Popular Laundry Detergent in Japan + Natural/Organic Brands
I’m someone who knows more then the general public does when it comes to the chemical warfare that we are exposed to every day, I’ve done the research and have seen the physical effects of bad detergents, not only are most horribly bad for the environment, they are also horribly bad for YOU, and especially children.
Most laundry detergent are so bad for you, that the lobbyist here in America made it so that laundry detergent manufactures do not BY LAW have to tell you what it’s in the mixture of death. To be blunt, it’s a toxic concoction of petroleum based products and many are straight responsible for the rise in asthma and respiratory challenges as well as cancer. To push this even further in many main stream brands of detergents have a chemical used in them that are actually used in laboratory conditions to INDUCE asthma attacks for research!
So here is a basic run down of popular detergents in Japan, and few you may want to lean towards when given the option! Overall it’s not super popular for natural/organic safe detergents in Japan, but they do exist! When my wife and I get over there we’ll update with a new post when we find more options for those that care about their health.
WARNING UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE RUN FAR FAR AWAY FROM THESE BRANDS
Words to know when reading ingredients and words on detergent boxes/bottles:
洗濯 | せんたく | sentaku | laundry |
洗剤 | せんざい | senzai | detergent |
粉末 | ふんまつ | funmatsu | powder |
液体 | えきたい | ekitai | liquid |
固形 | こけい | kokei | solid |
石鹸, 石けん, せっけん | せっけん | sekken | soap |
柔軟剤 | じゅうなんざい | juunanzai | fabric softener |
柔軟仕上げ剤 | じゅうなんしあげざい | Jūnan shiage-zai | fabric softener |
詰替用 or つめかえ用 | つめかえよう | tsumekaeyou | refill |
液性 | えきせい | ekisei | pH |
香り | かおり | kaori | scented |
入り | いり | Iri | Included |
– | なし | Nashi | without |
おしゃれ着 | おしゃれちゃく | Oshare chaku | fashionable clothes |
無添加 むてんか mutenka – no additives
Ingredients:
成分 | せいぶん | seibun | ingredients |
界面活性剤 | かいめんかっせいざい | kaimenkasseizai | surfactant |
合成 | ごうせい | gousei | synthetic |
純石けん | じゅんせっけん | junn sekken | pure soap |
酸素系 | さんそけい | sansokei | color-safe bleach |
塩素系 | えんそけい | ensokei | chlorine bleach |
衣料用漂白剤 | いりょうようひょうはくざい | iryouyou hyouhakuzai hyouhakuzai | Clothing bleach |
漂白剤 | ひょうはくざい | hyouhakuzai | bleaching agent |
漂白剤なし | ひょうはくざいなし | Hyōhaku-zai nashi | no bleach |
蛍光増白剤 | けいこうぞうはくざい | keikouzouhakuzai | optical brighteners |
酵素 | こうそ | kouso | enzymes |
アルカリ剤 | アルカリざい | arukarizai | alkaline agents |
水軟化剤 | みずなんかざい | mizunankazai | water softener |
柔軟剤入り | じゅうなんざいいり | juunanzai-iri | including fabric softener |
無香科 | むこうか | Mukou ka | No added fragrances |
配合していません | はいごうしていません | Haigō shite imasen | Not formulated |
Laundry detergent is typically labeled as: 洗濯用合成洗剤 on the back following 品名 (hinmei), which means “product name”
Common Brands:
- Arau (SAFE TO BUY)
- アリエール (Ariel)
- アタック (Attack)
- アワーズ (Awa’s)
- ボールド (Bold)
- エマール (Emal)
- ファファ (Fa-Fa)
- ミヨシ (Miyoshi) – no additives
- ニュービーズ (New Beads)
- トップ (Top)
- ブライト (Bright)
- シャボン玉 (Soap Bubble)
- ブルーダイヤ (Blue Diamond)
- NANOX
- 洗浄剤 (washing soap) -アクアウォッシュ洗浄剤
- Pigeon – Pua (Baby)
Fabric softener:
Fabric softener bottles look very similar to laundry detergent bottles, but instead, their 品名 (“product name”) on the table on the back of the bottle will be 柔軟仕上げ剤. Also, fabric softeners tend to be extremely scented, which is reflected by the flowers, berries and other representations of scents on the bottle. Fabric softener has been shown to be the most poisonous part of doing laundry. The EPA actually says on their own website that if some of these chemicals are floating around in the air that they are to be taken serious and to be avoided. DO NOT USE FABRIC SOFTENER. It’s better to get dryer balls instead to make your clothes less starchy.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED & REUSABLE
* DRY FASTER AND UNIQUE DRYER BALLS – These dryer balls comes in a set of 4 with 2.7″ x 2.7″ laundry ball size. The unique design separate clothes to provide more airflow and accelerates the drying process up to 40 percent and serve as all natural fabric as well, so you can save more time, energy and money.
- MAGICALLY SOFTEN FABRIC – Our durable dryer balls laundry brilliantly make fabric fluffier, softer and wrinkle-free. It also eliminates toxins while retaining the smell of essential oils to make the clothes smell great. If you feel just a hint of static, feel free to return this product within 30 days.
- SUPER EASY TO USE AND REUSABLE – The ball is big enough and very easy to use, simply place the magic drying balls for laundry into dryer appliance with the laundry load. It’s also durable and reusable with 1000 times life circle so you don’t need to use fabric softener or any static products anymore. It’s a money-saver!
- PREMIUM ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIAL – The spike ball is made of superb eco-friendly Hypoallergenic PVC Which is non-toxic and safe to use for all fabrics. It will be extremely safe for people with an allergy or people with sensitive skin that can’t use fabric softener.
They’re super affordable and my wife and I used ours the entire time while in Japan which was about 2 years. We left them with a friend and she is still using them. We’ll be purchasing another set when we leave and leave the ones we purchased when we returned with some family. It’s sort of a no brainer, it works and it’s reuseable and you’re literally not killing yourself and your family to be blunt about it.
Click here to learn more
Downy
Bleach:
Popular brands:
ブライト (Bright)
ハイター (Haiter)
マイブリーチ (My Bleach)
Detergent for super fine clothes: (Good to Buy)
The Laundry Detergent has premium ingredients and can save you a trip to the dry cleaners for certain fancier clothing. It also has a premium price at $42.73 for 500ml http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/favor/item/the_laundry_detergent_refill_set/
Aroma materials / ingredients detergent components (surface Activator equivalent amount): high grade alcohol-based (non-ionic) 9%, coconut oil fatty acid alkanolamide (ME A use) 7%, other: ro purified ingredients: Lavender essential oil 1% 83% (additive is any unused) water / liquid: neutral / applications: cotton, hemp, chemical fiber, wool, silk fabric washing
MORE TO COME!
-NihonScope
For the laundry detergent how many loads of laundry can the bottle and refill expect to make? And is there 83% additives or water, your wording is confusing?
Thanks!
It really depends on which brand you’re going for, however for the few things we get like this I’ve noticed that the refill can be a bit more than the bottle itself… Sometimes. We’ve been getting some stuff from amazon as where we live in Lizuka city there are no health based stores close to us. But last time I remember we were getting like 90 loads.. we use half of what was recommended and we use the crystal balls along with it to make detergent last longer. You gotta be a bit careful with these detergents as they don’t always tell you whats in them, so we try to go as minimal as we can now days. With full strength chemical based I would recommend using half as well and you won’t need the crystal balls. So you can get double whatever the refill bag comes out to. I’ll let my wife to chime in if she has something to say, she actually wrote this post awhile back.