These are some of the day-to-day cleaning products I personally use. Also, in Japan basically every product will have a plastic refill pouch instead of buying the container each time. And please remember not to mix cleaners if you don’t know what they’re made of!!

Japan seemingly has hundreds of cleaning products and specific use items. This is just the basic starting point. It will be a lot of google translating but once you find what you like, you don’t have to think about again. All the products below I see at my normal grocery store/supermarket.

Cleaning frequently in Japan is highly necessary. A vaccum, or at very least a broom, is good (you can look at 2nd hand shops like second street or bookoff if you don’t want to pay full price)

General Household Cleaner

マイペット “My Pet”

A mild alkaline cleaning product. Can be used on floors, walls, Tatami, carpet, furniture and cupboards (if painted surface, they recommend spraying on cloth first). (Don’t use on LCD screens, leather products, thin coating and copper or brass items)

Laundry detergent

部屋干し is an important word if you want to dry your laundry inside. It means the detergent is made for indoor drying and stops an odor or mold from growing.

アタック抗菌ex 部屋干し用 is the liquid detergent I like. It’s meant to be anti-bacterial and has little to no scent which I also like. (The picture is of new packaging; I’m not sure which is in stores now. But it’s the green attack brand one). I think I use less than the recommended amount of product. I’m not out and about, rolling around in mud and dirt, so maybe if you’re a sports player you’ll need something more heavy duty.

I also wear lots of white or lighter colours so I add Oxiclean to all my laundry along with the Attack product above. This one is the colour-safe version but maybe if your laundry is black or bright red, I’d be careful using it. The yellow cap with blue bottle is the one I use. It is a powder, but I never issue with it. Don’t use it on things you can bleach (it is a bleach after all). The website lists: Textile products that cannot be washed with water, such as wool, wool blends, silk, and silk blends Leather, Persian carpets, tatami mats, marble. Clothing marked as dry clean only. Jewelry, rust, metal in general, metal accessories, latex paint. Jute, teak, finished wood, etc.

Bathroom Cleaner (like bath and shower wet area)

I use “Magic Clean”. The important word here is バスBATH. There is also a bathtub picture near the neck of the bottle so you can tell easily. I used the same brand for toilet cleaner, so you don’t want to get it mixed up. It’s a daily use product, I spray it every time after I shower, and I’ve never had an issue with mold, slime or smells (unless I leave my hair in the drain). It is weak so long set in problems and grim can’t be fixed with it. I personally shower, the turn off the water, spray it down (sometimes I use a sponge also but normally I don’t need it) and then rinse with cold water. It’s a little slippery if you don’t rinse it off. The cold water is also good to remove the heat and steam which also leads to mold growth.

I like the smell of the pink one but there’s 3 (?) different scents.

Mold Killer

カビキラー　Mold Killer is famous in Japan. I only used it in my bathroom when I first came to Japan, and it was gross from being empty for so long. I’d also say its probably only bathroom safe. Its strong, stinky and idk what it is actually made of so just be careful with it. It says leave on for 5mins and then wash off.

Toilet Cleaner

Also “Magic Clean” but here it’s トイレ TOLIET. And there’s also a picture of a toilet on it. As you can see it looks like the bathroom cleaner, so I recommend buying a different scent for each so that the bottles are clearly different. It cleans so I use it.

Bleach

Bleach is my go-to. Put some gloves on, pour down the drains or in the toilet and everything is white again. I use it to clean my kitchen sink because my kitchen is just totally metal (of course mix it with some water). I use one that’s called kitchen bleach, but I think its just weaker normal bleach. All the bleach I see in Japan comes in this green bottle with a pink lid. Of course, DON’T MIX IT WITH OTHER PRODUCTS!!

Dish Washing liquid

食器用洗剤 is dishwashing liquid in Japanese. キュキュット brand is what I like. It cleans my dishes, and it doesn’t leave a taste. Idk what else or how to judge otherwise.

Not cleaning but please please please buy 除湿剤

They suck up moisture from the air to prevent mold and help dehumidify your cupboards and closets. You can also buy sachet ones to go into draws or hang from the pole of your clothes rack. There is a million brands so I just buy a size brick I like.