Swiffer Sweepers: Are They Worth the Cost?
In defense of the old fashioned broom and mop, you didn’t need to keep buying refills. In defense of the feather duster, a little bit of spray on thef eathers picked up the dust.
With a family with 3 kids and 7 cats, I was ready to put these products to the extreme test.
While a broom and dustpan can certainly handle any pile of crumbs on the bare floor; they balk a bit when it comes to damp cat litter, milk soaked cereal, and other not entirely dry items. It will sweep them up, but then you are left with a gummy mess on the broom.
The Swiffer Sweep + Vac lives up to it’s TV ad push. First off, the low profile vacuum head does a wonderful job of getting under the stove and refridgerator without dragging out the full size vac. The Swiffer pad grabs the hair and small light particles the vacuum misses. And the vacuum is powerful enough that I was able to suck up pieces of cat food from around the pet bowl without clogging it.
Next challenge was the area around the litter box. This is where the broom gets messy. Either the litter scatters, fine particles are left under the dustpan, or it smears the wet litter. Not so with Swiffer. It picked up the cat litter, wet litter and all, and the pad removed any damp particles still stuck to the floor.
The replacement pads aren’t too expensive and in a pinch, you could slip a paper towel or dish rag into the slits that hold the pad.
While you wouldn’t be able to mop your floor with this version of the Swiffer, it is worth it’s cost. And to store it, there’s a handy hook on the handle to hang over a nail. The rechargeable battery is another great feature, better than the battery using cousin, the Wet Jet.
So what makes the Wet Jet so useful? First off, I was happy to rid myself of the bucket, or even the sinkful of dirty water and cat hair. Trying to wring out either sponge mop or the traditional rope style was never on my list of enjoyable tasks. Mopping was a once a month affair with spot cleans with rags inbetween.
The Swiffer Wet Jet elimantes the hassle of dragging out the cleaner, the bucket, the mop. Just grab it and go. And after using the Sweep + Vac, I was ready to swap tools.
The Wet Jet cleaning fluid has a nice smell, leaving the area fresh, and the cleaner itself left my floor with a sparkle it hasn’t seen since I moved in. The scrub pad is a great feature for those dried up dinner spills. I tested on area of dried spaghetti sauce. Scrubbed up great.
There are a few drawbacks with the Wet Jet. It requires AA batteries, and while I haven’t used them up yet, I’m not sure why they didn’t use the rechargeable system like on the Sweep + Vac. And the replacement mop pads are a bit expensive. And with this model, you can’t slip in a rag to work in a pinch. The pads are desogned to self stick to the head. No cheating on pads here.
The Duster has similar drawbacks to the Wet Jet. You’re going to have shell the money out for the replacements. And in this case, this is the one product where I’ll live without and keep the old feather duster. While it picks up great and works well, I don’t feel the cost is justified.
But I am happy to have spent the money on the Swiffer Wet Jet and the Swiffer Sweep + Vac.
