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Home » Homemade » Make Your Own Swiffer Wet Pads

Make Your Own Swiffer Wet Pads

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It's so easy to make your own swiffer wet pads with 3 simple ingredients. Say no nasty chemicals found in the store bought version!

A few years ago, before I was enlightened about all of the nasty chemicals lurking in so many cleaning products, I bought a Swiffer. This was before the Wet Jet time, so it was just a good ol’ Swiffer that you used with the wet pads you can still buy in stores.

After a few uses I stopped buying them because of the smell. It had an “off” smell to me—Off enough that I didn’t dare step on the floor while wet, not because of getting it dirty, but because I was leery of what unknown toxic ingredients would be seeping into my foot. I guess I’ve always been a little granola at heart. And then when my floor would dry, it felt slightly sticky so I would never walk on my kitchen floor without socks. And then I decided that was ridiculous so I switched over to what I’ve been using ever since—My trusty 2/3 water, 1/3 vinegar solution mixed in with some essential oils when I’m feeling fancy.

Then it dawned on me.. Why not combine my favorite floor cleaner with the convenience of the Swiffer? And that’s how a star was born.

To make your own Swiffer wet pads you’ll need the following:

It takes less than 5 minutes to make your own swiffer wet pads. 72% cheaper than the chemical ridden store bought version!

4 C distilled water
2 C white vinegar
10-14 drops of pure essential oil 
(12) 11”x11” clean rags
an empty Swiffer pad container, or a 2 gallon Ziploc bag

Directions for making your own Swiffer wet pads:

Pour the distilled water and vinegar into the empty container or Ziploc bag. Add your essential oil. I chose to use lemon today because of its de-greasing properties. You can see how far up this solution fills my container, below:

Recycle your old swiffer container and make your own wet pads. So much cheaper and without all of those nasty chemicals!

Next, place your clean rags in, one at a time into the container. They should soak up most of the solution between all of them. I’ve found the “11 x 11” cleaning rags are the perfect size, and because their edges are already sewn, they’ll last through lots of cycles in the washer. Here’s what it looks like when all 12 rags are in:

Simple. Quick. Cheap. Make your own swiffer wet pads without all of those nasty chemicals. 72% cheaper than store bought version and it doesn't leave behind that nasty chemical residue!

Store with the lid on, or if using the ziploc bag, with the top zipped.

To use, attach a rag to your Swiffer mop, just like you would the other wet pads. Make sure the rag is pulled taught. And by all means, feel free to flip the rag over and use the other side.

Make your own swiffer wet pads using 11"x11" cleaning rags. Only 3 simple ingredients!

Here’s what my rag looks like after just a few minutes of mopping, and I just mopped my floors last week!

Make your own swiffer wet pads. So simple and waaaay cheaper than the chemical ridden version from the store.

We don’t wear shoes in the house, so this is just from regular living traffic. Moral of the story? It does the job. To clean, just throw the rag in with your other cleaning rags and wash in the washer.

How does our solution cost compare to what you would pay for a container of wet pads in the store?

Distilled Water: $0.22
Vinegar: $0.22 (I buy my vinegar in bulk from Costco for $3.49)
Essential Oils: $0.81 (I used 12 drops of Lemon essential oil)

I already owned the rags, container, and mop so my total cost is $1.25 per batch. A container of 12 Swiffer wet pads at my nearest Walmart costs $4.47.

That’s a 72% savings!!!!!

I’d be willing to save 72% any day, especially when you consider that our version comes sticky-chemical & residue free.

Make your own swiffer wet pads using 11"x11" cleaning rags. Only 3 simple ingredients!

DIY Swiffer Wet Pads

Save money and avoid chemicals by making your own Swiffer wet pads. 
5 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cleaning, homemade diy
Cuisine: Cleaners
Keyword: cleaning
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 12 Pads
Author: Karrie

Ingredients

  • 4 cups distilled water
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 10-14 drops of pure essential oil
  • 12 11”x11” clean rags
  • an empty Swiffer pad container or a 2 gallon Ziploc bag
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Pour the distilled water and vinegar into the empty container or Ziploc bag. Add your essential oil. I choose lemon essential oil because of its de-greasing properties.
  • Next, place your clean rags in, one at a time into the container. They should soak up most of the solution between all of them. I've found the "11 x 11" cleaning rags are the perfect size, and because their edges are already sewn, they’ll last through lots of cycles in the washer.
  • Store with the lid on, or if using the ziploc bag, with the top zipped.
  • To use, attach a rag to your Swiffer mop, just like you would the other wet pads. Make sure the rag is pulled taught. And by all means, feel free to flip the rag over and use the other side.

How about you? Are you in love with your Swiffer? Do you have any other hard floor cleaner favorites?

OTHER GREAT DIY CLEANING RECIPES

  • Best EVER Homemade Carpet Cleaning Solution
  • All Natural Carpet Cleaning Solution Using Vinegar
  • DIY Carpet Cleaner Powder Dry Shampoo
  • Homemade Armor All Car Cleaning Spray
  • DIY Liquid Hand Soap recipe
  • Homemade Laundry Detergent

Pssssst...

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June 25, 2014
Cleaning Recipes, Homemade, Oils

Comments

  1. maddie wayne says

    May 22, 2022

    5 stars
    I just made a swifter pad for my handle. I used a clean cotton rag, and used 1 rubber band (from the newspaper) on each end. This worked great. I used a very small amount of water and vinegar and a few drops of dawn, it did only fill a large bucket a couple of inches.

    Reply
    • Happy-Money-Saver says

      May 31, 2022

      Great tip!

      Reply
  2. Debbie Hall says

    January 23, 2021

    Is this vinegar solution safe on laminate floors?

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      January 23, 2021

      Yes, you can clean laminate floors with this solution. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Esha says

    November 28, 2020

    5 stars
    Hi!! I am so excited to try this out but am wondering how long a box like this lasts? Do the towels start smelling because of the water or does the vinegar help prevent any mildewing? So excited for your answer!

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      November 30, 2020

      I haven’t had any mildewing and so I’m not exactly sure – it’s lasted me for several months no problem!

      Reply
  4. Virginia Ellen says

    April 14, 2020

    Thank you! Are the rags cotton? 🙂 I am just starting to make my own cleaners. A fun way to spend my new found time at home!

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      April 14, 2020

      Hi, yes they are. Just inexpensive wash cloths I bought at Walmart. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Terry says

    August 18, 2019

    You say to use 11×11 cleaning rags, but your picture (and a Swiffer) are rectangular! Doesn’t make sense to me. Do you cut the rags?

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      September 23, 2019

      You can use cut rags from home, the swiffers have holes in them so you can use a rectangular or square washrag.

      Reply
  6. Health Horizons says

    July 30, 2018

    Vinegar and Distilled water, will be ok with the stains or some kind of acid-base combination? Swiffer pads seem to have a long run.

    Reply
  7. Reginald Reynolds says

    June 6, 2018

    Dollar store.
    For some who want to save money that’s a good way, a lemon in a close container with cut up lemon peel for a week.

    Reply
  8. Mitzi Hendrix says

    December 29, 2016

    What about on slate and porcelain floors? I heard that citrus and vinegar are not good for them. Any reply would be helpful.

    Reply
    • Amber B says

      October 13, 2019

      Dr. Bronner’s – Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner (32 Oz)
      4 drops for 2 Gal water

      Dr. Bronner’s – Pure-Castile Liquid Soap (32 Oz)
      1-2 Tablespoon for 2 Gal water

      Reply
      • Virginia Ellen says

        April 8, 2020

        Will these work okay on wood floors (without staining them)? Also, is regular tap water an okay alternative if you don’t have distilled water? Thanks for the great idea!

      • Karrie says

        April 9, 2020

        Yes, I’ve used this on wood floors too. 🙂

      • Karrie says

        April 9, 2020

        And yes tap water will work.

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Karrie

Hello & Welcome!

I'm Karrie. Come join me on my money savin' adventures but beware: you may find yourself wanting backyard chickens, making freezer meals and dancing along with me to 80's music.
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