Reusable Swiffer Pad Tutorial

I live in an apartment, so the only places that I ever need to mop are my tiny kitchen and my tiny bathroom. Each is so small that having a mop and bucket to clean the floors seems a little ridiculous. Originally, I used a sponge and got down on my hands and knees to clean the floors, but with my current back problems, that's not happening.
So, I went out and bought a Swiffer mop (the regular kind, not the wet jet). The Swiffer is perfect for my little floors, but I absolutely hate everything about the Swiffer pads. The way they smell leaves me walking around the house with my nose wrinkled going "What is that -smell-? It smells so weird." Until I remember that it's the stuff they put on the Swiffer mop pads that smell like that. I also find that they leave my floor sticky. It's not just my floor, but my mom's floor was always sticky after she used her Swiffer. So, I decided to remedy these issues.

No pictures today, but this is so easy, you won't need any.

Materials:

Swiffer Mop
Fleece
Spray Bottle
Floor cleaner of your choice (I use PineSol)

We have two hooded rats who get to sleep in a little basket filled to overflowing with fleece. (They love it and it keeps them super warm in the winter.) Because of this, we're always picking up fleece remnants from the craft section at Walmart or from Joann's. The remnants are usually marked down to a very reasonable price (we won't buy any that costs more than $1.50) for anywhere between a yard and a yard and a half. - The point of this oversharing was to point out that you could get fleece remnants for cheap.

Take your Swiffer mop and lay the fleece over it. I like to go ahead and push it into the little hole thingies that hold the pads in place. Cut the fleece. Tada!

Now, you can cut several more since you now know the size you're going to need.

To mop your floop, fill your spray bottle with water and add a little of your floor cleaner. I'd check to see what the recommended water to cleaner ratio is and do a little math to figure out what you need to put in your bottle. Spray the contents of the bottle onto the floor. Use Swiffer with nifty fleece pad to mop up.

For stains and heavy soils, you'll probably need to just get down there with a sponge...but you have to do that with the regular Swiffer pads, too, so no big.

That being said, since I now have Pinesol in a spray bottle, I use it to clean everything. PineSol can be used on a variety of surfaces, so I take my bottle around with me every day, spray it on the surface I want to clean, wipe it down and off I go. It's cut my cleaning time down to about 1/3 of the time I used to spend because I don't have to get 50 thousand different types of cleaners just to clean the stuff in one room.

To clean the fleece pad...wash it. Stick it in your washer or, like me, wash it in the sink and hang it to dry.

And, since I'm talking about cleaning anyway, I want to share a nifty little tidbit with you for cleaning windows.

Do. Not. Use. Windex.

Seriously. Just don't. Windex is the devil and it leaves a waxy residue on your glass that builds up over time.

Get a bucket (or spray bottle) and fill it with warm water. If you're using a spray bottle, add a few drops of dish soap (yes, dish soap). Shake it up. If you're using a bucket, squeeze dish soap into the bucket for 4-5 seconds. Stir it up. If it's your first time, consider adding a drop or two of vinger (more for buckets) to cut some of the waxy build up from your other window cleaning products.

I understand that not everyone had squeegies and whatnot, but I really recommend going to Home Depot or Lowes and buying a good, professional squeegie. They come in all sorts of sizes from tiny, tiny to bigger. Don't buy the crappy plastic ones. They're not the same.

Use a sponge or cloth to apply the water to the mirror/window/whatever (or spray it on really heavy with a spray bottle and then use a cloth to wipe it around). Pay extra attention to greasy spots or finger prints. Honestly, you don't need to wipe too hard on otherwise just dusty or slightly smudged glass with this method. Once your mirror/glass/whatever is thoroughly wet, use your squeegie to remove the water (keep a rag handy to clean up the water that will end up on your counter top or windowsill). You can use a downward motion to just bring it all down or you can use arching motions to get it all in one swoop. If you don't have a squeegie, just wipe it off with something. A clean, dry cloth or paper towels or, the favorite of many folks, a rolled up newspaper. Clean up any dripped water or water left behind on the mirror with a terry cloth rag (or whatever rag you want) and TADA! Clean, streak free windows.

Trust me. I used to be a professional window washer.