Five Ways to Make Homemade Swiffer Covers

Do you love your swiffer but hate the cost of the disposable swiffer cloths? It’s a common frustration but there are a few homemade solutions that can come to the rescue. Here are five ways you can make your own homemade swiffer covers, all of which are pretty simple to do. In fact one of the ideas only requires you to find a fuzzy sock!

How to make homemade swiffer covers

1. Knit a Swiffer Cover

If you have a few basic knitting skills you can knit up one of these quick and easy reusable swiffer covers. I find that the soft fuzzy yarns are great at picking up dust, hair, and other fuzzies from the floor and they wash up nicely too. If you can knit a rectangle in basic garter stitch and sew a few small seams, then you can make these covers.  They’re a definite favorite at my house!

You can find my knitting pattern here – – > Knit a Homemade Swiffer Cover

Free knitting pattern for a reusable knit Swiffer cover. Save money and make your own!

2. Crochet a Swiffer Cover

OK, I love to knit, but I know not everybody is a knitter. However if you like to crochet you can whip up a homemade swiffer cover pretty quickly too. You can check out a crochet option here: Crochet Swiffer Cover Pattern

3. Sew A Fleece Swiffer Cover

Another simple solution for making a homemade swiffer cover is to sew one from a piece of fleece fabric. Fleece is a great option because it doesn’t ravel like other fabrics and is soft for using on your floors too. My method is to cut a piece of fleece fabric that’s 16″ x 5½”  (The stretch of the fabric should be going the long way of your piece). Then I just fold up each end 2½” and topstitch around the edges of the fold with a 1/4″ seam. This creates a couple of little pockets to slip your swiffer into. Because the fleece has some stretch to it, it you can pull it over your swiffer and you’re good to go!

How to sew a homemade reusable swiffer cover

4. Use a Microfiber Cloth or other Cleaning Cloth

The other methods mentioned so far are strategies that work the best for dry swiffering. However when I want to use my swiffer with more of a wet-style swiffer cloth, I use a homemade strategy of just putting my own microfiber cloth or other cleaning cloth onto my swiffer. You can just wrap the cleaning cloth around the swiffer and tuck the edges into the “grabbers”. I always use an old washcloth on my swiffer when I’m cleaning my hardwood floors with my DIY No Vinegar Hardwood Floor Cleaner. I often spray my cleaner directly onto the washcloth on my swiffer, and then mop around the floor (and then keep repeating as needed). When I’m done, I just take the cloth off and toss it in the washing machine. Super simple!

5. Throw a Sock On It!

And finally, for all you “craft challenged” folks who don’t knit, crochet, sew, or don’t even have an old cloth hanging around the house, here’s your inspiration. Find a soft fuzzy pair of socks and you too can make your own swiffer cover. I can almost always find this type of sock at my local dollar store and they make great homemade swiffer covers. Just like my homemade knit version, the soft fuzziness of the socks are good at picking up dust and hairs. Just stretch one of the socks around the swiffer and you’re good to go. And because socks come in pairs, you’ve always got another spare one around if your other “sock swiffer cover” is in the wash.

How to use a sock as a homemade swiffer cover

Any of the ideas on this list are an easy way to get started with a reusable swiffer cover method for your household. In addition to saving money, it’s also a way to create less waste. All of these covers can be used over and over many times and wash up well. Once you start using reusable swiffer covers, I’m sure you’ll like them!

Make a Swiffer Cover for Wet Jets too!

Do you also like to use the Swiffer Wet Jet mops? If so, the above swiffer cover ideas won’t work on the Wet Jet as they’ll cover the spray nozzles. But if you have some basic sewing skills, you can make your own Wet Jet mop pads too. You can check out my instructions and video tutorial for that project here: Make Your Own Wet Jet Mop Pads

homemade wet jet mop pads

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18 Comments

      1. After using a sock for a swiffer cover, you can pick off any larger clumps of hair, fuzz, or dust, and then just toss it in the washing machine to clean it and use it again.

  1. I don’t sew a thing…just use old wash clothes,tuck the corners into the slots ! It works for wet or damp mopping better than the disposable ones do !

    1. I sometimes do this too Sharon – it’s a good frugal strategy for mopping with a swiffer!

    1. Cotton is good for a swiffer cover if you are doing more wet mopping, but I like the fuzzy fabrics better for dry dusting of the floor. They seem to do a good job of picking up fuzz and hairs.