My mop and I have had a hate like relationship. I hate to clean, I hate my mop, but I like a clean floor. Every few months I’ve been getting a new mop in the hopes that I’ll end up with a clean floor. Yes, I know I need to use the mop…
The mops have all been woefully inadequate. They don’t work well, they seem to just be vehicles to sludge dirty water around on the floor. Then covered in dog hair so fast and it doesn’t want to come off. My dog must have some kind of magical hair, it sticks in and stays. Then I have to try to find a new replacement head but in that time, the manufacturers have decided to discontinue the mop or I have to special order the head because stores are only carrying the full mop assembly.
I don’t enjoy cleaning enough to put up with this. Ok, I don’t enjoy cleaning at all!
Then I read This post at Bron’s Blog. She has a Wet Jet and made a pad for it. It was one of those slapping the forehead kind of moments for me. I never wanted to buy a wet jet. You buy all those pads and throw them away, mother nature weeps… The bottles of cleaner I can refill, that wasn’t a problem, it was the pads. Really, how well can a little paper pad do anyway?
Thanks to Bron, I ran out, bought a wet jet and that night crocheted a little pad for it.
It was incredibly fast to crochet with some cheap kitchen cotton. It works like a dream! Bron is a genius!
If you want to make one too, I just crocheted til it was big enough and then I made a pocket on one side so it went over the end. There are little velcro bits on the bottom that hold it, but it felt like it needed a little pocket. I have some serious scrubbing to do and the pocket makes me feel secure. The side without it stays well too but I’ll probably make a pocket on that side. It was just more awkward because it has that giant “scrubber” thing.
I’ll be making a few more for me and for my Mom. Hopefully this will be the last mop thing I’ll need to own.
Boogie's Blog 
That is definitely one of the best mop ideas I’ve heard of yet.
Perfect! Do you reckon a garter st knit one would work too?
I’ve totally thought about doing that before!! I too have considered a swiffer except for the fact that I don’t want more disposable products in my life. Let us know how you feel about it after a few weeks? I’d love feeling like I could mop every day.
I have seen these around the interwebs for a couple weeks now and I have thought about making one. Glad to hear from another reliable source that they work well.
Very cool crochet pocket!
I have a mop that I got from Gaiam.com that, I think, has twice as big a bottom piece as that one. It came with 2 cotton, elastic edge “pouches” to cover the bottom and you can wash them after cleaning….using 1 for the soapy scrubbing and the other for the clean rinsing. I’ve been using it for almost 10 years now and it’s still going strong. If you ever think about getting another mop, check this one out.
Oh, and I also use a bucket filled with 1/4 white vinegar and the rest filled with water, some essential oils or grapefruit seed extract and drop of Bronner’s soap for the cleanser. Much more earth friendly …and cheaper…than the Swiffer refills. Just an idea…
That is genius! I have recently been switching over to homemade cleaning concoctions and have been trying all sorts of mop covers so I wouldn’t have to get rid of the swiffer-type mop. What a timely post…
You know, I got rid of my wet jet because I hated the cleaning solutions that came with it, and buying the pads and all. I love this idea . . . but doesn’t the bottle leak when you try to re-use it? That was the main problem I had. I couldn’t use earth-friendly (or me-friendly) cleaners because the darn thing would leak all of the time. Hmmmmm . . . maybe Google knows. :o)
Thanks so much for the post–I have a ton of dishcloth cotton!
this is cool idea! i’m going to have to try it. because i hate cleaning too. and i have a wet-jet that i rarely use.
Ugh, I have the same problem with mops–seriously guys, stop designing for obsolescence! Stupid little changes that mean you have to buy a whole new assembly tick me off. Plus, they are not cheap at all. I’ve decided to just let the house get dirty and I’ll use all the money I’ve saved not buying mops to get the scuba roomba, whatever it’s called. Which will promptly die from all the filth.
I don’t have a crocheted/knitted cloth, but I stopped using sponge mops, and we now use the regular swiffer stick/brush with a microfiber cloth. Not only does it mop up stuff really well (suprisingly!) it dry mops the floor WAY more than any of the disposable pads ever did. And they come completely clean in the wash. The boys thought I was nuts when I told them No More Mops – but now Devin (who does all the mopping, esp since the car adcident) doesn’t WANT to switch to something else. As a bonus? It picks up cat and people hair and it shakes right out on the back porch!!! Stupid sponges always like glued that crap onto itself.
And here was me just tying an old piece of cloth nappy/diaper round the head of my Swiffer. A crochet pad is much more fun!
I love it. I have a wet jet too because the girls track in unbelievable amounts of mud. I think the cotton would be way more absorbent. I wonder if doing a thread of hemp and a thread of cotton would produce a better scrubbing surface.
Brilliant! I have one of those that was gifted to me and I was never quite happy with using all those disposable paper covers.
That is an awesome idea!
That’s a fab idea! I’ve bought a Bissell steam mop as it has washable covers and only uses water (steam) as a cleaner and really havn’t used my Swifter since. (I was bothered by the refills and the throw aways.) I’ve seen a pattern for a knitted swifter cover, but not a crocheted one. (Care to share the pattern?)Also, how do you refill your Swifter cleaner bottle? Does it leak ever? I’d love to be able to use mine again in between steam cleans as I hate to clean myself, but find that the older I get, the less I can stand the dirt/clutter. lol
I like yours without the fp/bp double crochet. When used wet, the bumps on that design have a tendency to make the solution streak. I’m going to crochet another with a smoother crochet stitch! Great idea!
Regardless, the crocheted covers beat the heck out of the paper refills!
I love using my Swiffer w/ a knitted cover! It scrubs up the dirt so much better. I too want to know how you refill the bottles. I have one I saved to refill with a vinegar solution.
Good luck!
Personally, I found that the best method to mopping is to marry a man who loves to mop. I’m not sure if there are a lot of them out there but luckily I found one and there’s no way I’m letting him go.lol.
This is brilliant. I’ve a very small kitchen, although the lino has stupid bubble wrap like nodules making it tricking to clean. For a long time I’ve just kitchen sprayed and mopped every few days, but this looks even easier.
There’s a knitted ballband washcloth style swiffer cover pattern that I found through ravelry the other day. And I am SO making myself one for the same environmental reasons. I never thought of crochet though… :)
Thanks for the info
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