Mouthwash ingredient lists are the kind of thing most people glance at and then look away from. We'd rather you understood every line of ours, and were comfortable with all of it. So here's a plain-English walk through what's actually in a typical Waken mouthwash, in the order it appears on the label, and what each ingredient is doing.
Aqua
Water. The main ingredient by volume, which is true of almost every liquid product on a bathroom shelf. There's no useful version of mouthwash that doesn't start here.
Glycerin
A naturally occurring compound, plant-derived in our case. It makes the liquid feel a bit smoother in the mouth and helps the other ingredients stay evenly mixed. It's also why mouthwash doesn't feel exactly like water when you swish it.
Hydrogenated starch hydrolysate
A natural sweetener made from starch. We use a small amount to make the mouthwash taste pleasant. It's tooth-friendly, which is the key thing. It doesn't feed the bacteria that cause cavities.
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
An emulsifier, derived from castor oil. Its job is to keep the flavour oils dispersed in the water-based liquid, so you don't get an oily layer separating on top. Without it, mouthwash would need shaking before every use.
Sodium Benzoate
A preservative. It stops bacteria and mould growing in the bottle once it's open. The alternative would be to use a much harsher preservative system, or to put a much shorter shelf life on the product. This one is well-established and used at low levels.
Aroma
The natural flavour blend, which differs depending on the variant. Peppermint extract in our Advanced Care, spearmint in Enamel Care. The asterisk on the label tells you it's a blend of natural ingredients.
Citric Acid
A small amount, used to re-balance the pH.
Sodium Fluoride
The active ingredient that does the protecting. Our mouthwashes contain 250 ppm fluoride, which is the amount we think makes sense as a daily top-up alongside brushing. Strong enough to help remineralise enamel between brushes, gentle enough to use every day.
Sodium Saccharin
A non-sugar sweetener used to round off the taste. Tooth-friendly, no cavity risk, used in very small amounts.
The whitening-specific extras
Our Whitening Mouthwash also contains papain and bromelain, the plant enzymes from papaya and pineapple that gently lift surface stains, plus a small amount of disodium pyrophosphate to support stain prevention. All plant-derived, all gentle enough for daily use.
What's not in any of our mouthwashes
- Alcohol
- SLS
- Artificial colours or dyes
- Animal-derived ingredients
The reason we wrote this
Not to convince you of anything. Just to show our working. If there's an ingredient in any of our products you'd like to know more about, we'd rather you ask than wonder. That's the whole point of being open about it.
Don't just clean. Care.