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Swiffer - threat or menace?

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Started 10 months ago by Zora
Latest reply from Sky
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Zora
Member

I've had a perfectly nice Japanese girl staying with me the last few weeks and much to my surprise, she is CLEANER than I am. New experience for me :) I sweep the house every day, but that wasn't good enough for her Japanese sensibilities. She bought a Swiffer and a box of the dusting pads, and she Swiffers the house every evening. Much to my surprise, the Swiffer picks up a surprising quantity of dust and cat hair, despite the daily sweeping and weekly mopping.

My guest tells me that this is good housekeeping in Japan. The traditional way to keep wooden floors sparkling clean was to wipe them with a slightly damp cloth every day, but many housewives use the Swiffer now.

I'm tempted to keep up the practice but ... Swiffer pads are expensive (and I'm poor) and they don't seem environmentally responsible. If I must dust every day, perhaps I should invest in a set of dust mop covers. I have a dust mop, but rarely use it, because I have only one cover. But then I would be washing a load of dustmop covers every week, and that would have an environmental cost too.

What do y'all think?

Posted 10 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

i am sure it is a refreshing and unexpected change to have someone cleaner than you, living in your home!
total bonus!

i have a sort of mop thing, shaped like the swiffer, with microfibre heads that are removeable and washable.
after a wipe over the place....you know back when i used to do such things....i would simply rinse the microfibre in a bit of water and hang it out to dry.
now and then i'd drop it in the washing machine with a bunch of tea towels, dishcloths, other rags.
it came from the supermarket and i'ce replaced the heads twice in six years.

i think it is a marvellous thing and it gets the floors cleaner than anything else.
(with the exception of my cleaners who have some multi-thousand dollar commercial steam-cleaning scrubbing vacuum thing that makes the place sparkle).

Posted 10 months ago #
lottielot
Member

Send her to live with me!
I too have a microfibre mop, it has a dusting pad and a mopping pad, I wash them both but that's because dusting and mopping are very infrequent events round here :)

Posted 10 months ago #
Jackthetiger
Member

She is welcome here, although i don't like the idea of single use products. We use Enjo. They are washable and we have been using the same ones for many years.

Posted 10 months ago #
Parsifal
Member

I actually do have an opinion on the swiffer - overpriced junk and a complete waste of time. Sure, it will get dust off an otherwise sparkling linoleum floor, but good luck cleaning a really dirty spot. I've had bits of grease in the kitchen that remained after 4-5 separate cleanings with the swiffer, and I was even bearing down hard enough to make the flimsy aluminum handle creak.

We keep it because DW loves it. Well yeah, it's easier than really mopping... too bad it doesn't work!

Swiffer is a marketing triumph and not much else. A sturdier microfiber mob might work better, but I'd suggest a regular old mop and pine sol for real messes and a damp cloth for minor spills.

Posted 10 months ago #
MSPunclutterer
Member

I have a mop type thing that I use with Micro fiber clothes. It does a good job picking up the dust and dirt. When I'm done I just rinse the cloth out in the sink. I have all hard wood floors and walk around in bare feet and the feel of dirt on my feet drives me nuts. I mop most days and it does a pretty good job of helping to keep everything clean.

Posted 10 months ago #
KeKeD
Member

I have tried both the dry and wet Swifters and did not care for them. I did not want to buy one more mop/duster product so I tried pinning a microfiber cloth (already had a stack of them) around my regular dust mop head and it worked like a charm. I also use the cloths wet to pick up any spills.

Posted 10 months ago #
momwalker1966
Member

Does your guest like to travel? Look how many of us are willing to have her visit.LOL Would love to have her come and visit in East Tennessee too. O'cedar brand is supposed to have washable pads that work on these for cheaper cost. You can even refill the wet/spray ones with your own homemade or better liked cleaner. We are too messy, I keep kids all day and it's shop vac under the kitchen table(once or twice a day) and hands/knees scrubbing once a week on the linoleum. So a swiffer would be like cleaning a messy stove top with a kleenex tissue for me.

Posted 10 months ago #
smallLife
Member

You can do a quick google search and find out how to make your own reusable Swiffer pads. Soak them in a vinegar and water solution - friendly for hardwood floors - and much cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Posted 10 months ago #
writing all the time
Member

Like other responses, we've got a pile of microfiber cloths, and a mop handle w/the pads you can re-use. I'm usually washing at least 1 load of dog towels/bedding weekly, so I toss the cloths I use to mop in with those. If something is really dirty, I'll rinse it and hang to dry. The great thing about those microfiber cloths is that they dry very quickly, take up little storage space and last forever.

I never did like the Swiffer products, they really don't clean as well as the homemade alternatives. Sweeping with a broom doesn't clean very well either, though. I use a broom to get the dust elephants that waft around, and then use the microfiber cloths on the mop handle to get the fine dust. If you wet and then wring them very dry, they get more dust and the floor dries almost instantly.

Ask you visiting student to try your idea. You may start a revolution!

Ruth

Posted 10 months ago #
ArtGal
Member

I have a dry Swiffer and the wet Swiffer and the Duster...and I LOVE them for cleaning!
However, I use my own solution of vinegar and water in the bottle for the wet one (pry open a used bottle and refill with your own solution)....the only thing you have to remember is to take the bottle off or store the Swiffer upside down so that the bottle doesn't leak because you've broken the "secret seal." I also use an old, clean dishcloth or wash cloth instead of the expensive pads. They are washable and easy to come by.

On the dry Swiffer, again I use old dishcloths instead of the purchased pads...you can also crochet a great cover (also washable) instead of the pads...just google Crocheted Swiffer Pads and you will find an assortment of patterns...all VERY easy!

Here are a couple:
http://tncrochetlady.tripod.com/archives/id34.html
http://www.christinascrochethaven.me/misc/mop_pad_refill_for_swiffer_wet_j.htm

Same for the duster...I found a crochet patten to make my own washable duster replacements.
http://gherkinsbucket.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/bifferdusterwig.pdf

Posted 10 months ago #
Sky
Member

I use a swiffer in my RV because it's small but instead of buying the pads, I use a paper towel with cleaner sprayed on it.

In my house, I have all hardwood floors and use a dust mop everyday and Shark steam mop weekly. It cleans better than anything I've tried and doesn't need cleansers, just water.

Posted 10 months ago #
jbeany
Member

I do like the Swiffer dusters - but then any microfiber dust cloth is good with me. I think I'm still using Swiffer dusters because of my ex - they were the only thing that EVER compelled him to actually dust something. I suppose because it was a gadget, with a handle, that extended reaaaallly long. (It's a guy thing.)

I never thought much of the wet swiffers for the floor, though - the cleaning liquid builds up and gets gunky.

Posted 10 months ago #
Zora
Member

I discussed dust mops with Ginger, who's the templekeeper (housekeeper) at my Zen center. She has switched to a commercial microfiber mop/dust mop system, with washable pads, which she recommends highly. I couldn't find the company online, so I'm waiting for more info.

I looked at several of the commercial systems (as used in hospitals, where they are said to dramatically reduce workplace accidents and cleaning costs) and they seem to be the original of which the Swiffer is a cheap copy.

I feel like an old fut now. I have been using the same sort of cleaning implements that I was trained to use more than fifty years ago. Broom, string mop, cotton dust mop. There's a new world out there!

Posted 10 months ago #
lemnlime
Member

Personally, I love Swiffers. Sweeping never really cleans my hardwood floors, and I loathe looking at and thinking about dirty mops. (The bacteria!) The Swiffer Wet-Jet is effective, easy to use, and worth the money, for me. You can usually get a starter pack for roughly $20. It's an expense I'm definitely willing to pay for, but only because I know the floors would never be cleaned without it.

Posted 10 months ago #
Anita
Member

I used to Swiffer my old place (tiny bachelor apartment), pre-cats. It worked very well for my needs - no big messes to clean up, and when the occasional one happened, I just used a wet washcloth to clean them up. Swiffer refills did get expensive, so I started using microfiber cloths instead of Swiffer pads and it worked just as well.

Now (bigger apartment, cats, and living with another human being), I use a vacuum cleaner once or twice a week instead. We have hard floors (hardwood, laminate and tile) throughout the apartment so vacuuming is very quick and effective. When the floors stop feeling clean post-vacuum, I use a Swiffer (since I already have one) with a damp microfiber cloth as a pad.

Posted 10 months ago #
Mimi
Member

this topic made me nearly buying a swiffer and while googling for the best price i have found the dirt devil evo: a robot who uses swiffer towels and cleans the rooms for you: "only" 300 euros... i told my boyfriend and he said: "as i clean the floors: i am your robot, that saves us 300 euros." isn´t he cute :)

PS: the robot would clean as often as i´d like it to (and not once a week) but who argues after such a nice comment...

Posted 10 months ago #
Irulan
Member

Count me among the anti-Swiffer folks. I had one and it broke quickly and leaked all over the place when I tried to use it. I'm young and I don't have much by way of bare flooring, so I clean on my hands and knees with a washcloth and bucket. That method definitely isn't for everyone!

I've heard good things about the twistable mops, especially the ones that have a head that can come off and go into the laundry. They don't get mangy like the sponge mops and they dry faster than microfiber cloths so they don't have to get laundered as often.

Posted 10 months ago #
pkilmain
Member

My DH is the floor washer in our family, and he prefers the hands and knees method. We have hardwood in our living room, vinyl in the kitchen, hallway, bath, entry and laundry. I vacuum everything usually once a week, and we sweep up tracked in dirt in between. I've never used a Swiffer, but I do use microfiber clothes to dust. They work great.

Posted 10 months ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

"My guest tells me that this is good housekeeping in Japan. The traditional way to keep wooden floors sparkling clean was to wipe them with a slightly damp cloth every day, but many housewives use the Swiffer now."

If you don't want the expense of a swiffer, then would the traditional way your guest describes be an option? That plus no outside shoes worn in the house?

Posted 10 months ago #

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