Cheap and Easy Homemade Swiffer Pads

Before I started my own blog, I was an avid reader of many blogs. When someone would go more than a day or two without posting, I wondered “ Is something wrong? Have they given up blogging? has there been an emergency?” Since I have started my own blog, I have found that there are many reasons that someone might not blog for a while. So, If any of you are like me and might have wondered “Where’d she go?” Here’s a short version:
Spending time with family, working in the garden, canning and all the while I think I’ll post tonight which then becomes in in the morning. Then I’ve started having some heart rhythm and blood pressure issues which have kept me feeling kind of yucky. The medicine made it worse, so I’m starting over and may have the pleasure of wearing a heart monitor to help figure out what’s going on. Meanwhile, life goes on…
…and things still need to be done around the house…like mopping. I have cheap inexpensive press and stick vinyl tile in most of our home (aka the basement while we build)and ceramic tile in our bathroom. Due to the high volume of “traffic” in our home,(small area and lots of people) the floors always need mopping and never look like they’ve been mopped. :( I’ve tried a large string mop and bucket with a ringer, a sponge mop, several versions of the swiffer and they have all had their positives and negatives for cost and ease of use. I really like the swiffer wet jet because it’s easy and convenient but can’t afford all the pads. We were already making our own refill solution. :-) So I set out in search of a way to make my own. There are several “how-to’s” out there, but none were exactly what I was envisioning. Then I came across these at Walmart:


Eighteen red, white and blue washcloths on clearance for $2.00!!…and they were about the perfect size for attaching to the swiffer. I bought a couple of packs and headed home!
Homemade Swiffer Pad Version One
The washcloths are a little wider than the swiffer, so I thought I would take them in to fit and to add a little more absorbency in the middle. So I pulled them together and stitched down both pleats and the edges with a zig zag stitich.

I didn’t take a picture of those stitches by themselves, but you can see them in the finished picture below. Next I cut up an old bath towel that is under the washcloths in the pic above. I rolled it over to get 3  sections of towel, the size of the swiffer mop head, before I cut.

I zigzagged the pleats and then pinned the “padding” to the middle of the washcloth and zigzagged all around the edges. Top view:

Underside view:

Attached to the swiffer:


These are are on a regular swiffer, not the wet jet. Those pads were going to be hard to attach without covering up the jets where the water comes out and I was getting tired of replacing batteries and yanking the bottle on and off to refill. So we are using the regular swiffer and a spray bottle!
Homemade Swiffer Pads Version Two
I wanted to make more, but wasn’t thrilled with my “pleat” to make the washcloth fit the swiffer, so I folded and unfolded ‘til I came up with this way:
Spread out the washcloth and put the layers of towel in the middle.
 
Fold one side in over the padding.

Then fold the second side over so that the padding is completely covered. Take the top fold and pull it back so that abut 1/2 an inch of the padding is covered.

Do the same to the other side so that it looks like this:

Pin it down and sew a zig zag stitch through all thicknesses turning and catching the sides of the padding as well

Close up:

Outside:

And attached to the swiffer….they fit just fine! We have mopped with these and washed and dried them and they are holding up well! It makes catching those little spots easier because I know that I won’t be “wasting” a pad for a spill!
Happy mopping and I’m glad to be back in blogland!! :-)
I’ll be taking my swiffers to the parties in my sidebar, so come along with us there are some great parties over there!I’m also entering these in the Fabric and Sewing week at

Come and check out the great sewing projects!
 

Getting Ready to Garden! Make your own Seed Starting Pots

 Next week will be warm with NO rain...a big change here in north Georgia! Today we had thunderstorms and hail!

I am ready to get out in my garden. I love gardening...flower, vegetable, fruit.landscaping...any of it! It's a great stress reliever. I've tried traditional ground gardening, almost complete organic gardening and now I am somewhere in the middle. I have 8 4'x16' raised beds for vegetables. they are made out of 2'x10" rough sawn hemlock boards. They are filled with "topsoil" from a retired cow pasture and then enriched with compost, horse manure, leaves and hay.

They look so sad and lonely...I didn't get to "winterize" my my garden last fall...I'm determined to do it this year!

I have 3 6"x12" beds  for strawberries, rasberries and a blueberry patch. Last year, I formed three beds and a punkin' patch using the "lasagna gardening" method. I started two more but after a car accident I didn't get them finished. I hope to take pictures of them this week while the sun is shining.

The bed above is set up to be covered with plastic during the cold weather and it becomes  my greenhouse! the plastic that covers the bed can be lifted on warm sunny days or if  it needs to be watered. Last year, I was able to plant lettuce, spinach, carrots and radishes in February and March. This year it has been too cold and too wet. :(

I like to start some of my own seeds indoors so that when it is warm enough to plant, they will already be well on their way. Squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and gourds are some of the seedlings that don't like to have their roots disturbed once they start growing, so it's best to start them in something that can be planted right into the ground with the  plant inside. You can buy peat pots ooorrrrr...you can make your own thrifty seed starting pots with these:

Newspaper and/or paper towel or toilet paper tubes!

These little pots  really work and are FREE! They hold the moisture and breakdown when planted. You want to make sure that you don't use the slick or colored paper from the ads. Just regular black and white newspaper. First start with a single page ( half of a double page spread) and fold it in half. Fold it in half length wise and press the fold flat.

Fold it "almost" in half lenght wise again. Press the fold flat again.

Place the vitamin bottle or small cup or anything you have that would give you the right size,  on the newspaper with about an inch or a little less extending off of the bottom of the bottle.

Roll the bottle tightly in the newspaper.

 Press the part of the newspaper that is hanging over the bottom inward, this forms the bottom of the cup.

 Place the newspaper wrapped bottle firmly on a table and press down to compress the bottom.

Finally, pull the bottle out and you have a homemade, biodegradeable and FREE seedling pot!

Some people use empty toilet paper or paper towel tubes for starting seeds. Jusst cut and fill! I haven't used them but plan on giving them a try this year. They are smaller and don't have bottom, so we'll see...

                                       

I put the cups in a metal pan (found at the thrift store of course) and fill them with a seed starting mix. Potting soil doesn't work well for this. I've tried because it's less expensive, but it doesn't hold the moisture and it's too coarse for the seeds. When the pots are all in the pan with their sides touching they support each other and stand up just fine.

I could talk about gardening forever...but I'll stop for now. All that's left to do is insert a seed, and water. Keep moist...you can even drape plasic wrap over the top to help hold in the moisture. Set in a warm place and wait for the little sprouts to appear!

Next time I'd like to share what I do after they sprout  and explain "Lasagna gardening". If you are intrigued by the name  and don't want to wait for me, you can find out more for yourself here and here.

I'm sharing this idea here at:

                                                                

The Thrifty Home

We Are That Family

Happy Spring!