DIY: Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Becky Striepe in DIY

Oh, Swiffer! You are so convenient; why must you also be so wasteful? The thought of all of those pads ending up in the landfill has had me racked with Swiffer Guilt. Our Swiffer has been living in the closet for quite some time now, but we recently pulled it out again.

Swiffer Diaper - photo by Becky Striepe

This time, though, things are going to be different, because this time I’ve got a handmade, reusable Swiffer pad made from scraps!

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My handmade pad project borrowed heavily from this genius Instructables but is a bit more simplified. I made the one pictured above using my serger. If you don’t have a serger, no problem! You can still whip up your own, reusable Swiffer diaper!

To complete this project, you will need: a piece of paper that’s bigger than a Swiffer pad, a pen, a t-shirt that has seen better days, a sweater or yarn blanket that’s past its prime, a sewing machine or serger, a pair of paper scissors, and a pair of fabric scissors.

Make Your Pattern - Loosely trace one of the disposable pads that came with your swiffer onto a piece of paper and cut it out.
Cut Your Fabric - Use the pattern you just made and cut out four pieces of t-shirt fabric and one piece of the sweater or blanket material. Layer everything together right side out with the yarn material on the outside.
Sewing, part 1 - If you’re using a serger, just run all four sides through it with the blade down in the cutting position. (If you’re using a regular sewing machine, set your zigzag stitch, and zigzag all the way around. Carefully trim any excess fabric, making sure not to cut the threads you just stitched.)
Sewing, part 2 - Sew a few rows of stitches horizontally and a few vertically using your regular sewing machine. This will stabilize all the layers of fabric. You can do this by hand, too, but the sewing makes this really quick!
Swiff away!

Now I just need to figure out how to refill the empty Wetjet cartridge with a green floor cleaner. This thread on Mothering has some good ideas for refilling the Wetjet. They mention drilling a hole, refilling with a funnel, and plugging the hole up with a cut up eraser. That sounds like a good one! The syringe idea they talk about sounds good, too, but I have no idea where I’d get a syringe. Have any of you had luck refilling the Wetjet cartridge?

Tags:

Clean, craft project, DIY, green cleaners, reuse, sewing, Swiffer

23 Responses to “ DIY: Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free ”

egc-07

30. Mar, 2009

I made my own pads when swifter first came out it was just common sense, and very cost effective!!

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Debbie

31. Mar, 2009

I don’t own a swiffer, but I think you can buy craft syringes at craft stores or hobby shops (in the model section) — they’re used for gluing. Of course, they are plastic, but you will be using them over and over.

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- Becky Striepe
  
  31. Mar, 2009
  
  Great idea, Debbie! I’ll take a peek next time I’m at the craft store!
  
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whimsygirl

31. Mar, 2009

If you have a farm store or vet supply store, you can probably find REALLY big syringes.

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Kelly

01. Apr, 2009

Funny - I live in Peru, and while Swiffer’s aren’t available here (not that i’ve seen in the last 5 years, anyway), they do have a nice way of cleaning floors. It involves a push broom or floor squeegee and a large piece of heavy duty cloth with a reinforced hole in the middle. Slide the handle of the broom up through the hole, and the cloth doubles over the bristles - easy peasy for cleaning wood or ceramic floors.

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- marc
  
  14. Sep, 2009
  
  hey kelly what do you guys use in peru to clean floors do you think the swifter would sell good in peru.
  
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Maggie

01. Apr, 2009

I may be confused, but isn’t the magic of Swiffer the highly staticky-dust-attracting pads? Simply replacing those with any other cloth doesn’t seem to be a real substitute - otherwise, how is this different from a regular broom or cloth?

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chicaroja

09. Apr, 2009

for quite some time i have been wanting to do this for the yoga studio i work at. we swiffer the studio after every class and the waste and chemicals are driving me crazy. the one (small) glitch, is how do you clean the pads? there is a lot of hair and other big dirt at the studio, so i don’t want to just toss that into the wash. do you hose them off first? let it dry and shake them out? just curious about what your methods are…
thanks!

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- Becky Striepe
  
  09. Apr, 2009
  
  Ooh good one! I’d take the pads outside and beat them, sort of like a rug, to get all the big gunky things off of there. As far as washing, I toss them in the machine with our rags, napkins, and towels. The sweater I used was already shrunk from an unfortunate dryer incident, so we don’t even have to hang ours dry!
  
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Criss Kraus

20. Apr, 2009

I made a pad with a ’seen better days’ miracle fabric washable towel. It is fantanstic. Took another one of these towels and sewed it onto some old burlap that had ‘wells’ for the swifter hand duster and then cut shreds into it. This also works great and is washable.

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Julie

20. Apr, 2009

what about a turkey baster for refilling..maybe that would work.

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Criss

20. Apr, 2009

If you have any of those duster anti-static fabrics that are ‘just for electronics’ - you can make it into a swifter duster by sewing it and shredding it so it attaches, etc…. i have one that is almost ready for this makeover.

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- Becky Striepe
  
  24. Apr, 2009
  
  Brilliant! We actually bought the Swiffer duster because we didn’t realize they had a disposable bit. I think my hubby returned it, but if not this is so on.
  
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Criss

20. Apr, 2009

I have also used used dryer sheets. Most are anti-static and collect dust real well. Make sure it is a used one though. Otherwise it can leave a film on wood and glass.

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Jen

24. Apr, 2009

I got the cap off the swiffer by sawing the bottom edge with a sharp knife and using a pair of pliers. Now it screws on and off just like any other bottle! It can be done with a little effort!

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- Becky Striepe
  
  24. Apr, 2009
  
  So you sawed around the perimeter of where it’s sealed? That’s so smart!
  
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  - annie
    
    26. Apr, 2009
    
    We just cut the child proof gaurd off of the bottle top. Works like a charm and the bottle opens and closes fine. My husband used his very sharp pocket knife and extremely skilled hands.
    
    Reply to this comment
connie

03. May, 2009

Hey there,

as I have found out recently, you actually take a pair of pliers and twist the cap to the swiffer solution off…this takes some strength, but once you get it off, it screws back on easily. I did this the other day and filled the empty tank halfway up with pine sol, (the yummy lavender scent) and then the rest of the way with water…..so half cleaner, half water. It cleaned the floor beautifully and with no residue…..the house smelled fab too!!

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Twilight Free Tickets

29. Oct, 2009

Really fantastic piece of work..and great demonstration…your instructions are really simple and Im gonna try it out right away…

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LarryXA

06. Nov, 2009

Thx, this has definitely made my day!

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Sites linking to this post:

BrianLang.ca » Blog Archive » links for 2009-03-27

27. Mar, 2009

[...] DIY: Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free | greenUPGRADER (tags: diy green cleaning sewing) [...]

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Friday Roundup | GlueandGlitter.com

27. Mar, 2009

[...] at greenUPGRADER, here’s an easy tutorial for making your own, reusable Swiffer pad. Swiffer Guilt no [...]

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DIY Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free greenUPGRADER | outdoor rugs

13. Jun, 2009

[...] DIY Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free greenUPGRADER Posted by root 15 minutes ago (http://greenupgrader.com) I 39 d take the pads outside and beat them sort of like a rug to get all the big gunky things off of this also works great and is washable reply to this comment 2008 greenupgrader all rights reserved powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | DIY Make Your Swiffer Guilt Free greenUPGRADER [...]

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