We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Homemade Swiffer Wet Jet Refill

I recently used the last of my wet jet solution and was sadly contemplating the retirement of my swiffer to storage because I couldn't afford the refills. That same day, I found out about homemade baby wipes and after making my own, I thought, why don't I make my own swiffer refill?

There was only one difficulty (getting the cap off) but otherwise, it's a breeze!

Here's what I used:
Empty Swiffer cleaning solution bottle
1 cup of hot water
Vinegar and water mix


After struggling to get the cap off and ending up frustrated, an idea struck! Well, it's back to basic science then. I boiled a few cups of water and put the wet jet bottle in upside down for a couple of minutes to let the plastic expand.

Two minutes later, the cap twisted off easily! You have no idea how pleased I was. I was literally smiling for the rest of the day because this worked :)

I was in such a rush, though, that I forgot to take a photo of the cap off of the bottle. Oh well.

Next, I filled it with vinegar and water and replaced the cap.


Popped it back into the swiffer sweeper thingy....


Presto! Ready for action. Aaahhhh.... saving money is sweet bliss.
For the moment, I'm good on the swiffer pads, but when those run out, there's no way I'm buying more. I'm already planning to make washable pads out of old towels or something. But, we'll handle that when the time comes. For now, I'm so glad I still get to use my swiffer!

I'm linking to:

12 comments:

  1. What an awesome post! I tried to refill mine before, only to have the same problem with the lid! I was thinking maybe I would have to get the liquid in there with a syringe or something...thank you!! That sprayer is so convenient...saving all that money is sweet icing on the cake!
    BTW, thanks for following my blog...I'm returning the favor;)

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  2. Marie- I'm glad it was helpful! I'm finding out this saving money thing is addicting :). Thanks so much for following! Welcome to my (almost) daily musings. Yes, I joined yours as well and am loving catching up on your projects. I'm always up for learning new things and finding more inspiration- it gets me through the day!

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  3. This is awesome. I would never have thought of putting the top in hot water to get it off. Good for you.
    Looking forward to checking out your blog later.

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  4. Thank you, Marianne! So good to see you again!

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  5. so clever! i love it..
    thanks for linking up!

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  6. Yes!! I love your frugalness! Definitely going to try this out! :)

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  7. Thanks, Amy and Nestled in Rosenberg :) All the fabulous people in blogland are a huge inspiration in my journey to live more frugally.

    Nestled- I'm enormously glad you are willing to try it! I love my swiffer!

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  8. That is awesome! I have wanted to buy one, but I didn't want to pay for refills. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. You were very popular at last weeks "AP Tuesdays" party, and you are featured this week! Thanks for linking up!!

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  10. Glad my little experiment helped, Melissa :) Thanks for stopping by!

    Amy, Really?? Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. Wooooo!!!

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  11. Hi,
    Hate to tell ya this, but www.instructables.com has the directions on how to get that swiffer cap off the bottle. I am thankful for finding your blog. I will be putting it in my google reader. I also make my own swiffer pads. I think I got the directions from www.Tipnut.com or the instructables link. At this point we all need to figure out more and more ways to save money and be frugal. I always have been and will always be! Thanks for your post. It is great!

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  12. Hey, Lowbudget, well, that's pretty neat! I'll just chalk it up to great minds thinking alike then :). Never heard of instructables.com before. I should see what other useful stuff they have on there, it would save me having to wrack my brain for some things. Ooh, I love Tipnut! I need to check out that tutorial for the washable swiffer pads. Thanks! And thanks for following ;)

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