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Make Reusable Swiffer Covers

16 April 2009 77,559 views 26 Comments

by heather

In the spirit of spring cleaning, I offer Merwing-Little Dear's super-easy tutorial for making your own Swiffer duster covers! When you're done using them, toss 'em into the laundry! Now you have no excuse for not mopping and dusting! Evil, I know!

You can make them out of fleece blankets from the dollar store, or better yet, microfiber dusting cloths (yes, they sell those at the DS too!). There aren't any instructions for making the Swiffer mop cover, but it looks pretty simple, doesn't it?

Project Estimate:

Microfiber towel or fleece blanket, $1

Total cost: $1

26 Comments »

songbirdtiff said:

Excellent. I’ve been washing the covers for my swiffer duster and they are completely worn out (they weren’t actually made to be washed, lol!) I need to make some good sturdy covers.

# 16 April 2009 at 7:54 am

Dawn said:

This are genius! No more refills for me!

# 16 April 2009 at 2:08 pm

Traci said:

I also use the SHAMWOWS for my swiffer…..I have laminate floors….LOVE IT!!! Also, a ROOMBA does wonders…lol.

# 17 April 2009 at 7:02 am

Dariece said:

I am confused. Obviously missing something very simple, how do you get the fabric covers off and on the floor swifter thingy? Looks like it’s sewn to fit snuggly, so how do you get if off and on?

# 18 April 2009 at 8:21 pm

kelli said:

I love this idea!!! I have had friends crochet me some dry covers but I think they don’t work so good. I am so raiding my thrift store donation bag for the fleece!
thanks

# 19 April 2009 at 7:49 am

hippie said:

lovely but fleece doesn’t absorb much water and tends to breed bacteria and smell even after washing, while it works great for the duster the swiffer should really have a cotton pad.

# 19 April 2009 at 10:24 am

heather (author) said:

@hippie Oh, thanks for the input! Maybe if you bought a cotton dishtowel and used it to sew the covers? I haven’t tried this yet, but when I do, I’ll experiment with different materials. I wonder if a felted wool sweater would be good?

# 19 April 2009 at 1:38 pm

kelli said:

I didn’t think these were made for wet washing. Fleece is made out of old soda bottles, isn’t it? I’m almost finished with making one for mine, i have a clorox mop but i only use the pre-moistened pads with it for a quick clean up. That thing was too leaky. Plus it’ll be good for getting the cobwebs out of the ceiling corners.

# 19 April 2009 at 7:59 pm

Carrie Ellis said:

Thanks for sharing this, its the easiest, fastest and most practical craft I’ve ever done!

# 2 May 2009 at 4:51 pm

Tami (Pixeltrash) said:

Now… WHY the heck didn’t I think of that??? Great one!!! I”m off to sew some. I even have the fleece!

# 15 May 2009 at 5:55 pm

wo said:

thank you. I can’t wait to try this.

# 17 June 2009 at 11:51 am

Michelle said:

WOW! This is awesome! I have been looking for a pattern for a Swiffer duster replacement that I can crochet – but this looks ten times easier! Thank you so much for sharing this!

# 9 February 2010 at 8:49 am

Christy said:

Do you have a pattern for the other swiffer cover?

# 17 May 2010 at 12:10 pm

Spark*Amy said:

You can find a tutorial here, but it’s made to use the velcro on the Swiffer wet mop – http://www.instructables.com/id/Swiffer-Mop-Pad-a-reusable-one!/

The one above looks like one side is shorter so you could pull on long side and then pull the short side over.

# 17 May 2011 at 11:29 am

Joni said:

Fleece is not very absorbent. If you can find a shamwow or similar, it would work better.

# 1 August 2011 at 8:11 pm

Lisa said:

Why not make the mop cover from old t-shirts? I would double them and they would be super absorbent and FREE!

# 6 August 2011 at 8:34 am

melissa said:

this is an awesome idea!! and i think these are just in replace of swiffer dusters / sweepers NOT the moppers!

# 5 September 2011 at 7:21 pm

Michele said:

Another great replacement for the wet swiffer is old cloth diapers. I never used cloth diapers as actual diapers but as spit up cloths/pads. They are absorbent and great for light cleaning.Just another idea for recycling.

# 6 September 2011 at 5:16 am

Emily said:

I don’t know how to sew to save my life, but I want to make these!

# 2 October 2011 at 8:07 pm

brigitte said:

great idea !! had the same one !! :-D
but i used mitains ( for cleaning cars ) DS as well
they are all micro fiber

why buying and then throw out in the barbage ? to fill the landfill ? to fill some other very deep pockets ?

have not yet warned out my pads

# 3 October 2011 at 4:47 am

Anne said:

I’ve seen another tutorial for swiffer duster refills where you use flannel, not fleece. Flannel really grabs the dust better than microfiber, and it’s not supposed to fall apart when you cut it! Haven’t tried this yet but when I do, I’m using flannel!

# 3 November 2011 at 11:18 am

Jan said:

I use plain square washcloths. They stay put and you can use both sides and then throw in the laundry. Cheap and I have tons of them.

# 3 November 2011 at 6:33 pm

Rita said:

How about putting elastic around and old terry cloth towel?

# 12 December 2011 at 8:13 pm

Dollar Store Crafts » Blog Archive » Top 10 Dollar Store Crafts Posts of 2011 said:

[...] Swiffers are great, but the refills are expensive and not at all eco-friendly. Making your own reusable swiffer covers is one way to both save money and reduce your environmental impact – everybody wins! [read the post] [...]

# 30 December 2011 at 10:07 pm

Judy said:

You don’t “have” to sew anything~ I use old wash cloths and poke into the holes provided! EASEY/PEASEY

# 17 January 2012 at 8:32 pm

daina said:

Say, I wonder if you could use cotton diapers for swiffer clothes?They could poke into the little holes to stay on and they are about the right size. they’d be easy to wash and bleach. Thanks for the inspiration, I’m gonna try it!

# 6 February 2012 at 11:22 pm