There’s only one area of life I want to make easier for my teenagers and that’s when it comes to chores. I want chores to be simplified so that they can finish them and then do more chores! “You’re learning life skills,” is what I remind them often and then I add, “It’s my job to prepare you for life.” Grumble, grumble, eye-roll, eye-roll. Ok, I’m also making my life easier but they don’t need to be reminded of that.

How to Make a Reusable Mop Cover

I have a nice retractable sponge mop that can be used on our wood floors and our bathroom floors. I don’t like to use it because it means getting out a bucket and filling it with water, which spills and sloshes about. This was the solution we came up with when my kids started mopping floors as part of their allowance responsibilities: the old t-shirt (or rag) getting attached to the mop head with safety pins or if you’re lazy just tossing the dampened rag on the floor and hoping it stays put while you push it around.

Then, my 15-year-old son handed me a stack of t-shirts that no longer fit him and I started thinking about cutting the shirts and making rags because they were too dingy and holey to donate. Then I saw that nice finished neckline and wondered if it would fit on my mop. It did. Then I saw how the arms covered the mop and it started to all come together. I could make mop covers with one little seam – and make life easier for my teens!

I pinned the t-shirt but you don’t have to if you don’t feel like it. Make sure the layers of the t-shirt stay together.

Pinned and marked and sewn. I used a Mr. Sharpie pen, one of my favorite pens, to mark where I should sew and cut the t-shirt. I only use a Mr. Sharpie pen (or other permanent marker) to mark fabric while sewing when I know I’m cutting off the fabric. If leaving the fabric I’ve marked with a pen, I use a sewing pen where the ink disappears as it drys.

Then just trim off the excess fabric. What’s left can be made into a dust rag for dusting. More chores? Yes, please.

And here is the finished product….

Here’s the mop head cover being placed on the mop and put into action thanks to my 13-year-old daughter.

First, wet the cover so it’s damp but not dripping. Then, fit the cover on the mop.

Adjust the cover so the mop fits nicely into the “arms” of the cover.

Then, spray a little homemade cleaner (I’ll share that recipe in another post) on the floor and look out!

This is not one of my daughter’s usual chores. She and her brother do mop the bathroom floor weekly but the kitchen floor mopping was one of those, “…well, you can do an extra chore for me this week” type of chores. Let’s just say she owed me.

And she’s done! And moving quickly. She wouldn’t hold still for a picture either.

When you (or your “helpers”) are done mopping, just take the cover off and toss it in the washing machine so it’s all clean for next time. I hang it on a plastic hanger to dry in the basement so it’s ready for the next use.

One final note on the sewing….I have a serger machine and used that to make the sewing even quicker, since it sews, cuts and finishes all at the same time. If you have a serger machine, I suggest using that for this project.

Done. Easier mopping, using items I already had, and I made my teenagers’ lives easier – yeah, right! It’s a very Go Gingham project!!

What do you use to mop with? Do your kids have chores to do?

Go Gingham related links:

Want to learn to sew? Start here with easy cloth napkins
Sew your own homemade lunch sack
How to sew a Harry Potter cape complete with wand pocket
Ottoman slipcover hides shoes, socks and whatever else my kids stuff under there!
3 Time Tested Family Rules – rules that worked – somehow
Parenting: Children’s Allowances
Social Networking and Parents Behaving Badly