To be honest, I’m overwhelmed by the sheer variety of cleaning products at my local stores. I’ve been using the basic Scrubbing Bubbles and Kabi Killer so far (not mixing them of course, no idea what would happen there), but what do you guys recommend? Do you have a favorite cleaner? What are your thoughts on the orange citrus cleaner I see everywhere? Is there a particular cleaning product or product combination you swear by for the kitchen or bathroom?
What’s more, I know Kabi Killer is strong. Is it safe to use on my (metal) kitchen sink or on my vinyl bathroom floor if I rinse thoroughly?
7 comments
[Utamaro](https://www.e-utamaro.com/products/cleaner) is a good all-purpose cleaner. It’s not very harsh either. Use it in the kitchen or to wipe down the dining table etc.
Bathroom I use [Magiclean](https://www.kao.com/jp/products/magiclean/4901301310224/)
I clean the kitchen sink with baking soda
I use キッチンハイター to clean the sink. There’s a toilet cleaner called サンポール which is actually great cleaning the bathroom, removing soap scum and cleaning the doors.
Not sure how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go but if you prefer cheap ie bare bones products, you can look into using citric acid, baking soda, sodium sesquicarbonate and sodium percarbonate. You can find them at Daiso, supermarkets and Muji.
I found this website to be handy for checking what each cleaning agent is good for.
https://daiichisekken.co.jp/howto/nc/
For general purpose cleaning, I use diluted dish soap in a spray bottle. I also have an alcohol-based product but that’s just for disinfecting surfaces and not cleaning.
Oh yeah. This is my time to shine. I love cleaning.
Oxiclean (Costco or home centre) for soaking clothes, washing, flasks, dishcloths. Oxiclean is fantastic for cleaning under the bath. (I can write out a whole step by step on that)
Daiso hard plastic scouring pad for stainless steel pots and pans. Daiso plastic brushes or “turtle” brushes for cast iron (they get greasy so you should replace occasionally)
Miracle Spray for most kitchen surfaces…
but…
アビリティクリーン (orange citrus cleaner) for gas stove, oven, oven trays etc. This one is for the tough shit. Spray on. Leave for a few minutes. Wipe off and rinse. Wear gloves.
For the toilet you gotta get under the rim to really get rid of smells. I use a pipe brush (Daiso) bent in an L shape to clean up in the rim and regularly use scrubbing bubbles 超強力 トイレクリーナー to keep it fresh.
Go to a local home improvement store and grab their generics. Mold cleaner should only be used for mold because the bleach and other agents in it are super strong. Toilet/bath cleaner can be interchanged, but toilet has a (weird) mint scent often. Floor cleaner with added gloss is great–water it down by half if you use if often. Glass cleaner is great. There’s kitchen cleaner, which is pretty much a super degreaser, and works great on everything from stove to fish fryer to bicycle chains–again, I water it down by half or even a quarter if I’m using it often.
I also suggest this: Get a normal spray bottle, add a few drops of dish soap, and fill with water. Use that as a all-purpose cleaner. There’s not many around Japan, but this is stupid simple. Add on doing similar with bleach and water for anti-bacteria stuff, like for quick wipes around the kitchen or hard surfaces you touch.
I found that the appropriate kind of マジックリン (Magic-Clean) works well for regular use in bath, toilet, kitchen top, floor. For a deeper cleaning, カビキラー (Kabi(=mould) Killer) and bleach serve well.