"When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum."
~ Author Unknown
Housework can be a healer. It removes dust mites and dirt for a healthier home. It keeps your mind busy on useful endeavors that you can actually control. It creates a sense of peace and order. Even vacuuming can become a pleasant (and somewhat romantic) task if you implement some of these aromatherapy ideas:
- Prepare an all natural carpet freshener using essential oils. Simply add 15 drops of your favorite scent to 1 - 2 cups of baking soda. Stir well and allow the ingredients to "marinate" for a day. To use, sprinkle the freshener on your carpet, let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes and then vacuum up. Enjoy the fragrance!
- Create a carpet deoderizer using dried lavender and baking soda (our tutorial is shared here). For variation, replace the lavender with your favorite dried herbs such as rose petals or eucalyptus leaves (great option if you have indoor pets since the aroma is a deterrent for fleas and ticks). Enjoy your fragrant but frugal concoction!
- "add 6-8 drops of essential oil on a cotton-wool ball and pop it in the bag. Replace it with a new fragrance, if you wish, each time you change the bag, or empty it out— whichever is applicable to your machine. An even simpler method is to place the drops of essential oil directly onto the bag, just by the air outlet, but this isn’t a good option for non-replaceable bags because you may wish to change the aroma later. Try the essential oils of lemon, orange, lavender, or pine to eradicate that dustiness which so often makes vacuuming the sort of job that you feel you want to take a bath after!" (Valerie Ann Worwood, Inspiration Excerpted from The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy)
- "You can also put lemon peel and baking soda in your vacuum cleaner bag to deodorize it." (Donna Smallin, Inspiration Excerpted from Cleaning Plain & Simple)
How often should you vacuum? At least once a week. I would suggest more often if someone in your home suffers from allergies, asthma, emphysema and/or if you have indoor pets. Keeping shoes off in the house helps to reduce dust and dirt but this can be a challenge for some of us. It is also recommended that you deep clean your carpets at least once a year to maintain a healthier home environment.
As far as vacuum cleaners go, we love the Oreck Classic Upright (we are on our 2nd one after 16 years)! It is very lightweight (therefore gentle on my back and easy to maneuver), simple to maintenance ourselves (just use a seam ripper to remove all strings and hair from the roller on the bottom of unit once a month), is energy efficient and offers HEPA filters which are highly recommended for removing the unwanted airborne articles and allergens from the air. What kind do you use and why?
And finally, the age-old question (well, not really but...), do you dust or vacuum first? In our household, we do all the cleaning and dusting at the beginning with the assumption that all the particles are making their way down to the dirty floor. At the end of our session, we vacuum everything up and the house is finally clean! What is your thinking on this? If interested, you will find more housecleaning inspiration here.
"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus."
~ Blaise Pascal
Terrific post! I have some lavender essential oil on hand, so I must give this a try. I know that my mother has used the idea of a cotton ball with essential oils and it does make the vacuum cleaner smell nice.
ReplyDelete-Sarah
Wonderful! Lavender essential oil is always my first choice. I am sure it will smell amazing :)
DeleteI too like the idea of lavender as it's also a bug deterrent. We don't typically have an issue with them, it's just a comforting thought. I have wood floors with rugs, but I also vacuum around the base boards to keep dust-bunnies as bay.
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday
We have all tile floors with rugs so I know what you mean about the dust bunnies! And they aren't real cute either! Thanks for sharing Lady Locust :)
DeleteI've heard using baking soda or those scented carpet powders are bad for the vacuum, so I don't use them anymore.
ReplyDeleteMy vac is a Eureka Boss Smartvac. I love it. It was a consistent Consumer Reports winner and Good Housekeeping awarded. And I was able to buy a coordinating color to the rest of my decor. (I know that sounds dumb, but it makes me smile, so why not?)
I used to dust first, mainly b/c vacuuming is usually the last step in the cleaning process for me. However, now I do them on different day, so there's no conflict. ;-)
I vaccuum the carpet and furniture once a week, but use a Bissell Sweepup carpet sweeper 2x a week as well (Non electric. Like they use in restaurants. That thing cleans amazingly well!) I also scrub the carpets 2x/year.
I love, love, love your site! I only found it rather recently, but I think I've read it all and it's just great! ;-)
Love,
Joy
Hi Joy, I have never heard of that... It would seem to me that the baking soda would mimic dust which is what our vacuum is supposed to handle? Perhaps the cotton-ball suggestion is the way to go if you have concerns ;) It sounds like you have an excellent vacuum. I know that those are hard to find these days. I know someone who goes through one vacuum every two years! And I think it is fun that it matches!!! Thank you for taking the time to share, I love to hear the daily routines of other homemakers :)
DeleteHi thanks for visiting my post on peeling eggs. I enjoyed writing it. I love your Angeled eggs.
ReplyDeleteMuch better than the other. I am making some tonight. We'll see if they peel better. I used the older ones! I am off to read your latest posts now. I really enjoy visiting!
Have a blessed weekend.
Sherry
Thank you Sherry, looking forward to your recipe :)
DeleteGreat tips on I have never used essential oils but I have just sprinkled fresh lavender on the floor. It makes a nice scent. Thanks for sharing these tips.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend! :) and a lavender scented one ;)
DeleteMy husband loves vacuum cleaning so he does it in our house. He vacuums at least three times a week partly because of the cats and their hair.
ReplyDeleteOh, good point, I should add that in! Indoor pets would require more vacuuming! Wonderful that hubby likes to vacuum! :)
DeleteI just read somewhere about sprinkling cinnamon on your carpet instead of baking soda....let it sit then vacuum....obviously you’d want to be sure there was NO moisture and only use on dark carpets and test first, but it will leave your carpet and room fresh, clean and bug free as cinnamon is an antibacterial as well. I’m trying it this weekend.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Never heard that one! Please share your experience with us!
DeleteI had heard that, too. My family, with their short-haired dog just left after the holidays. He got to smelling pretty bad after the first week, so when they left, I sprinkled the cinnamon onto the carpet, let it set and vacuumed. It seems to have worked. I do have a dark carpet, but noted that there were a few spots it must have been moist, as the cinnamon remained. ( this is a VERY old house, and the previous owners had an old dog, and even though I do clean, dark spots just appear mysteriously, regularly, so the cinnamon spots aren’t worrisome to me...) I don’t shampoo this carpet much, as it is very thick and worry about mold forming as it isn’t warm here much. I do spot shampoo occasionally. The cinnamon doesn’t really leave a strong cinnamon smell, but it is a nice one.
DeleteWell, this is good to know! Thanks for sharing your experience! I would much rather deal with clean fresh carpets (without the dog smell) than a few cinnamon spots :)
DeleteI always put fun music on when I'm cleaning. Thanks for sharing. Hello from the Clever Chicks Blog Hop!
ReplyDeleteSounds good Jess, thanks for all these great tips, and I love the graphics. I'm sharing on my FB page. ~ Abby
ReplyDeleteThank you Abby ~ I appreciate that ;)
DeleteGreat tipe for freshening up. Vaccuming is sometimes for me therapeutic.
ReplyDeleteI agree Lulu, housecleaning in general can be very therapeutic!
DeleteJES...oh, so loved this post! I plan to try a couple of the tips you shared. Glad you shared it at Monday's Musings. Pinning and tweeting.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it! And thank you for hosting and sharing! :)
DeleteI used to do this all the time and create different scented baking soda blends. I gotten out of the habit some how so this was a great reminder. Thanks for stopping by Front Porch Friday.
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate your positive, peaceful attitude toward tasks that might be considered drudgery by others. Thanks for sharing your sweet spirit!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Leigh
What a kind comment. Thank you Leigh! :)
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