I like Swiffer for quick cleaning of wood floors around our house. When dust-bunnies threaten to take over, it’s the first weapon I grab.
What I don’t like about Swiffer is there’s something else to purchase and toss away after it gets used. The cloths can be reused a few times but eventually, they have to be thrown out.
Then, one day while Swiffer-ing around the house after a workout, I discovered something. Polar-fleece, which is made of polyester, is a magnet for dust.
As I bent over to attack an army of dust-bunnies, the polyester/polar-fleece pull-over I was wearing was covered in dust and detritus. That’s when it hit me.
I could use polyester/polar-fleece fabric instead of Swiffer cloths! Being a sewer who can’t part with any scraps of fabric, I promptly found a piece of polar fleece fabric and cut it to the exact size of the Swiffer cloth.
Exact size is…..8 1/2 inches x 11 inches.
So easy! Or is it sew easy? Either way – there’s no sewing AND there’s no more buying Swiffer cloths that have to be thrown away! Don’t go buy fabric – just use a polyester kitchen towel and cut it in half. It will be about the right size. A polyester wash cloth will work, too.
How do I clean my polyester/polar-fleece Swiffer cloth? By vacuuming it. That’s it. Some day I’ll toss it into our old washing machine but I haven’t yet and it’s going on 6+months of using it.
Enjoy your Swiffer but stop throwing stuff away. It’s so easy to reduce and reuse!
Do you use a reusable cloth with your Swiffer? What’s your fabric of choice?
Go Gingham related links:
Natural rinse aid alternative for the dishwasher – it’s in your pantry already
Sort of homemade dishwasher detergent – 2 ingredients make up the new mix!
Rethinking our cleaning and laundry detergents – feeling duped
Cleaning and laundry detergent – progress on our switch over!
Green and natural laundry detergents – what to use and why
Cute and clean for the kitchen: make a baking soda shaker for soaking those stubborn pots and pans
Disclosure: I have not received any compensation for writing this post and have no material connection to Swiffer® which is a registered trademark of Procter & Gamble. This is being disclosed in accordance with the FTC’s guidelines.
Go Gingham 
Hi Sara! I do this exact thing, too. I have several polyester fleece Swiffer cloths. After I use one, I usually rinse it out and hang to dry. I machine wash every few uses, when it starts looking dirty.
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Amy, bless you!! You have inspired me to wash ours. It was inappropriate for me to take a photo of it so I cut a new fabric scrap and put the other one in the wash. Thank you 🙂
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Ooh, good idea. Any thoughts on the Swiffer mop? It’s sooooo much easier to use than the traditional mopping technique but (this shows more of my tightwad tendencies than my “green” ones) I hate paying for the mop cloths–do you think the same thing would work with the wet mop?
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Hi Kris,
Try this t-shirt version! https://gogingham.com/2012/09/how-to-make-mop-cover/
And, yes, we put an old t-shirt cut into this shape on our Swiffer for years. The Swiffer itself – plastic and all – didn’t hold up as long with the scrubbing we did BUT it certainly was easy! Thanks – and yes – tightwad tendencies are good! 🙂
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea.
Sheeesh why didn’t I think of that!!!!!!
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I love your idea too! I really don’t like wasting money on the ones you use once and toss. How do you vacuum it without it being sucked into the vacuum? Maybe my vacuum has too much suction?
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Your alternate pads for Swiffer dust mops brought me to your site, the idea of using fuzzy poly-fleece is great, ’cause it sure attracts dust bunnies! I don’t have any in my fabric stash but can buy a yard. Great tip.
To thank you for the tip and because the article on borax caught my eye, just want to tell you that you can kill ants entering that porch by using baking soda, and baking soda comes in some gigantic sizes because it’s so useful!
I’m a meanie and (sorry) love to sprinkle baking soda all over ants and then see them struggle crazily (while I sprinkle more and more baking soda on them) and slowly die because the baking soda is basic and the ants, I suppose, require acidity to survive. I know, I sound like Count Dracula. But ants spread disease.
Using baking soda at the edges of a floor where ants are entering is claimed to “break their scent trail”. Has been working for me for about 10 years.
More about baking soda:
http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/live-green-save/baking-soda
http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/
http://housekeeping.about.com/od/laundry/qt/bksd_washmachin.htm
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Thanks for spreading the word about alternatives to dry Swiffers.
I cut up microfiber cloths to fit. Over time, they expand the holes. So I keep a handle for wet swiffers and a stretched out handle for dry cloth microfiber cleaning.
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Just found you today thanks to your appearance on AMNW and much needed and wanted segment on dried beans! Yay!
Started poking around and found this.ninuse my Swiffer to mom my floors and am never happy. I miss my steam mop! It’s the only thing that worked! But it died and I am hoping to get one in a few weeks for my birthday 🙂 I recently found a great selution for me 🙂 cheap Target wash cloths dipped in Meyers basil concentrate 🙂 This has worked far batter then any of the Swiffer wet thingies I have tried and the Meyers bottle will last me forever if I used it on just the floorsI and it cost $8ish. Has made me a happy girl.
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So glad to hear it, Robin! And, so glad you tuned in to AMNW yesterday. It’s always fun being on the show and I never know quite what we’ll end up talking about!
Thanks for sharing and following me all around 🙂
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