8 Alternatives To A Swiffer Sweeper Or WetJet For Cleaning Floors

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Clean floors can be difficult to maintain in an active house; especially if you have pets or children or like to host social gatherings, it can feel like all that you do is sweep, mop, and repeat. Fortunately, there are modern-day innovations among home cleaning products that take the heavy lifting away from this tiresome chore. Instead of hauling around a dirty broom, dripping mop head, and gross bucket of water, you can select options like the Swiffer Sweeper for dry sweeping and the WetJet for easy mopping. While you can't argue with the positive results that these products give to your cleaning efforts, their costs can also add up, leading many individuals to question if there are better alternatives to help keep your floors clean for longer.

Convenient though they may be, it's not uncommon to spend $10 for a box of Swiffer dry or wet mopping pads, which can usually only be used briefly before needing to be discarded and replaced. In addition to the wastefulness of single-use cleaning pads, some of the ingredients in Swiffer's Wet Mopping Cloths have been found to have harmful ingredients, earning a D rating by the Environmental Working Group. Better alternatives to the expensive and potentially hazardous Swiffer products include items from popular brands, such as the Shark Professional steam mop, the Casabella flat mop, and the budget-friendly O-Cedar hardwood microfiber dust mop. And don't worry — you don't have to return to a broom and dustpan or the old-school mop and bucket approach. All of these alternatives are sleeker and easier to utilize than your grandma's floor-cleaning tools.

If you like the convenience of Swiffer WetJet products for mopping your floors but aren't interested in using disposable pads, you can go the reusable route with the Casabella floor care lineup. Its Clean Water Flat Mop Bucket ($34.99) system employs reusable microfiber pads to help you clean the floors more sustainably, while their innovative bucket gives you that more traditional mopping experience. The best feature of this product, however, is that the bucket is designed to separate dirty and clean water — something that single-compartment mopping buckets don't do — for longer-lasting and cleaner floors.

Steam is a great cleanser, as it effectively eliminates bacteria and lifts dirt from numerous hard and soft materials. If you want to bring the power of steam to your home's floors, you can do just that with a high-quality steam cleaner. Shark's Professional Steam Pocket Mop ($119.99) is a highly reviewed floor cleaner that uses a single addition — water — which it then heats up to destroy the majority of your floor's germs. Unlike disposable pads from the Swiffer line of products, the Shark Steam Pocket Mop uses reusable pads that can be washed.

Houses with pets, children, and lots of foot traffic get crucial help from deep cleaners like a floor steamer, but they might require a little extra power to truly reveal shining floors. Fortunately, there's the Shark Steam & Scrub with Steam Blaster Technology ($119.99), which pairs the steam capabilities with two rotating pads that help to scrub away stubborn messes and loosen grime that builds up over time. The mop is self-propelling, so you can enjoy impressive results without having to put your back into it.

If you are looking for truly clean floors while keeping your initial and ongoing costs low, you might think that's too much to ask. Fortunately, there is the Bona Floor Mop Starter Kit ($19.99), which comes with a mop, sweeping pad, and a mopping pad. This dry sweeping pad (good for up to 500 washes) uses static cling to attract hair, dust, dirt, and other floor debris to the pads, rather than pushing it around. For stubborn spots needing a wet mop, you can couple the reusable mopping pad with Bona's floor cleaning solutions.

One of the issues of a traditional mop is that you tend to sling dirty water around, and while the Swiffer WetJet eliminates that issue, it also brings with it the aforementioned health and financial concerns. The JOYMOOP Mop and Bucket Set with Wringer ($29.99 on Amazon) offers many of the same benefits of the Swiffer product but keeps things sustainable, wallet-friendly, and healthier. You can fill the bucket with your own cleaning solution and insert the mop to rinse it before pulling it out, effectively wringing out any excess water.

A bit unconventional, this Casabella Rubber Blade Squeegee Broom ($16.99) makes for a good dry Swiffer alternative, thanks to its ability to corral dust, dirt, and hair into a compact pile for collecting. Unlike the Swiffer dry sweeping line, you can use this squeegee without any other products, making it a complete purchase in and of itself. Simply drag the squeegee across hard floors or carpet, and watch it collect debris that you didn't realize was there. You can also use the streamlined form to get under furniture, eliminating the need to move the couch.

You can always ditch the Swiffer for a penny-pinching floor-cleaning hack, but you may not have to make that kind of compromise with a solution as low-cost as the O-Cedar Hardwood Floor 'N More Microfiber Dust Mop ($16.99). The mop's large head is easy to use and covers a lot of ground quickly. You'll find this hard surface sweeper's washable microfiber covers, which you can use wet or dry, do an effective job at lifting dust and pet hair.

Pet owners have a particularly difficult goal to accomplish, since they need products that are safe for their pets but can also clean effectively to get pet odors out of the house. Bissell has long been known as a brand for pet owners, and their PowerFresh Pet Scrubbing & Sanitizing Steam Mop ($89.99) is an innovative option that will leave your Swiffer WetJet in the dust, so to speak. This product is made with a built-in scrubber, as well as reusable steam covers, and a compartment for adding fragrance discs.