How A Swiffer Can Make Cleaning Your Kitchen Island That Much Easier

Nothing says luxury quite like a gigantic kitchen island. But for many homeowners, one key kitchen island mistake they make is not realizing how difficult it is to clean the middle of a huge island. This is especially true if you're on the shorter side or have a disability. But, luckily, there's an easy way to make wiping down an oversized island a snap; all you need is a Swiffer.

If you have a Swiffer mop or duster, you can easily adapt it to make reaching that confounding middle section of a large kitchen island possible. Imagine the Swiffer device as your robotic cleaning arm that can stretch out, scrub, and clean far beyond your usual wingspan. You just need to rig it with some all-purpose or countertop-safe spray and a clean cloth, and you can say goodbye to the days of using your stepstool or crawling on top of the counters to give them a good cleaning. As this cleaning hack and others like it prove, you can use a Swiffer in all sorts of unexpected ways.

If you're working with a dry-mop Swiffer, take a clean, damp microfiber or terrycloth rag and wrap it around the mop head; you'll want a longer rag for this because all four corners need to come around the top bit. On most models, there are two holes that you normally push your disposable or reusable mop cloth into; do the same thing with your countertop rag.

For this kitchen island cleaning hack, we don't recommend using your usual mopping tools — either disposable or reusable — for a few reasons. While you may wash your reusable mop cloths regularly, they can still get debris stuck in them, and you don't want that spreading onto your food contact surfaces. As for disposable wipes, they're formulated for hard floors, not countertops. Some countertops, like those made from marble, will be damaged if used with incompatible cleaners, so it's best to only use a clean cloth and preferred countertop spray.

If you're using an extendable Swiffer duster, the easiest way to turn it into a kitchen island cleaner is to wrap and pin a cloth to form a little pocket that can slide over the pole, just like the disposable dusters. You can always just put a rag on the countertop and slide it around with the Swiffer extension, but you probably won't be able to scrub with much accuracy, so we find it's best to take some time to properly attach the rag to the duster.