How-to: Sew Your Own Steam Mop Pads

DIY steam mop pad

The ease, efficiency, and eco-friendly nature of a steam mop quickly pales when you realize that whichever one you bought, it did not come with enough re-usable mop pads to meet your needs (funny how that works…).

Are you going to constantly launder your steam mop pads, buy a ton more of them…or make your own?

I recycled old towels for this project, creating mop pads that are made from natural cotton, are easy to wash and sanitize, sew up quickly, and offer customizable thicknesses, so that I can blast my stone-tiled kitchen floor but not trash the wax on my wood living room floor.

Here’s exactly how to make your own re-usable steam mop pads:

materials for the steam mop padFirst, you’ll want to measure your steam mop. If the width of the steam mop varies, as mine does, measure the width about one inch in on each side, since this is where you’ll be putting the elastic. Your measurements will be as follows:

Length = Actual Length of the Steam Mop + 2″ (for a 1″ overlap on each side) + Your Preferred Seam Allowance for the Raw Edges (You’ll be sewing one end of the mop pad closed, and hemming or binding both edges closed on the other end, or using the towel’s existing hem for this end)

Width = Actual Width of the Steam Mop x 2 (because the mop pad will be wrapping around the mop) – 3″(This will give the elastic enough tension to hold the mop pad firmly in place) + Your Preferred Seam Allowance for the Raw Edges

Cut two pieces of thick cotton towel at the above measurements for each steam mop pad, ideally placing the existing hem of the towel at one short end on each piece, so that the open end of the mop pad won’t need to be hemmed.

Cut two lengths of very sturdy 1″ elastic at 2″ + Preferred Seam Allowance for the Raw Edges in the Width Measurement.

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3 thoughts on “How-to: Sew Your Own Steam Mop Pads”

  1. i am looking for old or reproduced wayne feed sacks or any other with the dealers name to make bath room curtains and shower curtain. Thanks. If you know who makes the shower curtains, I would like to know that too. Thanks

  2. Love the details but where’s the pictures to help? I’m new to sewing and wish I could use this tutorial but without pictures I’m going to have to keep looking. Just a suggestion, thanks 🙂

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