The Swiffer Hack For Finding Tiny Metal Items In Your Space

Few things are more annoying than searching your floor for a tiny metal object. From earring backs to safety pins to screws, this hack will help you pick it up without straining your eyes or testing your patience. All you need is your ordinary Swiffer and an adhesive magnetic sheet. These sheets are simply a thin magnetic layer with a sticky back, so you can attach them to just about anything. They're easy to find online and at many craft stores. 

You can probably see where we're going with this: Attach the magnetic sheet to the Swiffer and start making passes over your floor where you think the item may be. The magnetic sheet will attract metal, no matter how small, so you can easily find what you've lost (and maybe even a few things you forgot about). In addition to finding lost items, this hack will save you from stepping on sharp metal objects hiding on your floor.

A magnetic sheet can get demagnetized if it's too close to other magnets, so make sure to keep the sheets separate from things like fridge magnets when you use and store them. Beyond these precautions, magnetic sheets take up very little space, so you may want to keep a few on hand just in case.

Although this Swiffer hack works differently than a metal detector, a few metal-detector tips will help you find what you're looking for. Hold the magnetic end as close to the ground as possible and go slowly, so it has a better chance of picking things up. Unlike a metal detector, you can even run the Swiffer lightly along the ground to pick up super-small items. 

If you have an idea of where you lost something, go over the area in overlapping paths to ensure you cover the entire space. It can also be helpful to test your magnetic Swiffer before using it, that way you'll get a sense of how close to hold it to the floor. Put a small metal item like a coin on the ground and practice picking it up. Now, you're ready for a productive lost-item hunt.