Our husband really enjoys using the Swiffer mop and dusters - hooray! But refills (even the non-Swiffer brand drug store versions) are expensive. And, throwing the dusters and mop pads in the garbage when we're done doesn't sit well with trying to be earth-friendly. So we went on the hunt for ideas to make our own and found these two super-simple tutorials.
Flickr user Merwing Little Dear drew an easy tutorial for the duster which only involves the tiniest bit of sewing (machine or hand sewing would work). She also sewed mop covers out of fleece.
Karin of DominoPads gives instructions for making reusable Swiffer mop pads. If you use the green handled Swiffer you don't needle a needle or thread at all and pads for the purple-handled one only require a few stitches.
Finally, a Re-Nest reader suggests using Sham-Wow cloths as Swiffer pad replacements.
Do you have any other ideas or tutorials to share? We'd love to keep encouraging our husband's Swiffer habit!
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
Our husband?
view JuliaE's profile
If you don't have sewing skills, do a search on etsy. There is a very large number of people who have dry cloths or wet cloths you can buy to reuse. Most are cheap (around $5) so it's about the same price as a container of the disposables.
view jensational's profile
They should be washable. I washed (regular cycle) and dried (just a few mins) the regular Swiffer max dry and they came out fine. They don't look exactly like new, but worked fine. I haven't tried washing a second time. Threw the first batch out and plan on buying again. I may try multiple washings next time around.
view runningwithscissors's profile
Who says polygamists can't be eco-friendly?
view heather77's profile
@JuliaE Our husband?
We are not amused.
view Sarah W.'s profile
I just use a piece of felt for my Swiffer. 25 cents at Hancock or JoAnn's and I'm good to go. I can pick or shake off most of the yukky stuff (dog hair, etc) and I imagine I could throw it in the wash. But for something that cheap, I'll go to my felt stash and grab another piece.
view stlprintchick's profile
I used the unused diapers my daughter grew out of! Sounds crazy, but they worked awesomely.
view birdinhand's profile
According to a study that I made up for this post, men who are getting laid by two or more women at the same time are 99.84% more likely to do house work then men who are only getting laid by one woman at a time. Correlation of course does not prove causation. I've just purchased a Swiffer in a valient attempt to find out if a man who cleans regularly is more likely to attract women open to polygamy. Results forthcoming...
view staid's profile
I'm glad I'm not the only one to get a giggle out of the "our husband". English as a second language, perhaps?
view msmezzo's profile
Using first person plural is the editorial policy on this website.
view Fatoosh's profile
I bought this mop at our county fair a few years ago. Works great with just water and it is washable.
http://www.microfiber-products-online.com/kitchen-care.html
I have a swiffer too, but it seems to leave a film on my floors.
view craefish's profile
Shop rags! Last time I checked, they were about $15 for a bundle of 20 at Target.
They work just great on my tile and wood floors for both mopping and dusting. I use an old Swiffer mop and just toss the dirty rags in with a load of towels once a week. Beats nasty mop heads, gets all the dust and pet hair up and much less expensive than shelling out for Swiffer cloths every week.
view Pappeet's profile
old tee shirts make great swiffer substitutes.
view SunnyBlue's profile
I read this comment and I said myself...What if I buy this product in order to test it...I gotta say I`m pleased with it and I never thought it`s gonna work so well. It basically clear all my floor and surfaces filled with dust. My baby played with it yesterday and it destroyed all my legal weed...hopefully my wife won`t notice I was keeping this kind of things in my house.
view JoeAnna's profile