The Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge is the stuff of legends. How can something so impossibly cheap work so impossibly well in getting your makeup sponges and brushes looking so clean and as good as new? How??
Well the answer really, is that its a detergent. One formulated for cleaning makeup sponges, but a detergent nonetheless. I’d heard a lot about it for ages, and back then, the only Daiso in town was at The Curve i.e. too far for me to get to. Thankfully for good friends, I got my hands on this iconic Daiso product.
Now, I must say that this Daiso Sponge Cleaner is da bomb. It cleans makeup sponges and restores them to look as good as new. If you’ve ever fretted over your foundation sponges and wondered how to get the stains out of the sponge or puffs, this is your saviour. If you use it to wash brushes, even the filthiest of brushes cannot withstand the cleansing powder of this liquid detergent as I’ll show you below. It is THAT powerful!
However, despite the many raves and recommendations to use this for cleaning makeup brushes, I personally do not recommend it for makeup brushes and I’ll tell you why.
The primary reason I do not recommend it for brushes, is because the Daiso detergent is too harsh. I was using it to clean my brushes quite regularly – once a week or once a fortnight, and it was excellent. White brushes were pristine again and every brush looked clean and new.
However, I also noticed that my natural hair brushes looked dry and felt dry and pokey. Most of my natural hair brushes are of the pricier variety so naturally I was concerned. So I stopped using this Daiso cleaner and went back to my trusted Johnson’s & Johnson’s baby shampoo.
After a few washes, the brushes felt and looked normal again. Granted, the baby shampoo doesn’t get out colour very well from stained bristles but I’d rather not spoil my natural hair brushes. Synthetic brushes, being well… synthetic, don’t react to this cleaner.
So if you use synthetic brushes then this Daiso Sponge Cleaner is a good one to have. It cleans out dense kabuki brushes like nothing else. Stains and liquid makeup cannot stand up to the cleaning power at all! Let me show you below.
On the left is the MAC 239 brush that I especially like for applying eyeshadow (never thought you’d see “MAC” and “like” in the same sentence, did you? 😉 ) after using it with the Guerlain Les Aqua eyeshadow palette. The royal blue in that palette is very intense and the white bristles are quickly stained.
On the right is the same brush after washing with the Daiso Detergent. The pristine white state is almost restored! It is therefore very easy at this point to fall to your knees, raise your hands to the sky and cry “Hallelujah!” for having your clean brushes returned to you. And I would, if this was a synthetic brush. But not for a natural hair brush (which the #239 is)
If you use natural hair brushes, my advise if not to use this Daiso cleaner as a primary brush cleaner, because it can dry your brushes out and spoil them. It is really, just too harsh for your delicate natural hair brushes. You paid a lot for your brushes and I’m sure you do not want this cleaner to spoil them. For me baby shampoo works so I will continue using it. For others, they prefer using a brush cleaner. Either way, don’t use this Daiso one as a primary cleaner. If you really wanted to get your brushes squeaky clean and looking pristine and new, you could perhaps, use this Daiso Detergent once in a blue moon to get the worst of the stains out.
However, if you want to clean makeup sponges, this Daiso cleaner will do the trick impressively well. It is after all formulated to work to clean makeup sponges.
How to use:
Squeeze some Daiso Detergent into a container and dilute with water. I use 1 squirt of detergent in about 200ml of water because I personally find this product harsh. Mix it up and then dip your brushes into the water and swirl around until clean. For sponges, immerse sponges or puff into the water and squeeze until clean.
I know of many people who swear by the Daiso Detergent for cleaning their makeup brushes. Heck, it even won 2nd place at the @Cosme Best Overall Cosmetic Award of 2011 in Japan! (see here)
If you are a fan of this product and disagree with my thoughts and think me a bit of a party pooper, please feel free to say so 🙂 Or if you agree and have experienced the same, tell me I’m not alone in this? 😉
Paris B
Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge Price: RM5/$2/100 Yen Availability: Daiso stores worldwide
LeGeeque says
Thanks for the tip! I was going to give this a go but I guess I’ll stick to my regular Johnson’s baby shampoo 🙂
Paris B says
Yep! I’m sticking to J&J too 😀
beaty says
i experienced the same too.but it quite good on sponge.
Alise says
Thanks Paris B for the really useful tips! =]
Paris B says
You’re welcome – glad you find them useful 🙂
epoca says
i’ve been hunting for this at daiso sg wang & ioi mall for weeks but to no avail. i looked at the cosmetics/skincare section but maybe i was looking at the wrong aisle?
or i should try looking at a different outlet?
Paris B says
I usually see quite a few bottles at the Daiso Pavilion outlet. Maybe they are just out of stock where you are?
epoca says
Thanks – I did manage to snag a bottle at pavilion outlet.
At long last! 🙂
The bottle’s a lot smaller than I thought it’d be 😛
Ting says
Thanks for recommending this, Paris! I did a search for “Daiso sponge cleanser” and your blog came up within the first 5 results. Your SEO must be very powerful. 🙂
I will have to look for this in Daiso then! 🙂
Paris B says
Hahaha! Yes definitely get a couple of bottles from Daiso although one bottle can last a while 😉
Sarah Aleysha says
Gosh! I’m commenting here very late but idk, sometimes I still have soapy residue on my brush, I spend 30 minutes washing it off, but it just won’t come off. Mostly kabuki brushes.
Adrian Benjamin says
I use it on my bobby brown blush brush and my mac foundation brush…. I had to throw them away cause it made it super rough and I noticed that it starts to fall apart when I applying makeup on…. Don’t even use on makeup forever brushes…… You will cry! But in the other hand… Its best to clean out my sponges and powder puffs…. But I had a few synthetic brushes… But nothing happend to it…. So last words don’t ever use on natural hair brushes… Like paris said….
Veronica says
I’m using Johnson Baby Shampoo to clean my brushes and sponges, not sure is it a wise way to do so?
Paris B says
I used it too before I started using Dove bar soap 🙂
San tee says
Great review! However, what happens if you’ve already used the detergent on your brushes?
I used it on the Mermaid Brush (those really dense new brushes that come out from the side) and now it’s really dry and bristly #tragic. Should I use conditioner to soften them back out because it was incredibly soft before?
Cyanophyta says
Agreed, this detergent is too harsh for brushes 🙁