Harvesting Lavender

 

Lavender is always a nice addition to the garden, and it is so easy to dry and use for its fragrance. Lavender sachets, lavender wands...good smells!

I had some BAD smells coming from my vacuum cleaner recently. I have a small handheld Bissell vacuum that I use for dog hair clean-up. When you have 80 pounds of furry beast making herself at home on beds and couches, you need something beyond a lint roller. 

Lately, I had been getting an awful smell every time I used the hand vac. I suspect my husband used it for a non-sanctioned purpose.

I wondered what to do about that smell. I emptied the vacuum, wiped down the interior, and cleaned the filter. 

And then I had a great idea!

I mixed together about a half cup of baking soda with a half cup of dried lavender. I sprinkled this on a section of carpet (the staircase going down to the basement seemed like a good spot!), kind of rubbing it in gently to the nap of the carpet. I let it sit for a while...maybe 15-30 minutes. Then I used the handheld vacuum to suck it all up.

Wow! It made the carpet smell wonderful!

Rather than emptying the vacuum right away, I let the baking soda/lavender combo stay there overnight and emptied the vacuum the next day. I did the same thing with my upright Shark vacuum, too.

Problem solved! This was an easy, natural way to refresh the carpets and the vacuums at the same time.

Enjoy the beauty of autumn today!