Make your own "Swiffer" pads

I bought a Swiffer sweeper many years ago and didn't use it much because the replacement pads were so expensive. You can easily use one pad in each room and I doubled my usage by flipping each one over. A few years ago, I tried using dryer sheets that had already been used in the dryer a few times. (Yes, I'm frugal - using dryer sheets more than once, plus I only use my dryer in the winter. I tried hanging wet items in my basement, but they ended up smelling bad.)

When DS 2 broke his leg in February, he asked that I make him "toe socks" to cover the tip of his cast where his toes stuck out. Since it was quite cold and there was snow on the ground, we had to make sure he was warm. I found some leftover fleece and whipped up a couple short tubes that he could tug on his cast. (Make that, I tugged on over his cast, because his knee was immobile). After the cast came off, I cut off the seams of the toe socks and tried them on the Swiffer. The fleece worked much better than dryer sheets, but didn't come out great in the wash with my other rags. I needed more fleece pads to have enough to make their own wash load.

So to make your own - you need fleece. You could use new fleece, or cut up an old fleece jacket or blanket that's hanging around. Isn't this an ugly piece of fabric? It looks like purple islands floating in a sea of algae and has been in my attic since before kids. I was in a fleece jacket-making mode back then.

Measure your Swiffer or measure a Swiffer pad.  9 inches by 12 inches works for my Swiffer.


Cut away! I tried using my rotary cutter through 4 layers, but it didn't work. I just used my kitchen scissors. You can estimate your meausurements and don't worry if you cut a crooked line. The housekeeping police don't care! If you cut a piece too small to fit on your Swiffer, use it for dusting your dresser.

Place your Swiffer unit on top of the fleece.

Press the fleece into the grabbers.

Start cleaning. These are my front stairs which were vacuumed last week.

This is what came off my stairs. Yuck! With one cat and a dog who is not allowed upstairs, it's amazing how much fur is on there.

Now, just flip the fleece over and you can keep going. When the fleece is yucky enough, toss it in the laundry. I try the peel off the biggest dust bunnies first before washing.

I only use this technique for dry-mopping. There are Swiffer pads for wet-mopping, which I wouldn't recommend because of all the chemicals. If you have an idea for wet-mopping, let me know.

New doll clothes and vintage dolls

Do you remember your dolls? I still have a couple of mine. One was a baby and I have clothing for her that my grandmother made out of dress scraps. She lives in my sewing room and I can't think of a reason to give her up. Later, I had a Littlest Angel, by Vogue, complete with a pink trunk to hold her and her wardrobe. Yes, still have her also, but I thought I would sell her recently and I think together with the trunk, she's worth about $40. (Anyone want to buy her?)

Vogue baby doll with Grandma's dress scraps outfit

Littlest Angel

Green and blue-eyed Vogue sisters

My mother wouldn't let me have a Barbie, because she didn't look like a real woman and back then Barbie wasn't a good role model as her focus was on fashion, high heels and Ken. Skipper (Barbie's little sister) was for me since she was more athletic looking. (Photo from Ebay) Now I found out there was another Skipper who grew breasts when you rotated her arm. Mom would NEVER have let me play with her!

Now girls have the American Girl dolls, which are a huge marketing win for the company. One niece of mine, who is taller than me, convinced her parents to take her to the American Girl doll store in New York City. It was the first time to NY for my brother, and a culture shock to his country ways.

Niece number 2 is five years old and doesn't realize that her American Girl doll has a store from which to shop, so I made her several doll outfits for a Christmas gift from scraps from my garment sewing days. The blue polka-dot dress came from blouse scraps.


This red polka dot dress could have been from dress scrap, but I'm not sure. I still love polka dots! In my hoard stash, I found fabric to make crinolines (from my mother's stash), so made a quick slip for poufiness.

The yellow pants were leftover from a crib bedskirt (my oldest is 18!) and the striped vest is leftovers from a high-school tube-style top.


The jeans are scrap from a denim maternity dress and the hot pink is supplex scrap from my days of making fleece jackets with supplex trim.

The nightgown is leftover from a flannel nightie I made for myself and just tossed recently.

Making all of these clothes was rewarding, as I traveled down memory lane of past outfits and I hope my niece loves them!