The darn thing is goofy looking, and something in my brain says, “No way can this work,” but I’m also tired of filling up a bucket and making cruddy mop water to clean the 2 sq. feet of tile we actually have. Anyone have a Swiffer or opinions on em?
I’ve got one, but wouldn’t use it if I only had a small area.
With the exception of the basement, our floors are all hardwood, tile, linoleum, and slate.
I use the dry Swiffer for dusting under furniture. The wet ones are good for quick cleanups on the linoleum, tile, or slate. But when I clean them weekly, I get down on my hands and knees…
The wet pads aren’t good for doing large areas - say more than one average sized room - but would probably be sufficient for smaller areas. IMO, they are a little pricey to use too frequently. And I don’t think they do as good a job as my elbow grease.
I want one! Kinda clean is clean enough for me most days.
They’re not bad if you’re a moderately crappy housekeeper like me; they’re no substitute for a real mop and lots of hot bleach water, but who the hell wants to do all that? 
Seriously, the wet ones are good for in-between cleanings…you know, when someone is going to drop by soon and you don’t have time to actually clean with care. (And don’t lie; you know you like to pretend to your friends and family that you’re a far better housekeeper than you are.)
Plus the wet Swiffers make your house smell like you cleaned really well. I highly recommend them for that purpose alone. A little Swiffering, a couple of Glade candles, and Lo!
It smells like you care.
Weekly cleaning? We clean every 6-8 months, whether it needs it or not…
The dry Swiffers are good for getting dust off the floor. I have hardwood in half of my house, and use a dry Swiffer after a sweeping–if I have time.
The wet ones do smell clean, but they don’t cover enough area to be very economical. I use them mainly for the bathrooms and if the kitchen needs a quick swipe. I still have to mop for real, more’s the pity.
The dry ones are BOSS for dog hair. I speak from experience . . .
I live for Swiffers of every variety.
I used to use the dry ones for dusting, but then I discoveredSwiffer Dusters, and my whole little world came out of the darkness and into the light!
Everyone’s right about the Swiffer Wet things, though–nothing beats scalding Pine Sol/bleach water (or, if you’re more environmentally minded, scalding vinegar water) for intensive cleaning, but Swiffer Wets do in a pinch, to keep up appearances (as long as nobody looks too closely).
I’ve got the Swiffer Wet Jet, so it’s sort of the best of both the wet and dry Swiffer worlds. I really like it-- I have hardwood floors all over the house, and I can get the (completely disgusting and all-too-frequent) dust bunnies picked up as well as get muddy tracks wiped up. I still use a mop for the kitchen, but for hardwood maintenance, it gets two thumbs up from me.
My apartment has two areas of non-carpet, and each is about 2x5 feet. The Swiffer wetjet does a fine job for such tiny areas and I’m done in less time than it’d take to wait for the water to get hot and fill a bucket.
And the Swiffer duster does wonderful work around stereo knobs, TV screens, tops of VCRs, amplifiers, etc and all those other tight spots that dust loves to get into.
Thanks gotpasswords, that’s exactly our situation, though probably with a little less area, frankly.
And thank you all. I’ll have to see how much it costs n stuff.
I clean my linoleum floors first by vacuuming, then with a dry Swiffer, then with the WetJet. It’s the kitchen, 3’x2’ entry, and bathroom. The WetJet diaper (as I call it) usually has very little dirt in it, no matter how much I scrub, so I assume all three techniques get the floor pretty darn clean. And I wish I could apply Swiffer to other areas of my life, like relationships and jobs, that’s how much I love Swiffer.
The dry Swiffer is a godsend.
Prove it to yourself: Have someone bring one over, sweep the floor with a broom or vacuumit, then Swiffer it. the Swiffer will still be filthy.
Wet Swiffer, not so much. Leaves a film on the floor.
I prefer one of those mops with the removable, washable terry cloth covers.
The secret: clean your sink first, put two or three covers in an inch of water, use a standard floor cleaner like MopnGlo or Brite, and put a clean cover on when the old one gets too dirty. No buckets of filthy water!
Wow! You busy later today? Need something to do? I’ll make lunch for you.
Heh. All told, that takes about 15 minutes for my tiny kitchen and bathroom. And I’m having lunch with a friend, but thanks anyway. 
I use the dry Swiffer for dust bunnies and cat hair, and then for quick clean-ups, I squirt a little Windex on the kitchen or bathroom floor (both vinyl) and use the dry Swiffer again with a new cloth. No need to buy the Swiffer Wet Jet. I made my own!
I also clean around every 4-6 months and find the Swiffer wet-jet isn’t hardy enough for the kind of cleaning I have to do. (I need to seriously scrub – lord knows what some of this crud is!)
I actually find using the dry Swiffer mechanism, but with a wet washcloth instead of a Swiffer cloth to be good for a quick cleanup, especially in a small area.
(P.S. I astounded my MIL by mentioning that I turned the Swiffer cloth over to use both sides. It had never occured to her and she was throwing away half-used Swiffers – ack! The expense!)