Are Swiffer products worth the money?
On which floors can you use the Swiffer Wet Jet or Wet Cloths?
Does Swiffer really pick up hair and dust?
There are lots of questions about Swiffer products. First, yes, I love Swiffer products. And not just because of the commercials on TV. I have used every mop there is, every duster from old fashioned to the newest gadget, and I had quite a collection of those cleaning tools in my closet.
But every day I reach for my Swiffer.
The Swiffer Sweeper is a great tool. You can use the Sweeper Pads or Wet Cloths they sell for it, or you can use another cloth wet or dry. Through its design you can put pretty much any cloth on the sweeper.
The same goes for the Swiffer Wet Jet. You can use the Mopping Pads they sell, or use washable microfiber pads, it is up to you.
The Swiffer Duster does need special duster pads. And no, I do not like the ones other brands sell for using on a Swiffer Duster. But more to that later.
Now, this year we have remodeled our condo. And everyone who has done remodeling knows that you will have dust for years to come, no matter how often you clean. And I clean every day, but there is no way to get rid of the dust it seems. My Swiffer Sweeper pads are black every day and my microfiber cloths for the Wet Jet don’t look any better. Even my O-Cedar Easywring Spin Mop, which I use 2x per week in addition to the daily cleaning, still gets dirty. Granted, I do have a cat that goes in and out the back door all day long, but…. You would imagine that eventually you get rid of all that dust that is sitting somewhere in the house.
After our renovation I had less space to keep my cleaning products, as we got rid of the storage closet where I kept them. I basically only use a maximum of 6 different cleaners, so they did not take up a lot of space. The cleaning tools though used more space. So, I reduced it to just the O-Cedar mop and bucket, a floor squeegee for the shower floor, and my 3 Swiffer tools -Sweeper, Wet Jet and Duster.
Now, I have to admit, I do like the Swiffer Sweeper pads, and I will tell you why. I still have loose dust floating around and I have a cat. Using the Swiffer pads really helps to pick up all the dust and cat hair. I have a ton of microfiber cloths I can use with my Swiffer Sweeper, but the cat hair is a little bit of a struggle – yes, the microfiber cloths pick up the hair, but you have to pick it off again, before you put it in the hamper to be washed. So, handling the cloth for the hair, you have dust getting in the air again. It will be a different story, once I have a handle on the construction dust, but for now, I prefer the Sweeper Pads I can throw in the trash. Yes, I know, they go to the landfill which is terrible for the environment, and I agree. But for now, I want to have as much a clean house as I can have.
For dusting I cannot imagine anything else to get rid of the construction dust besides the Swiffer Duster. Swiffer has heavy duty dusters, and they are a life saver. They really pick up all the dust and are so flexible that you can get around the items on the shelves without having to lift them up one by one. The dust stays in the duster pad, and I manage to use one pad for the whole house for a few days. At one point my grocery store was out of Swiffer Dusters and I bought some other brands, which I do not recommend. They were thin and flimsy, and the dust kept on falling back out. Just like in those old feather dusters we used to have.
Now for mopping the floor I have a few options. As I said before I use the O-Cedar mop and bucket with changing the water 3 times to clean the condo.
I also have the wet cloths for my Swiffer Sweeper for a quick clean in-between, especially in the kitchen after cooking. And drying the floor after the shower I use the Swiffer Sweeper with a microfiber cloth, which works great.
During the week I use the Swiffer Wet Jet with microfiber pads to clean the house every day. With the Wet Jet you have to buy the cleaning liquid. For a while I got around that by cutting a hole in the empty cleaning bottle and attaching a screw lid. I then filled the bottle with my own cleaning solution. I needed to do that because I had marble floors, and you should not use a Swiffer on marble floors. It worked for quite some time, but then one day I picked up my Wet Jet and the cleaning liquid leaked out through the sweeper. So, I went back and bought the cleaning solution for the Wet Jet as I now have tile floors and can use the Swiffer cleaning solution again.
There are several different cleaning solutions, but I always used the multi surface solution. Back then when I first started using Swiffer in 2002 there was only one solution. Later they added a solution specifically for wood and then came all the other specialized solutions. But basically, the multi surface solution is the only one you need. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that you have sealed floors, be it tile, laminate, etc. And marble floors are its own category – there is almost nothing you can use, besides specialized cleaning products for marble.
Now, if you do not want to get a Swiffer Wet Jet, you can also use a spray bottle with a floor cleaning solution and the Swiffer Sweeper with a microfiber cloth. I did that for a while on my marble floors and it worked perfectly too.
Now let’s answer a few questions friends and family have asked me over the years.
Are Swiffer Dusters washable?
I would say you can if you really have too and want to spend the time. After being asked that question, I took one of those dusters and hand washed them with a little bit of liquid detergent. The sun was shining, so I took it outside and let it dry in the sun. It did get dry quickly and did not look too bad, but not as fluffy anymore and when I used it on my shelves it did not pick up the dust like a new duster. You can certainly use it for some light dusting every day.
I tried one more time, used a little bit of dishwashing detergent and then dried it off somewhat in a towel. Then I used the blow dryer to completely dry it and fluff it up. It did look better, and I am sure you can use it for light dusting.
I did not test it in the washing machine and/or dryer, as I do not have one in the condo.
Can Swiffer be used on wood floors?
Here it has to be said that you should not use them on unfinished, waxed or oiled wood floors. If you have a sealed wood floor, yes, go ahead. You can choose any of the multi surface solutions or the one for wood floors. If you have several floor surfaces in your house/apartment I would stick to the multi surface, unless you buy two Swiffer Wet Jets. By using only one Wet Jet you have to switch bottles and I don’t know how often you can do that without causing too much wear. If you use the wet mopping cloths for the Swiffer Sweeper, then you can use the specialized ones for wood floors if you want.
Will Swiffer ruin Hard Wood floors?
As mentioned above, only use it on sealed wood floors and not on unfinished, waxed or oiled wood floors. They would need different cleaning. Other than that, Swiffer Multi Surface or Wood Floor Cleaner, both will be fine to clean sealed wood floors. There are people out there that say they have streaks after cleaning with the Swiffer, but I never had that problem in the 21 years I used a Swiffer. I think that for really heavy dirt cleaning I would not use my Swiffer but a mop and bucket and change the water frequently. After that a Swiffer is fine to use.
How Swiffer works.
The Swiffer Duster is an easy tool to use. There are small handle dusters available and the telescopic ones, which are perfect for cleaning the top shelves and fan blades, as the handle top can be bent into different angles. For me the Swiffer Duster refills are the best. And at the moment the heavy-duty refills are a life saver. I am not too fond of the off-brand duster refills, as they do not really lock in the dust like the original Swiffer ones do.
Well, the Swiffer Sweeper is easy to use. It has a rubber bottom and on the top 4 slits with teeth to hold the wrapped around cloths. If is very maneuverable and gets into the smallest corners. It works also very well to clean off base boards, as you can stand it on the side. If you have a lot of floor surface and it is quite dusty or a lot of hair, you might need 2 cleaning cloths. With the Swiffer Sweeper you can use dry and wet cloths.
The Swiffer Wet Jet uses 2 AA batteries to power the spray function. The cleaning head has 2 strips on the bottom that will adhere to the Swiffer cleaning pads and microfiber cleaning pads. There are several brands of microfiber cleaning pads available, and I have about 3 different ones, which I love all of them. For cleaning, just push the button on the handle and two nozzles – one left and one right on the front of the cleaning head – will spray the solution to the front of your Swiffer and you just mop it up. Spay as needed, but don’t go overboard. Especially if you have cleaned a while your pad will be saturated with the liquid and you don’t need to keep adding. Now, you could use the Wet Jet for dry cleaning too, by using the microfiber pads as a duster. But I find it too heavy to just use it as a duster.
Swiffer where to put batteries?
The only Swiffer that needs batteries is the Wet Jet. It is very easy to put those batteries in. There is a small battery compartment right where you put the cleaning solution. It takes two AA batteries and depending on the battery brand, they last quite a long time.
Why Swiffer Wet Jet won’t spray?
Well, 99.9% it is the battery. Once the batteries get weak the spray tends to cut out, or one side stops spraying completely. So, when you start noticing that the spray is having difficulties, just change the battery and most likely it works perfectly. I have my Swiffer Wet Jet now for 15 years and it still works like it did on the day I bought it.
Another reason the Swiffer Wet Jet won’t spray might be that you are running out of cleaning solution. To check if you still have solution in the bottle, just shake the Wet Jet and listen. If you don’t hear the solution swooshing around, then it is time to put in a new bottle.
One thing to note, when you first take it out of the box, make sure you have good connections between all the parts. If not, your Wet Jet might not spray.
Which Swiffer is best?
I get asked that question quite often. And there is no easy answer. It all depends on where you want to use the Swiffer.
Do you want to dust the furniture? Get the Swiffer Duster.
Do you want to dust the floors? Get the Swiffer Sweeper.
Do you want to mop the floor? Get the Swiffer Wet Jet.
There used to be a very handy Swiffer Duster/Vacuum with AA batteries, which I adored, but unfortunately that one did not last long, and they don’t make them anymore. It was a very handy tool. You attached one sweeper cloth and, in the front, you had the suction of the vacuum, so there was nothing left to sweep up.
Do you use a Swiffer, or more of a conventional duster and mop? Let me know.