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The story
Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency issued an administrative order on October 20 against the futon dryer ‘FLEURISTE,’ which had advertised mite removal and antibacterial effects, for violating the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (misleading representation regarding superiority). Ad claims like “rapidly heats to 50°C, the temperature that kills mites, and dries” had no reasonable basis, and since its December 2021 launch the product reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen in some years. The agency also found the company had engaged in stealth marketing — paying influencers to post favorable content without disclosing it was sponsored. On 5ch, a thread debated the product’s real-world effectiveness, with comments like “does 50°C really kill mites?” and “models that just insert a nozzle can’t heat the whole thing,” alongside personal accounts of alternatives like laundromats and sun-drying.
The Consumer Affairs Agency announced on the 20th that it had found cosmetics retailer “giobai” (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo) in violation of the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (misleading representation regarding superiority), over advertising for a household futon dryer that claimed mite-removal and antibacterial effects without any basis, and issued an order requiring the company to prevent recurrence.
According to the announcement, between July and September 2024 the company advertised the futon dryer “FLEURISTE,” sold on its own website and elsewhere, with claims such as “rapidly heats to 50°C, the temperature that kills mites, and dries” and “3D warm air that reaches every corner.” When the agency examined the materials the company submitted, it found no reasonable basis backing up the ads. The product had been on sale since December 2021, and reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen in some years.
The company’s website also featured images of paid influencers’ favorable posts on social media. Because the company didn’t disclose that it had commissioned these posts, the agency also found it in violation of the same law for engaging in stealth marketing.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / original article here
What people said
In summer just leave it in the car.
Free.
Don't tell anyone I sometimes go run my bedridden mom's futon through the dryer when it's covered in… bodily waste.
In summer you can just leave it in the car too.
Pretty much, but the real problem here is specifically the lack of an ad disclosure.
You mean the UV light ones.
Looked good at first glance, but they were being sold everywhere online.
Some of them do die.
Some don't.
Wasn't it 50°C for 30 minutes or more?
70°C.
A car interior in summer does it in one shot.
Clear plastic actually raises the inside temperature more, y'know.
Put it in a bag and set off a Barusan (a Japanese fumigant insecticide bomb) on it.
Depending on where you live, there's a season when it won't get hot enough.
Just vacuum it.
They say that's actually the most effective method.
If you do it thoroughly you can suck up the carcasses too, so I think it's effective, but most people only do it half-heartedly — which is why heat-washing, which wipes them out completely, seems like the better bet, no?
The Consumer Affairs Agency, you mean?
It was a hassle every year, but in the end I threw everything out, pillow included, and got new stuff — that's what finally fixed it.
If your futon's torn, just throw it out. There's no saving it.
Generally speaking, the mites that live in futons don't actually bite people — allergies aside.
If you were bitten, it's probably caused by "iedani" (house mites carried in by rats and other rodents).
I got hit by those once and had a rough time dealing with it.
Bureaucrats keep pushing for the law to be revised, but politicians won't move on it.
Apparently revising laws is a huge pain.
What is this??
There's no way something like this can heat the whole thing above 50°C.
For reference, Panasonic's uses a dedicated mat.
Unfolding the mat is a pain, but it properly heats and dries the whole thing.
https://r.r10s.jp/g/gran_img/ho/PED/KF4/6EN/OCU/54c3a08d8e2774cc51193ab767411713.jpg
• did the hot air never actually reach the mite-killing 50°C, yet they advertised as if it did,
or
• does 50°C hot air just not actually kill mites, yet they advertised as if it does?
…which one?
Re: #105 It doesn't even use a mat, you just stick the air nozzle in.
Something like that can't heat and dry the whole thing.
Re: #105 The kind where you just stick the nozzle in can't heat and dry the whole thing.
In other words, it's pointless.
You need a dedicated mat that circulates the hot air.
The old Toshiba futon dryer I have at home is just like that.
Especially not in a short time.
Proteins denature irreversibly, so if it actually gets up to 50°C properly, wouldn't they die?
I've seen experiments showing they die in seconds if they have nowhere to escape to.
But a futon is just a mass of fibers full of hiding places, so wiping them all out is tough.
50°C for 30+ minutes, huh. Wonder if my body can take that…
A mat-type futon dryer will wipe them out instantly, no problem.
Why not just use Frontline Plus (a flea/tick treatment for pets)?
Background and key points of this discussion
Japan’s Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations bars advertising that makes a product’s performance look significantly better than it actually is — a violation known as “misleading representation regarding superiority.” The Consumer Affairs Agency’s administrative order requires the business to prevent recurrence and notify the general public. Since October 2023, stealth marketing — having someone post without disclosing they were paid to — has also fallen under this law’s regulations, and this case is seen as an example of that provision being applied. The thread’s opinions split over whether mites really die at 50°C, with some claiming they die instantly and others arguing sustained heating for 30+ minutes is needed. Since mite die-off depends not just on temperature but on heating duration and whether the heat actually reaches the inside of the futon, this overlaps with the point of this order — that a temperature claim alone can’t guarantee effectiveness. Commenters also pointed out a structural difference in real-world effectiveness between simple dryers that just insert a nozzle and types that use a dedicated mat to circulate hot air, offering some useful info for anyone shopping for one.
*This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Futon Dryer ‘FLEURISTE’ Advertised as ‘Rapidly Heating to the Mite-Killing 50°C’ — Consumer Affairs Agency Orders Correction Over Baseless Claims, Product Earned Hundreds of Millions of Yen Some Years.”
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