Thursday, May 12, 2011

Quick Mops vs Standard Mops

Here's an interesting article comparing the costs of various mopping options.

Personally, I love the ease and convenience of the Swiffer wetjet, but I don't love the cost of buying disposable pads or new bottles of cleaning solution. Since I mop almost every day, it'd cost me a fortune to stay stocked in pads and solution.

So, I simply refill the bottle myself (Instructions here and here) with a mixture of vinegar, water and rubbing alcohol (so it dries faster) and use reusable, washable pads. I have a couple of pads that a friend crocheted for it, and if those are dirty, then I fold up a microfiber cloth and use that. It sticks to the velcro on the Wetjet just fine.

I don't like using an old fashioned sponge mop because they can't be cleaned and that bugs me. Besides, most of our floors are laminate and sponge mops are just too wet for laminate flooring.

According to the article, the Swiffer Wetjet is the cheapest of the quick mops to purchase, but more expensive eventually because of the price of the refill pads and solution bottles. Other quick mops that include reusable pads and refillable bottles are more expensive to purchase but cheaper in the long run.

I figure because I made my cheaper-to-purchase Swiffer into a cheaper-to-maintain resuable/refillable quick mop, I'm coming out ahead of the game!

Ultimately, an old-fashioned mop and bucket is going to be the cheapest route. But for me, sometimes spending a little bit more for peace of mind in cleanliness is the better choice. :-)

4 comments:

  1. Dammit. The comment didn't wanna work. Here goes again:

    I use a normal rag on a floor scraper, but generally like mops... We have two different kinds of flat mops with microfiber cloths, which are great and reusable but it's a little annoying to need to tear the cloth off, rinse it, wring it and put it back on every few minutes.

    So... a rag on a scraper it is! It does pick up pet hair beautifully, though.

    *goes off to read the article*

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can refill the wetjet bottles!?

    Must do that! For the cleaning pad, mouse uses a cloth diaper and that works great.

    Hugs,
    mouse

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting I might have to consider a kaya-solution for my kitchen floor. I HATE HATE mopping. The only place I need a wet mop is bathrooms and kitchen. I hate doing it, even with my steam mop, which uses tap water and reusable pads. HATE HATE HATE.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a great post. I like this topic.This site has lots of advantage.I found many interesting things from this site. It helps me in many ways.Thanks for posting this again. electric mops

    ReplyDelete

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