Suggestions for personal cleaning products/methods that changed the game for you?

25 comments

1. frequency is the key, plus use a squeegee to hasten the bathroom drying process

2. Quickle Home Reset for the everyday stuff, キッチンハイター or Kabi Killer for the gnarly stuff. Make a trip to Daiso for scrubbing brushes and zoukin, and you’re ready for 90% of messes.

3. cleaning everything as soon as it gets dirty. done with a plate? wash it then and there. small otherwise unnoticeable spill? clean it then and there. nearing the end of the day? quick sweep. towards the end of my showers i reorganized everything. and every morning i do a breif clean/organization of my whole room. only takes 5 minutes, and its much faster than having to clean for over an hour every weekend. also please make sure your clean your drains often, they usually the culprits of bad smells.

4. There are these gel-type toilet bowl cleaners that you stick to the side of the toilet bowl using an applicator. They release a bit of detergent each time you flush, and they actually work very well to keep the bowl clean.

   Regarding tidying, the KonMari method inspired me to clean up our house. I must have thrown out over 200kg of stuff that we no longer needed.

5. I use [カビキラー](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Remover-Replacement-Detergent-Cleaning-Purchase/dp/B09MK1T82Y/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19WNWV6KBMI8R&keywords=%E3%82%AB%E3%83%93%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC&qid=1685923009&sprefix=kabi%2Caps%2C226&sr=8-1) to clean everything. Toilet, bathroom, kitchen. Closest thing to bleach that actually works. (it has bleach in it). Use a scrubbing sponge with it.

6. These are what I do:

   * wipe up the kitchen area with a microfiber cleaning cloth after cooking
   * put a drain net on the drain basket of the kitchen sink, change it every day and pour bleach
   * squeezee the walls and the floor of the bathroom

   The rest is just regular cleaning (vacuuming the room and washing the bathroom once a week, wiping up the toilet with toilet cleaner sheet every day, using a quickle wiper every day and after using a hair dryer)

7. Dyson vacuum cleaner.

   I’m assuming a cheaper cordless would do the job too, but having a cordless vacuum really helps you keep up on the vacuuming because you can casually just spot clean as you go.

   Also just go ahead and buy a bunch of small hand towels or zoukin. It’s easier to keep using fresh ones and then throwing them in the laundry after a quick rinse rather than using a couple ones over and over and hand washing them after each use. Also much more hygienic this way.

8. カビキラー

   If it were human I would ask it to marry me.

9. I’ve found [gel-type spray mold removers ](https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07YBHFPYN/) great for dealing with stubborn mold in the bathroom, and a lot better than regular liquid-type sprays.

   I also leave the ventilation fan in my bathroom on 24/7.

   For my kitchen sink, I always use a “[drain net](https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=drain+net)”. You can usually find packs of them at most 100Y shops.

   Before I came to Japan, I had a robot vacuum. It’s was really nice coming home from work to clean floors every workday, and downright awesome watching TV on the weekends with my feet up while the robot was doing its thing. That said, I should look into getting one here… Do note, these only work great if your floors are clear. Also, [if you have any pets, you’ll want to look into a unit with poop detection…](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/15/roomba-robot-vacuum-poopocalypse-facebook-post)

10. I do a deep clean of the kitchen every 2 weeks and in between I wipe surfaces that we use with a wet dishcloth and some dish soap. I vacuum after every meal under the table and mop the floor every few days. Bathroom: get some scouring cream and use that to scrub tiles, use some bathroom spray for more delicate surfaces. I bought one of those huge bath cleaning sponges at the 100 yen shop to quickly scrub the tiled walls and the bath. Works like a charm, just chuck it in the washing machine afterwards and reuse. I also keep a bottle of bleech ready in case of mold issues, a bath mat on the floor will keep it dry but wash it every few days at least.

11. Kitchen: use [落ち落ちIH&ガスコンロクリーナー](https://jp.daisonet.com/products/4549131595895) bought from Daiso every time you’re done with cooking. Take one sheet and wipe everything down, the metal countertop, the IH surface / hob, and the walls surrounding it. You won’t ever have calcium or oil stains. Also get [one of those net stockings](https://jp.daisonet.com/products/4979909962657) for the strainer, throw away and put new one in once a week.

    Bathroom: カビキラー like other comments said, and get a brush with a comfortable handle from daiso. Spray and brush as soon as you see a pink spot or black stain. **Leave the ventilation fan on 24 hours**, or if that’s not possible, leave the fan during and after your night shower and turn off the next morning. If that is not possible too, leave the bathroom door open. Keeping your bathroom dry is the key.

    Toilet: [Bluelet トイレ洗浄中](https://www.kobayashi.co.jp/seihin/tsj/). Pop them down into the hole and leave it overnight. Flush the next morning. Do that once a month and it’ll slow down the yellowing/browning of the hole. You’ll still need to brush though, probably once per six months. Similar to bathroom, **leave the ventilation fan on 24 hours**, or keep everything as dry as possible.

12. Dani spray for certain times of the year helped me stop random bouts of sneezing.

13. I learned about this thing wayyyy too late but after a major clean in your bathroom (read room with the shower), do the [mold prevention smoke bomb](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%98%B2%E3%82%AB%E3%83%93%E3%81%8F%E3%82%93%E7%85%99%E5%89%A4-%E3%83%AB%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E3%81%8A%E9%A2%A8%E5%91%82%E6%B4%97%E5%89%A4-%E3%83%95%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%81%AE%E9%A6%99%E3%82%8A-4g%C3%973%E5%80%8B%E3%83%91%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF/dp/B0B2WD69QY). It coats the clean walls and prevents mold for up to 2 months. It’s magic. Just be careful about the fumes. You want to close the door and avoid the area for about 2 or 3 hours after setting it off.

14. The best thing I bought was a steam mop ! I hated cleaning the floor but now it’s super easy. I just add some floor cleaning products to the water and it’s smell so good (you can also add essential oil).I don’t feel the same about my vacuum robot… this little guy gets stuck everywhere.

15. [These are my favourites.](https://ibb.co/CKcTJ9v).

16. There are a lot of cleaning product suggestions that I completely agree with.

    Some non-cleaning recommendations are fly repellent deodorizers that can be stuck under the lid of the rubbish bin and passive dehumidifiers in the closets or poorly ventilated spaces in the summer. You can buy cheap passive dehumidifiers from Daiso, but if you want something that uses less plastic, there is a brand available at Seims which is a plastic pouch inside a cardboard holder.

    If flies do appear, pop one of the little gel-filled fly catcher units next to the problem area. They look like an orange and yellow onion.

17. I use scrub daddy and ハイホーム (or dish soap) for most things (sink, microwave, stovetop, etc). I grew up with birds and it’s just a habit for me to not use harsh cleaning products unless I have to.

    The gunk under the sink gets caught in one of those 100yen shop nets, but if the filter itself gets gunky I have a small dish cleaning brush (also 100 yen) that I use with dish soap or ハイホーム and just scrub it a little.

    A normal sponge + baking soda works okayish too, depending on what you’re trying to scrub off. It’s great for removing stains from pots/pans/cups.

    When your drains smell off use drain cleaner. I haven’t found one brand to be more effective over another.

    Clean your washing machine!! I use the カビキラー brand.

    カビキラー spray is good for showers too, anything less serious than that and I just use dish soap.

18. A roomba with automatic clean station (and then a mopping robot but not as important as the roomba). Expensive but by far one of the best purchases I’ve ever made and would replace in an instant if it broke

    With my apartment, I replace the dust bag every 4-5 months because it doesn’t fill up. I maintain the roomba once a month but besides that I never have to vacuum. I come home and no dust or crumbles laying around. Once all few weeks I run the mopping robot as well.

    The roomba also forced me to rethink my cable situation and not have stuff laying around that the roomba could get stuck on / eat by accident. That forced a much cleaner layout

19. Recently we bought an electric food composter / dehydrater thingy because the local city hall gives a subsidy of 70% of the cost. The subsidy might differ depending on where you live (Google for local). I didn’t like the idea at first, but it’s grown on me.

    Chuck in any waste food during the day then run it overnight, and by morning it’s powdery compost with no smell. Cuts down on food waste that gets stinky and attracts bugs (especially cockroaches and those tiny but plump flies that get everywhere in summer). Using it has become a daily habit now, and we use the waste on the tomatoes.

    EDIT – food waste also means egg shells, banana skins and so on. Chicken and fish bones work, but not pork bones. Particularly good for seafood waste like shrimp casings/heads and fish bones since they get very stinky in summer.

20. Before you toss out an old toothbrush, use it as a scrub brush to get into the really tiny cracks and crevices around your tub and sinks. It works really well on getting the goop out of your kitchen sink drain filter.

21. This thread is gold! Thank you.

    – I personally like パイプユニッシュ for cleaning the drains in my bathroom. I’m a lady, and I shed quite a lot of hair, and sometimes it clogs :_)

    – For the bathroom sink, I like マッハ泡バブルーン. Quite fun to use, it became a trend on TikTok, and friends recommended it. It was fun to see the gunk come out!

    – Anything from Scrubbing Bubbles. I love the gel cleaner (超強力トイレクリーナー) as well as the toilet brush (流せるトイレブラシ) and the stamps (トイレスタンプ).

    – さぼったリング大盛り泡 黒ズミ対策 is also a godsend for the toilet. You put the powder in the toilet water, let it foam up from 30min to 1h, and then just flush. So clean, so nice, no need to scrub!

    – You can get シャボン玉 酸素系漂白剤 which is like a Japanese version of OxiClean, and it worked great for me at a fraction of the price.

    – ルックプラス 清潔リセッ. This foaming powder to clean the kitchen sink is also great!

    – リンレイウルトラハードクリーナー is the best degreaser! I pray it on the back of my pans and let it marinate with some plastic film on top so it doesn’t dry out. The pans come out so clean and sparkly!

22. I watched a bunch of “before you move in, do these things” videos and by far the best thing that’s worked out so far is replacing the drain things with metal versions.

    The kitchen drain cover and the basket, the shower drain, bathroom sink drain covers: all stainless steel.

    I don’t need the net things anymore. Cleaning them once a week is as easy as wiping them off with a tissue and soaking in hot soapy water. There are copper versions too but I’m happy with the stainless steel ones I got.

    When you move out, just put the original plastic ones back.

23. Scrunched up aluminum foil balls in the sink filter. Saw it on a Japanese Tiktok. I dunno why, but the filter gets blocked less quickly.

    ハイター once a week on the sink drain filter and the plastic triangle I bought from daiso (“シンク三角” is probably not the official term, but it’ll show you what I mean on google).

    Daiso stretchy clay for the cabinet under the sink, where the pipe meets the cabinet base. Just roll a long piece of it and press it around the hole where the pipe goes through the cabinet. This is to prevent bugs from climbing in.

    If you have an overhead cabinet, a variety of hanging racks/hooks to organize spices/utensils. The ones I use are from Nitori / Tokyu Hands.

24. Minimalism (for cooking and eating utensils, for clothing, for everything that’s everyday stuff), routine/regularity and orderliness habits (sorting, putting away, labelling etc). Keep the floors bare AF if possible because dust seems to materialise out of nowhere in Japan (get a floor vacuum robot if you can afford it).

    Edit: and learn the traditional(eco) Japanese cleaning products. In the same way that vinegar can be used for many things, there’s other equally great substances that will save money, the environment and, most importantly maybe, your health (because a lot of the commercial products are full of toxic shit and unnecessarily over priced and over packaged). Keep it simple…

25. Not necessarily a specific product, but it’s more of setting everything up so I can clean the bath whenever I want.

    I have a unit bath with the classic setup. I hang a long scrub brush with a replaceable head, and on the bottom shelf that’s right near the floor I have a spray bottle of bleach and a dispenser of cheap dish soap. So whenever I see that pink mold start to grow, I can give it a spray, and whenever I’m bored I can scrub down my shower. I never have to bring any supplies in, they’re all there to use whenever I feel like cleaning.