Hack your Swiffer Sweeper. Weep Swiffer CEO , Weep.

I used some trash , a lighter and a stick to make a refueling cap for my Swiffer Sweeper's cleaning juice tank.

Step 1: The Supplies and Logic of Construction.

The idea is simple , put a bottle cap on the rear of your Swiffer's swifferific cleaning juice tank.
I used a lighter to melt a whole in the bottom and then used a mettle rod to widen it.
Then I cut out a cap from a two liter bottle (ALL HAIL THE METRIC SYSTEM!!!!) and inserted it into the prepared hole. Then I sealed it with Elmer's Stix's ALL , which is suspiciously similar to silicone gasket maker but use what ever you have that will make a seal.

Swiffer's patented juice tank Capered from la Basura $0

Fire Stolen from the Gods $0

Bottle Cap and throat Snatched from the innocent $0

Silicone gasket maker , Mommy got it for me, 2 Kisses and a hug

Rod and or stick ,Recent Pillage, $0

Sticken it to the man !!! Priceless.

Comments

[bleachworthy]

So.. are those things not supposed to be re-fillable? if not, this is a handy idea.

[Andrew546]

Yeah, the cap that comes on them is permanently attatched. You know how soda bottle have that ring that stays with the bottle when you take the cap off, but is attatched at a dozen or so points to the cap when its sealed? well, the cap on this is attatch al the way around, no easy to break perforations. The liquid comes out through a syringe-like needle that pokes through the rubber top of the cap. You can also just cut that ring from the cap, which is what I've done in the past.

[spinach_dip]

Kudo for explaining that so clearly. So If I just carefully cut around the "tamper evident"-like lower ring with a knife, it should just screw off. Clever.

[Andrew546]

Yup, thats right. Just cut the ring off just below the "shoulder" where it bulges out. its pretty easy to cut through with a utility knife. Instant, perfectly sealed AND refillable swiffer. :-)

[flyleafchick]

YES! My craft knife didn't do it, but a serrated knife sawed through it finally and it's working great. I use all natural cleaning solutions because I'm chemically sensitive and that perfumed poison makes me stop breathing, so this is AWESOME. Now to make some reusable pads. :) Thanks Andrew!

[clutz]

I also took the cap off with a pair of vise grips the first time, and diluted the cleaner that was in it.  it's about more than just money.  The cleaner inside there is so strong that it leaves a soapy residue on the floor that actualy atracts more dirt.  My floors stayed cleaner longer when i diluted it about 20 parts water to one part solution.  And it's easy to make some reusable pads to go on it.

[jcurtiswood]

I refill my swiffer mop all the time with much less work by doing this:

1. Get a pair of channel-lock pliers.
2. Adjust the pliers to the width of the bottle cap so that you won't crush it when you apply pressure.
3. Twist off the cap.
4. Fill the bottle with floor cleaner.
5. Replace the cap.

The cap will screw back on without a problem and you won't need the pliers to remove it the next time.

[OkieLora]

Awsome idea. Off to make my own. Thanks for the instructions.

[ckeleher4]

Uhm, hate to break your bubble, but just soak the top of the cap off the bottle for less than a minute in hot water and it screws right off so you can add your own fill. No need to cut & paste and make a mess of it. FYI DIY

[Junkernaut]

I think diluted 409 would work just as good as swiffer juice.

[spinach_dip]

Okay, look, I'm not trying to be mean, and many other Instructables have the same problem here, namely, people puzzled about wtf you are trying to convey. In fact, that's probably the biggest misgiving I have about the site. So maybe the first step (which is also the step that goes out on the RSS aggravater) ought to be something like this: -- The Swiffer Sweeper is a great cleaning tool, but there's just one problem, the manufacture tries to lock you into a expensive, non-refillable proprietary cleaning fluid. The soapy stuff in their packages isn't really any different than generic cleaning stuff like 409 or Simple Green, stuff that you can buy in bulk much more cheaply, but the manufacture took pains such that it's not easy to refill. This Instructable will teach you how to “hack” your Swiffer, by showing you how you can circumvent their sealed bottles and cheaply refill them. -- And I must say I love your cost breakdown. Can you tell me what a Swiffer refill costs and about how much you save per refill?

[kashell4crab]

well Here in the state of Michigan, USA, a bottle of Swiffer solution costs me $3.oo and change.

[vatosupreme]

I think this sums it up correctly... I do think it is funny that with a simple change in the cap, the manufacturer has duped millions of people into buying their swiffer juice for 10 times what they need to pay for it. My wife bought that stupid shower cleaner thing that shoots cleaner all over the shower... I just checked it... IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME.... You have got to hand it to Johnson wax company, they have figured out how to keep people comming back to the trough

[spinach_dip]

what's the cleaning fluid used in those shower gizmos?

[spinach_dip]

never mind:

http://www.instructables.com/id/ED6KEYAX7HET9K5VO8/?ALLSTEPS

[vatosupreme]

Yeah... I was going to do that on Saturday... oh well.. Here is the MSDS on the scrubbing bubbles.... http://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/1190.pdf

It looks like alchohol, I think salt water, a little windex.. surfactant.. and water... I need one of those csi things that tells you the recipie of the chemicals... I bet you could mix 50 gallons of this stuff for about the price of a single refill....

[lemonie]

Are these the things that are *rumoured* to be lethal to dogs, or is that something else?

[sideways]

Do some googling....that is mostly an urban myth. I too modded my bottle, but I cut off the bottom ring of the cap. There's nubs along the inside edge of the cap, and one-way nubs on the neck of the bottle. The cap is designed to go on, but never taken off. No way was I gonna spend 3-4 dollars for a quart of soapy water, what a rip off. Putting a hole in the bottom is better, cause you can refill it without removing it from the unit. After enough times of removing/replacing the bottle, the plastic seal starts to leak where the needle punctures it.

[Layace123]

Like Bippop I cut a hole in the top of the swiffer bottle top and used an old wine cork to block it. I have two swiffers, one filled with Murphys oil soap for hardwood and one with Simple Green for all the others. For regular dust trapping Swiffers something great and cost saving I discovered is using microfiber tack cloths that I bought at the Home Depot. These are reusable cloths that capture dust and you can easily attach them to swiffers. Once they fill up with dust I just throw them in the washing machine and they come out like new, and you never need to buy the refill swiffer dust cloths again!

[mcbarnicle]

You can use a mixture of vinegar and water if you dont mind the smell. If you dont like harsh chemicals there are many natural alternatives:

lemon juicesaltmineral oilbaking soda

[bippop]

Now that I'm the one who has to Swiffer our floors and shoulder all other household duties - my wife has been debilitated for a while - I've been forced to come up with various shortcuts and savings. Guess I should have been more thoughtfully creative when she did such jobs, but I was too often out hustling bringing home the bacon. A mini-excuse. My Swiffer re-filling notion was to not do anything to the feed-cap end, but to drill a 1/2 in. hole in the other end (which, when inserted into the Swiffer device, faces upward. Ergo, no spills or drips once I funnel-fill the bottle with my own "El Cheapo" cleaning concoction, because I seal it with a black, tapered, rubber cork: - one costs about a quarter or so at the hardware store. Once that cork's inserted into the 1/2 in. hole the bottle's sealed as tightly as you'll ever need it to be. My ensuing floor scrubbing seems much more pleasant knowing thatn I've struck a mini-blow for the "little guy" vs. the faceless, corporate "chupa-sangreros" and more than a few pennies remain in my own pocket - where they belong

[Junkernaut]

On the flame thrower idea , I was thinking grain alcohol would be appropriate but whatever is the sinplest to obtain is always a good idea. I also thought that a ignition source should be place at least two inches from the swiffers plastic nozzle to prevent meltage or flash back.

[bleachworthy]

I'm thinking either acetone, or rubbing alcohol for the flame thrower idea.

[benjamenjohnson]

Why does everybody say the cap isn't removeable? I just grabbed the cap and twisted really hard and it unscrewed. There are some wedges molded into the cap and bottle allowing you to tighten the cap easily, but it makes screwing the cap off hard.

[Junkernaut]

Swiffer refills are about $6 dollars and depending on which cleaner you useand how you dilute it , you could pay a fraction of a dollar per refill

[Brad I.]

what chemical do you refill it with?

[Murf]

Yes, its all well and good knowing how to refil the botle, but knowing what to refil it with IS important as well :P

[enero]

nice job! That damned swiffer juice is 'spensive!

[Junkernaut]

No they are not refillable and they are very expensive. I dont have the space or money but somone shoud make a swiffer flame thrower. P.S. Love to my peeps in Delphos Ohiol

[Junkernaut]

Im sorry about the pic quality but it's an old web cam and im incompetent. Sniffle,snot snuffle,Sniffle, Eye rub