luvstoquilt

What a great idea! Thanks for the tip.

Sewgood

I've been cutting my long narrow pieces into strips for jelly roll rugs...I just made one last night using leftovers of a FQ pack. I usually end up cutting my own fabric for the rugs. Leftover binding strips work great!

teddy300

You can use small pieces as an "eraser" to clean a white board

JustAbitCrazy

I made some washable swiffer pads with scrap cotton batting in the middle between towel and muslin. They clean the floor much better than the disposable ones.

IrishgalfromNJ

What great ideas. I love this thread.

selm

Do you sew the layers all together? How are your pads attached to the swiffer?

JustAbitCrazy

These are for the swiffer pads that use batteries to squirt cleaning fluid from a bottle.

I use prewashed towel and muslin. Actually the towels I used were thin old ones with the stitching coming out around the edges, which were fraying. You know, not pretty, but too good to throw out.

First I measured the bottom of the swiffer mop and cut a piece of paper and a piece of muslin that size. I laid the paper over the bottom of the swiffer pad and marked in pencil where the ends of the two scratchy strips are. Then I used a lightbox and ruler to trace those marks onto the muslin with a fine sharpy permanent marker. I used that muslin as a template and transferred those marks with faint pencil lines onto all the pieces of muslin for all the pads I wanted to make.
Next I stack the pad I am making this way: (all pieces are cut to the same size as the muslin)
With the muslin and towel on top of each other (right sides together if you're using a print instead of muslin) and then the batting on top (or bottom, if that works best for you, it doesn't matter). Stitch all around the sides with a quarter inch seam, leaving an opening in a short side for turning right sides out. Trim excess fabrics from the corners, turn right sides out so the towel and muslin are on the outside with the batting hidden inbetween them, and topstitch the opening closed very close to the folds (The seam allowances get folded to the insides there). Then cut two strips of 3/4" wide velcro---the soft side only, not the scratchy side---the correct length to end where your marks are on the muslin. Sew those around all sides of the velcro onto the muslin, following your pencil marks for placement, and through all layers. The velcro strips will stick to the scratchy strips on the bottom of the swiffer just like the disposable pads do, even better, actually. Ta da! It's done! The towel side is the cleaning side, the muslin side adheres to the bottom of the swiffer.

These pads are slightly more difficult to push around than the disposable paper ones, which slide very easily. But because of that, they clean much better. The disposable pads generally only get dirty on the leading edge, whereas these washable pads get dirty all over. Everyone I've made them for (family) loves them and wants more. No one, including myself, thinks they are hard to push around, even the elderly relatives.

One more thing: you can reuse the swiffer cleaning fluid bottles if you invert the empty bottle to dangle the lid in almost boiling water for a minute or so. The lid will twist off then and you can refill the bottle with whatever you want, it will seal shut again and not leak. I have yet to do this, but there are many Utube videos demonstrating it. Those disposable pads and cleaning bottles get expensive pretty fast. Every little bit helps. Plus this is eco friendly.

judykay

We have a group of ladies who make pet beds , I donate my scraps for the filling. Some I use for the swifter but some are to narrow and the pets appreciate them .

maviskw

I have secured a piece of batting to the top of my sewing machine and another one at the edge of the waste basket. It's nice to have them handy. And they work !

Grace creates

Very good idea for a swiffter