How well does this tiny washing machine from Daiso work? We give it a spin to find out.

As many of our readers may be aware, the Daiso 100 yen shop chain offers not only practical items for daily use, but plenty of fun and quirky products as well. What would you do, for example, with a toy-sized miniature washing machine, right? As it turns out, the recent buzz on Japanese social media seems to be that precisely such an item sold by the chain can be used to clean makeup tools, so we decided to test the gadget to see how useful it can be.

For our experiment, we purchased a miniature washing machine (300 yen [US$2.75]) and a bottle of detergent for cosmetic sponges and puffs (100 yen) from a Daiso shop.

▼ Here’s what the miniature washing machine looks like. Despite its small size, it’s actually quite well-made for a 300 yen gadget (you do need to buy separate batteries for it, though).

Now for the washing. We made sure the makeup tools we were going to wash had seen some heavy use to really put the machine to the test. Will it clean out all that foundation and blush?

Step 1: Put warm water in the mini machine and add the detergent.

You need to make sure the drain hose is attached to the machine when you do this. Otherwise, the water will leak out of the machine.

Step 2: Place the puff/sponge in the machine and turn the switch on.

The miniature washing machine is actually just the right size to fit a puff or sponge. You’ll want to be careful not to fill the machine with too much water as it may leak out from the hose. We were surprised by how much the machine rotated like an actual washing machine.

Step 3: Let the machine wash for about three minutes, then take the puff/sponge out.

When we examined the puff/sponge after the washing, we could see it really was much cleaner. You can also tell the washing was effective from the dirty water left in the machine.

Step 4: Drain the water.

You can drain the water from the machine simply by pressing the drain hose down. We found this actually quite convenient as we it allowed us to dispose of the dirty water without spilling it all over the place.

We also tried washing brushes and chips with the machine. Although you can’t close the lid when washing a long brush, we had no problem washing the items with the lid open, as long as there wasn’t too much water in the machine.

You can see again the makeup residue that has been washed out from the brushes.

The machine doesn’t have a spin drying function, so you do need to rinse and dry out the tools after washing. Once we finished, here’s what our tools looked like, and we certainly were happy with the results..

You can see the most dramatic effect on the wide cheek brush. See how all the color of the blush has washed out?

We have to say we were honestly surprised by how clean the tools became. Plus, using the miniature washing machine made the usually tedious task of cleaning makeup tools even a little bit fun.

We also have a few pointers for anyone who’s thinking of using the machine:

● Before you can use the machine, you’ll need a screwdriver to open the battery compartment and put in the batteries.
● Water may leak from the drain hose, so you’ll want to use the machine where a bit of water spillage won’t be a problem and also have some towels handy.
● Possibly because of the exposure it’s had on social media, the washing machine seems to be in low stock. If the machine catches your fancy and you happen to see one at a Daiso shop, you may want to snap it up when you have the chance.

So yup, from facial muscle training devices to sushi makers, we know we can count on Daiso to provide us with unique and unexpected items. We certainly look forward to our next great find from their store!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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