed in. (states this directly)