It's 2022, and I have just spent 18 minutes of my night off watching, and somehow enjoying, a video of a woman on the other side of the world cleaning her bath. This is not the adulthood I imagined when I was growing up.
So, there's a good chance that whoever lived there before never cleaned that part of the tub - which is why it was so horrible that first time. I'm hoping it's less gross in the future. I highly recommend a long bristle brush to make it easier for you to clean in the future.
Actually the bathroom was renovated before I moved in so it was just me 💀 but I didn’t figure out how to clean underneath for like 10 months so I understand why it got disgusting 😂😅😅😅 but will definitely be cleaner in the future now I figured it out!
@@TokidokiTraveller - LOL ok yeah - 10 months will do it LOL. SO glad you figured it out - you're also reminding me to go pull my refrigerator and stove out and clean behind those.... It's been over a year. Pray for me.
@@TokidokiTraveller I didn't even know you had to clean underneath it. I would have just cleaned the tub, the mirror, the floor and drain. Watching all that gunk and slime come out freaked me out. LOL.
As a person who did maintenance work like this for half a decade: I really admire your ingenuity and resourcefulness. Don't tell your apartment complex that you did this; they will try to hire you. You are cool. Ganbare.
@@gustavusadolphus425 that toaster oven is like the old school moment of getting a new phone and going through all the ringtones to pick the least annoying one that was also not the most commonly used. Back before we could just download ringtones.
This just triggered a memory of when I worked in Japan. I was living in a older apartment with the traditional bath/boiler unit. When I moved in I thought I should clean the system using some dissolvable cleaner tablets I’d found at family mart. All seemed to go well until I turned on the bath water heater on the boiler, when all the black goo started to emerge from the boiler. It was rank. Then when I pulled the plug, all the cleaner water dislodged a HUGE lump of goo, hair and other grossness that was about the size of the bath. So awful! Loved the video, keep up the great content!
Watching this as the stuff came out from under the tub I was like “Why?!? How?!? When?!? Who?!? I demand to meet the designer who did this to Japan!!!” The industrial designer in me is raging with questions. Then I went and hugged my bathroom after watching this. I used to think that it was high maintenance to clean. After seeing this video I was oh so very wrong. (I’m in Canada 🇨🇦)
I just went and thanked my bathtub for not being this kind of weird. Just a tub with normal drainage that is standard here in Germany. Nothing rank or funky going on.
Id definitely recommend letting it air dry before closing it back up when you've just cleaned it. Mold mostly grows in cold damp dark environments like the under the tub but letting in a little bit of airflow by keeping the cover off for a bit while it dries could help with that when you've just soaked it. Honestly it would probably be cleaner if there wasn't a front cover at all
You'd think with all the other automation in the tubs, that it would be a simple enough addition to include an automated under tub sprayer/cleaning cycle.
Or just have the tub removable since it's a wet room, all it really needs to be is a tub with a plug in the bottom everything else can be attached to the wall.
I ended up asking someone in my wife's work how they clean it. Most of them just hire a cleaning company to do it. But one of them said they us a small pressure washer to spray under the tub and that seems to work really well for removing any buildup.
Oh lord. I nearly forgot cleaning companies were a thing, and I have a maid. I'll be hiring one once a year for this when I'm living in Japan... my pride doesn't prevent me from admitting I'm not dealing with this shit
Essential video for anyone living in Tokyo. I was totally stumped by my first Japanese bathroom. It took me a few hours to figure out how the tub came apart for cleaning. I use Clorox Spray Foam for cleaning. Works great.
Watching this i am very grateful for my european bathtub which is has solid walls arround it. So no need for cleaning underneath because of no actual underneath :) Great job Emma
This has given me strength to finally tackle my bath and sink areas after a few months of ignoring them! Random anecdote: I remember a friend of mine found maggots in her sink drain once. D: It was an ooold house (and she had never cleaned it since she moved in.) Plus this was off the Japan sea so the humidity was waaaay worse than in Tokyo but…ugh…yeah ^^;;;
Glad to hear you're feeling better Emma. I wonder how many people never know to clean under there lol. It's so counter intuitive with Japanese bath rooms if it has to stay wet with not much ventilation/sunlight.
Don’t know why, but really liked this edition. So interesting to learn more about your chosen home country. You’ve come a long way from that teeny, tiny apartment.
This is the tutorial I needed! I live in a building built in the 80’s and cleaning my bathroom is so stressful for me! Thank you for blessing us with this knowledge! Unfortunately, my bathtub front doesn’t come off and there’s not way to get behind it, but the bleach trick is going to be a game changer!
To clean underneath the bath, you use a high pressure water steam jet / power wash and wand. The tip makes a powerful spray that breaks up any deposits and has an optional brush to scrub. Works a treat, and the steam side is a relatively small device.
This was an eye opener. I'm about to move into my first apartment here, so this is super helpful.Thanks for sharing and enjoy your trip home when it comes!
When I lived in a Japanese apartment I didn't shower in the wet area of room, but angled the shower nozzle toward the tub. That minimized the the amount of water under the tub and is what I was accustomed to anyway. It was much easier to clean the inside of the tub if I wanted to bathe than cleaning under the tub. It also meant when I wished to step into the bathing room to hang clothes under the ceiling dryer, I didn't have to step on a wet floor or into bath room cleaning slippers. I hated stumbling over multiple pairs of slippers or drying wet feet in a 30 square meter home. Ridiculous. My theory is that Japanese design of baths, laundry systems, and kitchens makes cleaning the home as awkward and time consuming as possible so that the "woman at the back of the house" (translation of "wife") doesn't indulge in any ideas of a more fulfilling life outside the home. She (and by and large it is a "she" who cleans) will never have a moment to imagine the possibility. By comparison my Canadian home is a breeze to maintain without this sort of nuisance level cleaning required.
@@L337Dratini The automation is nice, for sure. I especially enjoyed the temperature control. Also, keeping water warm for multiple uses minimizes the negative impact on the environment of using an excessive amount of water. My preference is for a separate shower unit as well as a deep soaker bathtub (no jets--too noise and they too grow nasties in the nozzles). Best of both worlds, but not in the limited space available in most Japanese apartments.
As a person who absolutely abhors baths in general, if I lived in Japan I would just rip the entire thing out, tile the floor, and make it a large walk-in steam shower LOL
I had the same theory. It is an unnecessary pain to clean. Also it irks me that there is constantly standing water in the kitchen sink and bathtub under the drain net unless you drain it yourself (which is impractical to do every time you use either one)
You might also want to get someone to clean the other side of the stainless drum in the washing machine. It gets dirty from time to time. (Just like the hidden parts of the bathtub)
Aw man.... I wasn't planning on cleaning my bathroom today but now I feel the urge to get up under that bathtub. I didn't realize we could actually clean under there and we've been in our house for 3 years! Wish me luck!
So glad my European bath (shallow and unsuitable for deep soaking though it may be) just drains directly into a pipe with a water lock that I never need to clean! And I did take the cover off my previous tub (because it was supposed to be a jacuzzi but it never jacuzzied, alas), but it just got a little dusty underneath. No biggie :)
You have answered my long time question. I distinctly remember seeing that Rachel and Jun video and wondering about this exact thing! This is the first video of yours I'm watching, so I'm not sure why you are living in Japan, but I wish you the best of luck. Always rewarding getting those small victories and figuring stuff out, even if it is just cleaning a bathroom. Great work 👍!
There‘s a video from „Life where I‘m from“ where Greg says that it is so much easier to clean under his new bathtub. Thanks to your great video I finally understand what he was talking about!
I love your videos Emma! You are the best. :D I mean, I can't imagine watching a whole video of someone cleaning their floor drain if it wasn't you making it fun and interesting. :)
Wow, had no idea how involved those bathrooms were to clean! Congrats on booking flights back to Oz, keeping my fingers crossed it all goes smoothly for you to get here and back! Enjoy time with your fam and mates!! Besides fish and chips is there any other dishes you've missed?
Thanks for this! The title threw me off and I didn’t know what to expect but this was really interesting. My wife and I were glued to the cleaning method!
I have a stand in shower with a similar problem, parts around the rim of the glass are just impossible to clean because you can't get to it. So I can say, personally, that black sludge of death was an all too familiar sight for me. When I eventually move to Japan it's good to know my skills will be transferable lmao
Emma I always look forward to your videos because you have the BEST EDITS and best sense of humor!! Im so happy that you get to go visit home soon! Keep up the great content! We love you!
I moved into my apartment in Japan a year ago with my husband (who's Japanese) and last week he said we should probably clean under the tub. I had no idea we were supposed to clean it! It's the stuff off nightmares! Thanks for showing how is done. Wish me luck
I'm 5' tall.. that doorway to the shower and bathroom area look FANTASTIC!!! I would 100% have those in my apartment or house just so I could watch all my tall friends hunch over to fit through the doorways
k- questions: 1- what is the name of the window defogging fluid? Where in Japan sells it? 2- Can you get a kitchen baggie for the bathroom drain? Thanks for this....I was traumatized but it necessary.
Shaving cream works actually. Clean the glass first. Afterwards just spread the shaving cream on the glass. It doesn't matter how long it stays on just wipe it down afterwards. The cream/foam leaves a thin film preventing some fog. Overtime it does go away. Some household products can do the same affect, as long as they create a thin film on the surface of the glass or whatever.
White vinegar works for at least two showers before it needs redone. Come to think of it, half of that and water in a spray bottle is an amazing glass/mirror cleaner. It dries streakless, too.
It blows my mind why anyone would design a bath drain like that. Sooo much better to just have the drain going straight into the pipes. Happy you found a way to clean it. I'm certain the people before you never did, which is such an unsettling thought, lol. -
To build on this: This design is also better for flooding and maintenance. If there is a leak, it does not flood the person below you. It floods that nice giant stainless pan. Any water appliance/vessel/etc should have this in any building, even single-story.
@@Kurufinwe_Fayanaro I member on watching on NHK a japanology plus on Bathrooms, and they mentioned that because Japan didn't historically have water hookups in individual apartments that everything was designed to be added to buildings whereas the western style is designed for new construction.
I'm pretty sure the design has something to do with japanese bathrooms being wet rooms. I assume that's not only thr drain for the bath but for the entire room.
You almost need like a extendable duster but with bristles so you can really get scrubbing down there. But also watching this makes me imagine SO many people probably are not cleaning under their tubs if they are set up like this 🥴
I can relate to those sobbing while cleaning horrible thing noises 😭 I always try to remember my grandma. "Grandma would just do this. She would just do this without complaining and it would be done. Be grandma."
I like how you can make what is clearly an arduous and mundane task entertaining to watch. Master crafter of content creation! So glad to hear you're doing well and really hope to do manage to go back and see friends and family soon!
A couple of cleaning options, if the gap is bigger than an inch, try a dryer vent cleaning kit. Its a very flexible pole with a brush on the end. If the gap is very small, get a cpap cleaning brush. It is a super thin bottle brush head on a long flexible coil. Also, an endoscope camera would let you see in under there so you know what you are dealing with. They have really cheap ones that hook up to your cell phone.
You can use a long plastic broom to drain off the water and clean the underside of the bathtub. In my country (India) after rinsing the bathroom, we use a hard plastic brooms or hard brooms made of coconut to drain out the excess water, before leaving it to dry. The brooms are quite thin, and can reach in tight spots. Another trick that I learnt while living by myself was to use powder detergent (the one for clothes) to clean instead of bleach as I hated the smell of bleach.
I like Japanese toilets but Japanese bathrooms do seem overly complicated. I love you and your videos and wish you all the happiness and joy you are able to endure! ❤👍
Emma, I know exactly how you feel. We're similar ages and I've been living overseas since 2019 and I've just booked tickets home to Aus too. I've been feeling really weird about going home. It will be lovely but I feel like I've changed so much and my meaning of home has changed. I don't know how I'll feel about being back in Aus for the first time since
Also from a young mum who had no idea how to clean tricky bathroom gunk for the longest time maybe some mould killer spray would get rid of those stains, I used to get the same thing in my shower corners 😊
Fun fact: that black slime is called biofilm! It also builds up in your dishwasher and washing machine! In the USA, they make different types of cleaners that you put in your washer and dishwasher. To clean you run either the cleaning cycle or the hottest, longest cycle on your machine. In most US washing machines you can also use bleach, but each machine is different, so you should check the manual. I don't know if any of this applies to Japanese washing machines.
Gonna casually mention you are able to go back and see your Mum in Australia!! Congratulations! Praying the borders stay open for both Japan and Australia!!!!
Not sure if anyone has said it yet (cant find a comment mentioning it) but you have to also clean out the dirty water or something from the washing machine. It's explained in the manual for it but you can also look for a liitle door on the bottom of the front or just the bottom. There are quite a few videos about it so good luck!
I laughed many times throughout this video. As someone who's also particular about cleanliness this is looks horrible ~ but it's also satisfying now that it's clean & your humor made it fun. Also I appreciated the squeegee noises
Filling a bag with water to make a stopper is a great idea. My tub is not attached to the wall, so the water runs down the wall and under the tub. For a long time I have wondered how bad it is under there. I have been here 5 years and I have not had the courage to look yet. And since I will be leaving Japan in 6 weeks, I think I will leave it as one of the mysteries of life.
Here in germany, we have long, bendable hard brushes for the space behind the radiator and inbetween its heating elements, because there also will build up a lot of stuff (spiderwebs and dust mostly). I think this would be the fist thing I would have tried, scrubbing with those long brushes unterneath the tub, most likely get it stuck or damage something.
Necroposting: Beats the heck out of the claw-footed bathtub I had, at one point. It was not like a bath unit, it was stand alone. This meant you needed a shower-curtain all around the tub. When you took a shower, convection created a low-pressure, and you'd get saran-wrapped by the shower curtains while you were trying to get clean.
Mate, you're a better grown up than I ever was while living there. Seeing you be a responsible human being makes me feel so sorry for the landlords of my old aparto. I had NO idea what I was doing. Also, Japan is definitely not built for me a 6'4" hairy-man. But hell if I didn't make the most of it.
That's very serious cleaning. I think no one ever cleaned under our tub growing up, and it was fine :) I usually just rinse it under the sink... the plug I mean :) Thanks for tips :)
My first Japanese apartment was like this, only the side of the bath wasn't removable. After most showers i struggled to keep under there clean. It was also old and nasty to begin with. I wish I knew the bag trick at the time. I have no idea why the bath doesn't have its own drain... would be so much easier
@@csh22a not sure why you felt the need to say that. I haven't misunderstood anything. There is only 1 drain, the bath water just falls out the bottom all under the bath then into the combined drain, making a much larger area to be cleaned. That's clearly shown in the video and exactly how my old bath was, in my 15 years in Japan I've lived in 3 apartments that have that same style. The last apartment I renovated, still the design was similar. I've recently bought a house that has a much larger bath and the drain is separate. I just pour drain cleaner down the hole sometimes and job done.
@@csh22a Absolutely no misunderstanding on my end, the water from the bathup in this video drains from the plug hole and the water goes all over the floor under the bath then into the combined drain. The same as my last 3 apartments in Japan. I have lived here 15 years all my adult life. Only now that I have a house is it separate. Perhaps you just got lucky because separate drains certainly isn't the norm.
I have never used my bathroom without a bathroom drain net around the drain cover to quickly remove gunk when cleaning. Same for the kitchen sink. Both can be a nightmare to remove things clinging on for life. (could be 100 yen stores, or from drugstores) They come in different shapes and sizes for the different bathroom designs.
