When you pay hundreds of dollars for a shampoo, you want to hear it’s Caviar 
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Only if was so easy. When adding preservatives to anything, one has to consider how that react with the product and individual ingredients within the product. It is likely that these preservatives are not suitable in all cosmetics because of their interaction with other ingredients/compounds. For example, if there was an oxidising agent in a cosmetic, ascorbic acid may react with such compounds making it ineffective as a preservative.
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I’m not sure if this fits with your issue, but after years of greenwashing, we now in this period of pandemic being sold products to clean that which should already be clean. We are told that washing our hands for 30 seconds will kill viruses and bacteria, and yet we apparently need to sterilise our washing machines - and run for many multiples of 30 seconds. Really?
Similarly, if my dishwasher can clean plates, pots etc, does it then need cleaning itself - with an additional product?
For what it’s worth, I’m amazed that the ACCC hasn’t waded in on the washing machine “cleaner”. It’s in the magic beans category IMHO.
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I happened to see an AD for Dettol Wipes and products on TV last night 5/7/21 which the last comment in the ad was it will " KILL COVID VIRUS" how true can this be ???
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Dettol is a disinfectant, so yes it will ‘kill’ bacteria and viruses on surfaces.
I wouldn’t go around drinking it though.
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I expect it is as these items are advertised as killing up to 99.99% of germs.
It should kill COVID-19 and all other viruses and bacteria or there would be no point in us using them to wipe hands and trolleys.
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Welcome @educate
The following are the ingredients of Dettol Wipes:
Aqua, Propylene Glycol, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Benzoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Parfum, Lactic Acid, Benzalkonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA.
As you can see it’s mostly surfactants,
emulsifiers, and preservatives.
The disinfectant is Lactic Acid.
The claim is that the product kills 99.9%
of bacteria and has ‘virucidal activity’
including Covid-19 virus.
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Some info from https://www.chem-rubber.com
"Benzalkonium chloride is a typical dual-function disinfectant, which can kill bacteria / fungus and kill / inhibit viruses. It has a strong killing effect on a variety of pathogenic bacteria / fungus and viruses, so it is widely used in various scene disinfection.
In addition, benzalkonium chloride is colorless, fragrant and non-irritating, and can be used for surgical wounds and skin and mucous membrane disinfection. Benzalkonium chloride is inert, non-flammable, non-volatile, and good stability does not cause the risk of burning. The ingredients are stable and less oxidized. It can be maintained for 4-5 hours after a single spray in public places, which can continuously kill / inhibit viruses"
It would mostly be used as a preservative in the solution but it’s effect could also be as part of the product’s action.
“Caprylyl glycol is an alcohol derived from caprylic acid, which is found naturally found in palm and coconut oils. Formulators love it for a few different reasons: One, it improves the spreadability and ultimately the feel of a product on your skin. Two, because it’s antimicrobial, and it has preservative-like properties, says Belkin”
Again Caprylyl glycol may be adding it’s anti-microbial effect to the solution.
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Benzalkonium chloride is also an antibacterial agent as well as a surfactant. They say Dettol wipes:
- Kills 99.9% of germs(E.coli, Salmonella, S. areus)
“Germs” is ambiguous, the three listed are bacteria.
Disinfectants do not kill all microorganisms. I would not assume it kills COVID on surfaces unless it has been tested specifically.
I can’t see any claims on the Dettol web site that the wipes are viricidal or that they have been tested on COVID. It does say:
DETTOL ANTIBACTERIAL HOUSEHOLD GRADE DISINFECTANT
Kills SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 virus) on household surfaces
But that is another product.
From the Choice review
Disinfectants
The Australian Department of Health says you should use a disinfectant that claims ‘antiviral activity’, meaning it can kill a virus.
This is different from an ‘antibacterial cleaner’. Antibacterial cleaning products contain ingredients to eliminate germs and bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.
Benzalkonium Chloride is a disinfectant, and from Wikipedia
" In November 2020 The Journal of Hospital Infection published a study on benzalkonium chloride formulations; it was found that laboratory and commercial disinfectants with 0.13% to 0.28% inactivated the SARS-CoV-2 virus within 15 seconds of contact, even in the presence of a soil or hard water.[12] This resulted in a growing consensus that BZK sanitizers are just as effective as alcohol-based sanitizers despite the CDC guidelines.[13] As a hand sanitizer, use of BZK may be advantageous over ethanol in some situations because it has significantly more residual antibacterial action on the skin after initial application.[14] Benzalkonium chloride has demonstrated persistent antimicrobial activity for up to four hours after contact whereas ethanol-based sanitizer demonstrate skin protection for only 10 minutes post-application.[15]"
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I remember hearing an ad on the TV for either Pine o Clean or Detol Wipes stating that it kills the Corona Virus . The link below lists all commonly available disinfectants , wipes etc that kill Covid 19
https://blog.animalemergencyservice.com.au/coronavirus-and-household-disinfectants
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0.2% Benzalkonium Chloride isn’t very much to need in solution and is effective, 0.05% is a minute amount and still regarded as effective. I guess Dettol meets or exceeds the minimum amount needed.
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Wonder why any disinfectant only kills 99.9% of germs.
I can just imagine the surviving 0.1% rejoicing at their escape and having lots of wild parties to multiply as fast as they can into 100% superbugs 
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Botanicals products sold through Woolies is going to save the endangered wildflowers affected by bushfires.
How on earth they plan to accomplish this, I don’t know
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Does it mean 99.9% of species or numerically 99.9% of individual “germs” ? It could be some species are hardier than others or some individuals. Do they refer to all known species or only those likely to be found around the house?
And what do we mean by “germ”? Is it all microorganisms? Multicellular or just single cell? Microscopic fungi, protists, protozoans and algae too? All species or just those that can harm humans?
It’s a pretty pointless statistic without any explanation.
Because they can’t guarantee the product will kill 100% of the “germs”. If they made that statement I could just imagine the Court cases seeking compensation for the failure to eradicate everything.
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100% is an absolute. Everything.
0% likewise is an absolute. Nothing.
Everything in between is the realm of testing and statistical analysis.
I am sure that from a marketing point of view 99.9% looks much better than say 99.2% but the end result is statistically the same within confidence levels and error margins.
Would that be called ‘sterilisation’ ?
The ACCC has published some draft guidance relating to greenwashing.
They are seeking feedback, the below extract is from page 4 of the draft guidance.
