Monday, March 4, 2013

DIY Swiffer Duster Refill

I hate spending money on things I throw away.  So as long as it's not something really gross, I'm always willing to try a home made or eco-friendly idea.

Todays project:  DIY Swiffer Duster refill.
Cost:  Nothing if you have fleece on hand!
Time and Level:  Beginner, approx 15 minutes!
Supplies:
1) 1/4 yd or scrap piece of fleece  (We will get TWO dusters out of this)
2) Rotary cutter or scissors
3) Ruler
4) Sewing machine or needle and thread
5) Your Swiffer duster


Step one:
Cut your fleece into rectangles that are 4.5 inches by 6-7 inches long.  (Doesn't matter!)
You should have 8 of these rectangles, in two groups of four, after cutting:
In this photo, my fleece is folded in half, the top being the fold.
Here are my rectangles in stacks of two.

Step 2:
Grab your Swiffer duster now.  You'll set it about center and trace around your grips.  The strips should be roughly 1/2 an inch wide, with the center line in the center of your rectangle.
Still stacked in two, I've traced around my Swiffer grips. So you should have two rectangles that look like the above photo, with another rectangle underneath.

Step 3: Sewing
Next you're going to take your stack of two with the outline of your grips drawn on and stitch only around the outside.  Do not sew the center yet.  Flip it over to the unmarked side.
Next, grab two of your unmarked rectangles and trim off about 3/4 of an inch on one end and stack it on top of the two pieces you just sewed in the center.
(Notice how it's a lil shorter, right?) You can pin it down if you need to but I just used my hands.  I flipped it over and sewed up the center line.  Like this:

Next, you gotta cut up the pad to make the fringy things that collect your dust.  I cut the sides separately to avoid cutting my seams.  So I did this side first:




And then the other side:
Now, just trim your threads and fluff it up.  Then you can go dust!

Happy Dusting!