Homemade Swiffer Pads

If you've been following this blog for any period of time, you know that we are committed to living green. We are not perfect by any means, but we do what we can, where we can. Our housekeeper is a big fan of the Swiffer, and as someone who needs help with the physical work of cleaning due to my  health issues, I can certainly understand why she loves it. But, as soon as I bought the first box of pads, I knew that it would be my last.

I found  lots of different tutorials online for making pads. I decided to do an experiment to see which worked best.

Starting at the top left in the photo above, and moving clockwise, I used flannel, a cloth diaper, fleece, terry cloth (an old towel), and bar mop. 

The fleece and flannel work great for dusting, but are not suited for wet mopping. Of the three remaining, the bar mop worked best, then the towel, then the diaper. 

Once I figured out which worked best, I got to work making more. They only take about 15 minutes each to make and they are a nice easy project for even a sewing newbie. After all, a glorified rag doesn't need to be perfect!

You'll need:

• bar mop towels
• fabric--this is a great project to use up scraps. Each piece needs to be 5.5" x 11.5".
• Velcro. 
• Swiffer pad (optional) 

First, cut 11.5" x 5.5" pieces of both your fabric and bar cloth.

Place the two pieces right sides together. The towel is pretty stretchy. You may want to pin the two pieces together. Or, you can be like me and trim the towel after you sew.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the fabric, leaving a hole so that you can flip the material right side out.

Before turning the fabric right side out, you can  trim the edges. 

You can also trim the corners to avoid bulk. Be careful not to cut too close, or you'll end up with a hole in the corner. I speak from experience.

Turn the fabric right side out. I like to use a chopstick to make sure that the corners are fully turned out.

Iron the edges down, taking special care with the hole to make sure that the folded down edge lines up with the sewn edge.

Sew along the edge again to close the hole. I use a 1/8" seam.

Cut two strips of Velcro, 11" long. You only need the fuzzy side. The bottom of the Swiffer mop is going to be the scratchy side.

Stitch around the Velcro, as close as you can to the edge. I used a zizag stitch in my first pads, but I found that they pulled away too much. Because you will be washing this again and again, you'll want to make sure the Velcro is securely attached.

And you are ready for sparkling clean floors! I should mention that I make my own Swiffer solution, too. I haven't found a formula I love, but if you have, tell me about it in the comments!

As far as care, just throw the pads in the wash when you're done. Let them air dry, though, because you don't want to be pulling that Velcro apart!

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Easy Green Stain Remover

Sometimes I make something so simple I don't think it's worth posting. But I take pictures of the process just in case. This is one of those projects. I found this recipe for DIY stain remover and pinned it to my Going Green board.

Our four-year-old is kind of a neat freak, so we don't need to use a lot of stain remover. In fact, I don't even think I've used any since we moved into our new house a year ago. But, I thought if I made it, I could hold off Murphy.

It's super easy. All you need is:

• 1 spray bottle
• hydrogen peroxide
• blue Dawn (I don't know if blue Dawn is more magical than any other, but that's what the recipe called for)
• a measuring cup (I used a 1/4 cup)
• a funnel

My spray bottle is pretty small, so I added 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide (2 "parts").

And 1/4 cup blue Dawn ("one part").

I swirled it around a little bit, which wasn't really necessary before labeling it. 

For things like this, I like to included the ingredients as well so it's easy to whip up another batch.  

I made this a month ago, and set it in our laundry room. I told all the family members about it so they could test it out if there were a need to pre-treat anything. Finally, last week, I was taking the laundry out of the dryer to hang up and I found a HUGE orange spot on my husband's shirt pocket. I wish I would have taken a photo but I didn't because I was sure the shirt was toast. We're not sure what it was, but it looks like maybe an orange post-it note or highlighter exploded. I decided to test out the stain remover. I sprayed it, left it over night and then tossed it in the wash. The stain was GONE! I was stunned. Usually if a stain sets in the dryer, it's permanent!

This past weekend, we were in Canada for four days. On the second day, our son spilled fresh blueberry jam on his shirt. We were away from home, away from anything to even keep it wet. It ended up in the car until we got home last night. I sprayed the stain (AGAIN forgetting to take a photo). This morning the stain was gone before I even washed the shirt. This stuff is magic! I really wanted to post about it so I looked around for a stain! I found one on our playroom carpet. Again, blueberry! This has been on the carpet (right in front of the door and walked over frequently) for at least a week.

I sprayed it before heading off to drop our little blueberry lover off at preschool.

Two hours later, all the spray was absorbed.  

I took out a rag, wet it, and rubbed vigorously for less than a minute until...POOF! The stain is gone!

Are you sold? I sure am!

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