Wish List.

I just love the Swiffer.

So much so, that I often find myself singing to myself as I swiff our hardwood floors.

The song? A variation of the old Polaroid Swinger jingle.

Of course, "Meet the Swiffer, the Polaroid Swiffer" doesn't make much sense.

The whole ritual is a bit odd, I suppose.

While the Swiffer makes cleaning the floor so much easier, I find it quite unsettling (in terms of the amount of dust bunnies we have on our floor) that one Swiffer refill cloth doesn't cut it.

And because I'm horribly frugal, I can't bring myself to use two Swiffer cloths in one cleaning walkthrough.

So, as a cost-saving measure, I'll remove large chunks of dust and dirt and flip the Swiffer refill cloth over and use the other side.

The other day -- while switching the cloth -- I caught myself thinking the silliest of thoughts:

"I wish I was rich so I wouldn't have to worry about wasting too many Swiffer refills."

It just goes to show that I'm not really a "big picture" kind of girl.

It's sort of like the way I fantasize.

I'll daydream that I have the power to blink and have tasks completed.

Blink. My room is clean.
Blink. The project is complete.
Blink. Our taxes our filed.

I don't think big.

I don't consider that if I had the power to blink my way to these solutions, then I could just blink and have a pile of money sitting on my lap -- a lap, by the way that would be living (along with the rest of my body) in France.

Comments

[Lilly]

Oh, so much to relate to... I am addicted to those dusting mitts, which are like Swiffer gloves! I also am frugal and use those probably a lot longer then I am supposed to. But I haven't tried turning them inside out... yet.

Blink. Dust never appears in the first place.

[Natalie]

I would like to give whoever invented Swiffer a big old kiss. It's the best for getting down cobwebs from the corners of the room... Swiffer Wet Cloths are pretty darned cool, too.

[paula]

France?!

But...then I would never see you! [sniff, sniff]

And, yes, that damn Swiffer is a godsend. I'm currently craving the newest Swiffer offering - the one with the jet action. This way, I don't need to use two cloths to get my floor all shiny.

You know about that bathtub sponge thing with the expandable arm and swiveling sponge head right?

It and the Swiffer changed my housecleaning life.

Ahem.

[Moonpuddle]

One of the things I really miss about my life in Japan was the bathroom of the studio in which my then-fiancee-now-ex and I lived. It was a modular number, with the walls, floor, ceiling, tub, sink, toilet all crafted of a single piece of plastic/fiberglass with two drains, one in the tub and one in the floor. The tub and sink filled with the same swivelling faucet, which was centered on the wall just above where the two overlapped vertically.

The beauty of all this was that I could remove all that shouldn't get wet, prepare as if I were going to shower, arm myself with cleanser, and, using the hose-extended shower head, clean the whole room from top to bottom by just hosing everything off.

I haven't used a Swifter yet, but I definitely will after reading your posts. If only every room had a "self-cleaning" setting.

[jennie]

Fellow Swifferflipper!

[Christine M]

I have both the regular Swiffer, and the Wet-Jet thing, and I love 'em! With nine cats, Swiffer picks up all the cat hairs with ease. And I could not live without the Wet-Jet! :)

[Juanita Benedicto]

Wow... I've never even heard of the Swiffer until today (when I read it here about two hours ago). So, I bought a Swiffer starter pack and an additional wet pack to try it out on my way home from work. When I got home, my daughter saw the Swiffer, she said, "Oh, Swiffer. Can I do it? You should have gotten the mop that sprays." Unbelievable, really. She's about the laziest - albeit funniest - person I know. To top it off, she's presently incapicated by mono and slept on the couch all day, until now, when she saw the Swiffer. She's mopping the walls. This is incredible!

[Day dreamer too]

For me, its diddling around and fixing the next thing that breaks around the house. And I say to myself, I wish I would win the Lottery and then I would ....

redo the floors
redo the bathroom
add an extra bathroom
put in a jacuzzi

When in fact, as much as I love the place, it would be making a silk purse out of a sows ear. If I suddenly won millions of dollars, I'd be off to a villa in the Rivera where I wouldn't have to worry about reusing Swiffer refills because the maid would be doing all the cleaning and worrying about it for me.

[Ed]

Blink. The first draft of the novel is done.
Blink. The publishing industry has recovered and I can return to the magazine world.
Blink. I no longer need a silly day job anymore.

I totally relate here.

[kismet]

the swiffer refill thought seems like something I would think (although we don't have a swiffer). I often ask David questions like...

"when we're rich, can I learn how to fence?"
"when we're rich, can we have matching furniture?"
"when we're rich, can we visit japan?"

it's hard having nothing to do but daydream all day long, believe me.

[onegoodtum]

This product worship is a little disconcerting. You do realize the Swiffer people merely took some Windex and pre-applied it onto a cloth... their big innovation is now you don't have to. They then package it all in the bulkiest wrapping they could find to ensure the ultimate environmental disaster. If you clean more you don't need Swiffer.

Why does everyone want to go away to France. I have three facts for y'all: dog owners don't carry plastic bags; don't speak French? don't eat!; they still refer to Asians as "Orientals."

[megami]

In grade nine, my best friend and I had a pretty early curfew, which at fourteen is understandable. We imagined that we invented a little gizmo that would instantly teleport us anywhere we wanted to be. That way, if we had to be home at ten, we could just press a button at exactly 9:59:59, and make it home on time, thereby getting maximum time at whatever junior high party we happened to be at. Did we wish for a later curfew? No. Just the gizmo.

[Paul]

I don't know - the last time I tried, spraying Windex on a cloth didn't cause dust bunnies to magnetically attach themselves to the cloth. Windex isn't magnetic, after all, although that could be kind of fun.

Swiffer is quite great. They don't last long, though, and I do think that stinks. But man! The dust bunnies just go away!

[candy]

Hello, Fellow Swiffers! how wonderful to see all of you! I love mine too, although I have to admit (grins sheepishly) I quit buying the refills (I take frugal to the EXTREME) and now use only thin kitchen rags I found super cheap at IKEA... spray 'em with some Pledge and away I go. And, yes the Pledge *is* somewhat magnetic, I pick up as much using this method as I did using the Swiffer clothes, and now, I don't have to buy more... I just flip 'em then wash 'em!

[Jeff]

You normal/allergy-free folk are just discovering what we allergy-laden people have had at our disposal for years: dust-attracting cleaning clothes.

Mena and others with frugal tastes: BEHOLD! The Dustbunny (TM) Magnetic Cloth: http://store.yahoo.com/allergyfree/dusmagclot.html

As you can see, it can be washed when full of dust (and those pesky dust mites) and reused!! I've used these for years and am both healthy and happy!

[nikole]

the swiffer is one of those little bright spots in my day (that sounds kind of pathetic, actually)! thanks for all the tips on "frugal ways to use my swiffer." i seem to do some of the very same things (ie reusing, trying the pledge trick, etc.).

also, i hope that if i was financially able to use as many swiffer refills as i wanted, i still wouldn't. i don't know. there is something to be said about creating/adjusting/devising new ways to reuse or recycle a product. i'm not sure i would enjoy the swiffer as much (though i can't pinpoint why) if i had all the swiffer refills that i could ever dream of.

when i reach diva status someday, i hope i don't take little things (like swiffer refills) for granted.

[Kristen]

aren't you SUPPOSED to flip the cloth over? *LOL*

[marian]

Aha! Although not French, a good song for you would be Bigrock Candy Mountain. Join your fellow non-big-thinkers in rousing choruses of such like-minded lines as:

All the cops have wooden legs,
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth,
And the hens lay soft boiled eggs.

...and...

The jails are made of tin, and you can walk right out again as soon as you are in.

Yup ...

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
All the Swiffers they are wet,
And you can use them all the week
And never a new one get ...

[kismet]

In response to the comments of onegoodturn above, I say "HEY!" :P

While you may be right on the dog owner thing, some towns (Paris, for one, but not my town) have these guys who ride around on motorbikes and suck up the dog poop with these vacuum things... seriously!

Also, depending on where you are, you may be able to get an english menu, or a nice, younger person in the restaurant may be keen on practicing their english skills. Or hell, be adventurous and just order anything. Or, you could go to the supermarket and buy food and cook it yourself :P

And I have never heard people be referred to as Oriental here; the word we use for people of Asian background is "Asiatique"... quite a literal translation, actually.

All this unnecessary french hate :(

[Daniel Talsky]

"And if I had a million dollars, we wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinners...but we WOULD eat Kraft dinners. We'd just eat more of them, and with really fancy ketchup. All of the finest...dijon ketchup!"
- Barenaked Ladies, If I Had A Million Dollars

Oh Mena...if there wasn't the internet, how would you assemble such a throng of like minded wierdos? You'd be miserable!

[Carolyn J]

Check this out - a total surfing coincidence.

http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/waterproof.html

[lynn]

and thank goodness for the poop scooping troops on motor bikes...Paris was rank with feces in the 70's when i lived there, there were only poor Nigerians in blue uniforms puching twig brooms to clear the gutters and sidewalks...when they went on strike!?!?!?

i like the Pledge glove swiffer equal but when will they make a swiffer for carpets?

[mamselle]

supposedly...you can use bounce sheets for swiffers...that seems a lot cheaper :)

[Amy]

My cousin Stevie once told me that you are nobody until you own a Swifer!

[kel]

I am only 13 and i just LOVE the Swifer clothes!! they are the best ever i used to have to dust with the rag and the spray and this takes the time down about 1/2 the time! it is sooo cool i volunteer to dust now!