Doing It Ourselves: Swiffer

I love my Swiffer. I just don't use it as often as I should. It is a great way to "mop" your floors
between really scrubbing, soaking mopping and is way easier than finding the mop and bucket out side (because you forgot once again to bring it in after it had dried the last time you used it), cleaned the bugs and dirt off of them (because they stayed outside for several days...ahem...weeks), fill the bucket with water and soap, mop all the floors, then wait 2 hrs for everything to dry (then still finding a puddle and nearly doing the splits in the kitchen).

I still feel like I have to do a good soaking mop every once in awhile, but if I could get into the habit of using the Swiffer every day, I would feel like I've really progressed.

I also love the presoaked pads for the Swiffer. What I don't like is the price. They typically cost about $0.33 per pad. I usually use about two-three pads just for my kitchen alone. So, just to clean the floor in my kitchen alone, that is around a dollar. If I do that every day that is about $30 a month and $365 a year; and that is if I don't end up making a mess and having to clean it more than once. That's pretty pricey just to mop a floor, in my opinion.

So, I took to Pinterst, the woman's encyclopedia for all things home, to see if any of those amazing DIYers out there had come up with an alternative.

I was not disappointed.

There are tons of great options. Here are a few I found:

Here is a great sewing option that looks really cute with the buttons from Berlin's Whimsy.

 This one from Sarah at POPSUGAR has a recipe for a cleanser for soaking the reusable pads. I'm not sure about using lemon juice, though, if it is going to sit out for a long period of time. A lemon essential oil might be a better alternative, in that case.

For the crafty person, here is a crochet pattern option from Jessica at Candle in the Night. I really like this one but I need to keep practicing my crochet skills. This may be a way for me to practice. :)

Here is a really nice sewing idea from Penny at SewTakeAHike.

This one from One Good Thing by Jillee uses a fuzzy sock. Talk about simple. I'm not sure how this one would be at being used as a wet alternative but it looks like it would be great as a dry alternative.

But, this is the one by Karrie at Happy Money Saver is the one I ended up going with. I liked the use of old rags/towels and her recipe for the cleanser better than some of the others I had seen.

We had recently been talking about how we needed to find a new use some of our towels and washcloths. Some of them are starting to look a bit ratty faded (or bleached on accident). We didn't want to throw them out because they still work they just don't look as nice anymore and we got so many towels and cloths when we got married we hardly have room in our bathroom closet for anything else (talk about a cabinet that needs organizational help).

Result:

Price wise, this is way cheaper. A gallon of vinegar runs around

$2.50, a gallon of distilled water cost me $0.50, I already had the essential oils. Essential Oils can be quite expensive but (1) they aren't really necessary, (2) you can shop around for better priced ones or chose oils that aren't that pricey, and (3) you only use a few drops so it isn't like you are using an entire bottle. I modified the recipe just a little so mine came out to be less than $0.50 for an entire container. My container held about 6 wash cloths so that is about $0.08 per wash cloth. I ended up using three cloths to "mop" my kitchen/dining room, both bathrooms, the entryway, and hallway. So, what use to cost me around $2.00 to "mop" my whole house now costs me only $0.24. That's a pretty significant savings, if you ask me. :)

Vinegar is one of those "miracle" cleaners. It breaks down grease and grime, disinfects, deodorizes, and is much nicer to the environment than other household cleaners. After using these to clean my floors, I felt like they worked much better. I was able to really scrub some spots much easier than with the Swiffer pads and they seemed to come up much easier. My cloths also seemed to stay wet much longer than the Swiffer pads.

Before

After

Final Grade:

Works great. Happy budget, "naturally" safe, creation friendly, and convenient. Happy homemaker approved. :)