<p>I finally caved and bought a Swiffer Wet Jet when it seemed like I was the only person who didn’t own one. But when I wash my ceramic tile floor with it, I end up with a sticky residue–sticky enough to make my shoes stick! And if I swipe a wet paper towel over a just Swiffered area, it comes up dirty. I’m convinced the Swiffer mostly just pushes the dirt around and the stickiness is a mixture of dirt and detergent. So am I doing something wrong, or is this product all hype? Any great floor washing alternatives out there?</p>
<p>I have never used the Swiffer Wet Jet but I have a regular Swiffer and use the dry and wet cloths. I first dry Swiffer, then go back over the same area w/ the wet cloths. I have not had a problem.</p>
<p>I had one when they first came out but I had the same kind of experience. It just seemed to make a streaky mess. I prefer an old fashioned mop with ammonia and water for a dirty floor…touch up mopping I would use pine sol and water</p>
<p>I didn’t like it either. It was ok for the type of sheet vinyl I had in the kitchen (Armstrong), but all other surfaces were not good. The wood cleaner really seemed to strip the wood as well.</p>
<p>I’ve had one for a few years and use it all the time on our kitchen laminate. I am pretty obsessive about a clean kitchen floor so the level of “dirty” it is at any point is low.</p>
<p>Do you have the kind where you pop the cleanser bottle in and then squirt??? Using the replacement velcro pads???</p>
<p>I always sweep with a broom first, then swiffer. It of course is not going to get ground in dirt or dirt that is not just surface. I find if I do the “on my knees and scrubbing” once every couple of months and then swiffer inbetween, it works well. </p>
<p>I also recently bought one of the Shark Steam Mops at Costco. I have found it I used that every couple of weeks it also seems to “steam off” a little extra residue therefore making the Swiffer more effective in-between.</p>
<p>I used to have a swiffer wet jet but mine was part of a recall (several years ago) and I got my money back and never got round to replacing it. Do the swiffer wet jets make it possible to use your own cleaner? I have a thing that looks a bit like a swiffer but you can put your own cleaning solution in. I make one out of 1/3 each ammonia, white vinegar, and distilled water (read it on some web site). Best cleaner I have used. (My floors are vinyl though).</p>
<p>I wasn’t that impressed with the original swiffer before they came out with the wet jet.</p>
<p>These things always seems like more trouble to me than they are worth compared to the tried and true hands-and-knees method. I can clean my kitchen floor with a good rag, some hot water, and Method tile cleaner in less time than it would take me to retrieve a swiffer from the closet and fill it up.</p>
<p>I’ve tried two kinds of swiffers and disliked both. I always thought it was just me!</p>
<p>The device I have is the one with the bottle of cleaning solution and the batteries–you push a button and the solution squirts out in an arc. The you mop the wet area with the pad. The idea is that all the dirt gets absorbed into the pad, but I think that’s nonsense and that some actually gets redeposited on the floor. </p>
<p>You’re supposed to use the expensive Swiffer solution, but you can “hack” the Swiffer bottle (lots of instructions online) and put your own solution in it (a tiny amount of Mr. Clean or the like and the rest water). I may try swimcatsmom recipe and see how that works–hope the smell of the ammonia covers up the smell of the vinegar because, ugh.</p>
<p>I also have a steam mop–it’s fair, not a great solution either, because the cloth mophead, like the Swiffer pad, can only absorb so much dirt before you’re just putting it back on the floor. Does anyone have the Hoover Floormate? It apparently sucks up the dirty water into a tank–sounds like a brilliant idea.</p>
<p>I know I must sound like I have a filthy house, but it’s winter, I cook a lot, we have three pets–the floor, which is quite big and continues into a large foyer, gets dirty very fast!</p>
<p>Have never tried a swiffer.
We have hardwood in the kitchen. Mostly I sweep and/or vaccuum.
I use a Bona mop with Bona solution to clean it every week or two.
It’s just a flat head thing that hold the ‘special’ washable reuseable cloth pad.
Squirt the Bona, mop, throw cloth in wash. Works great.</p>
<p>I am wondering if there isn’t a layer of something on your floor, dirt, grime, etc, that your usual cleaning method isn’t getting up but is soluble in the Swiffler cleaning solution. If you really want to use the swiffler I would try cleaning a section of your floor first with ammonia or TSP, make sure it is really clean. Then try the swiffler.</p>
<p>I always vacuum first, then use the Swiffer Wet-Jet. I only use it for quick clean-ups, though. It seems to push dirt into the corners, so I have to follow up by running a cloth around the floorboards. It is nice for a quick touch-up to the bathroom tile or the kitchen laminate floor, but I prefer a mop and Murphy’s oil soap for regular cleaning.</p>
<p>I have one more for use between regular cleanings. They make several different solutions - are you using the right one for your floor type?</p>
<p>I think the key is this - don’t look for the Swiffer to be a substitute for a good floor scrubbing. It’s more designed to do a surface wash, not a deep cleaning of ground in grime. </p>
<p>As a in between scrubbings it works fine for me.</p>
<p>just bought a Rubbermaid ‘swiffer’ type floor mop, because it is made be used with your own cleaning fluid and has a washable cloth mop head. the swiffer becomes so expensive with the disposable pads and cleaning fluid containers.</p>
<p>I have a ceramic tile floor that that I hate. Grout on a kitchen floor. Yuk! But I love my Swiffer. I remember it used to be sticky a couple of times, but mine hasn’t been for a long time. I wonder if there’s not a different formulation of the cleaner. </p>
<p>I’ve never tried substituting my own cleaner. I do vacuum first, esp. because of the grout. I haven’t gotten on my hands and knees for years and refuse to. I think the Swiffer is far superior at getting into corners and up flat against the baseboard better than any other mop I’ve used.</p>