Make Your Own Clorox Wide Surface Mop Cover

 Ever since we installed our beautiful laminate flooring I have been struggling with cleaning them.  The broom doesn't pick up all of the dust and it takes at least 3 of the Swiffer pads to clean just the family room.  I would need at least a box a week to clean the whole house and I am not willing to spend over $4 a box every single week.  That is $208 a year on something I would be throwing the the garbage.  So, I planned on making a few reusable covers I saw on pinterest.  

Then one day as I walked toward the baby department in a local discount store (DD's Discount which is a sister store to Ross) I saw this huge Swiffer type mop/duster/broom - it was only $8 and about 4 times the size of the Swiffer.  So, it would take 1/4 of the time to clean the floor and I would have more time to avoid doing dishes - I was sold! 

It is called the Clorox wide surface terry mop and you can buy it at Target for only $10.39 (see it here).  As soon as I got home I cleaned the floors with it and it took no time at all!  

But, covers for it are hard to find online and at Target they are over $6.  I bought the entire thing for $8 and they want me to pay $6 for one cover?  So, I set out to make them and they turned out pretty good!

All you need is:

Kitchen towels (I used microfiber towels I found on clearance at the same store)

Extra wide bias tape (60" for 1 cover)

34" of 1/4" elastic

thread to match

less than 30 minutes of time and a sewing machine

Here is the tutorial:

  Cut the towel into a 19" by 12" rectangle.  Save the extra for dusting or drying really small dishes.

*Next time I make covers I will try to find bigger kitchen towels so they will be at least 19" by 14".*

Round the corners.

Pin the bias tape on one side (with the right side down).

And sew as close to the edge as you can. 

Fold over the bias tape and pin again.

Don't forget to leave an opening to put the elastic through. 

Sew as close to the edge of the bias tape as you can. 

Put a safety pin on the end of your elastic and feed it through the opening. 

Once the elastic is fed through all the way, sew both ends together then sew the opening closed.

Your cover is done!

 

It fits perfectly!  

I love having a few extra covers because when I use them they get really dirty and it is nice just switching the cover instead of waiting to wash the original cover. 

Cost of Covers:

I bought a package of 4 towels for $3, I had the bias tape, the thread and the elastic. Which makes my cost 75cents per cover!  That is a $197 savings from using Swiffer pads over a year ($208 - $8 mop - $3 covers) !  You might not have the bias tape or the elastic so if you had to buy them it would be $2 at Walmart for each making it $1.75 per cover - still impressive!

Now, if you excuse me I need to go buy this pair of boots I have been drooling over since I saved so much money on disposable covers!  Kidding - that won't be saving anything if I just spent it on something else.  I will continue to drool ...

Have a great day and let me know if you give these covers a try!