Today I’m going to give you the super easy recipe for homemade carpet freshener. If anyone reading this suffers from depression then you know how freakin’ hard it can be to motivate yourself to clean. It becomes first on the list of things we don’t have the energy or motivation to do. I’ve often said that you can judge my depression/stress level by what my kitchen sink looks like. 10 years ago, my depression was so bad that I would go three months without doing dishes, no joke.
Depression affects so many aspects of your life. What your living area looks like, personal hygiene, job and school performance, it can be all-encompassing. Which made me very thankful that I found a way to clean, even if it’s just a little bit, when I’m depressed.
I get spiritual with it.
I’m a bit of a Pagan and for as long as I can remember, I have been enamored with Hestia, Greek Goddess of the hearth and home. Maybe it’s because she’s quiet and not involved in all of the drama the Greek deities are notorious for. There’s something so special to me about tending the sacred fires of your home, metaphorically speaking. I don’t clean because I have to. Or because I need to. Or because I have the energy to do it. I clean as a way to pray and reconnect with my spirituality, which sometimes gives me that wee bit of extra motivation to move.
Cleaning becomes something with a bigger purpose. It’s not something I do for me, but for God/dess/Divine/Spirit. So my little beat-depression-cleaning-tip is to see it as an act of worship, and a little bit of an act of defiance and rebellion.
Take that, Depression.
One of the ways I get ‘in the mood’ is making my own cleaning products. Which is why you’re here.
Homemade Carpet Freshener
What You Need:
Baking soda
Lavender essential oil (Which you can get here or at your local health food store, or even Walmart for about $6)
Container (A mason jar or an old spice/parmesan cheese shaker)
What To Do:
I usually use 10-15 drops of essential oil per cup of baking soda. If you’re new to essential oils or sensitive to smells, add drops gradually until it smells good to you.
I sometimes mix the baking soda and the essential oil in a bowl first so that I can break up the clumps with a fork but you can just put it in your mason jar and shake it.
Bonus points if you listen to Shake It Off by Taylor Swift. Did I get that stuck in your head?
Turn the mason jar into a shaker by using a nail and hammer to make holes in the top of the jar or buy a spice shaker lid.
Once you’re done sprinkle it on your carpets, wait a few hours, and then vacuum it up.
Voila!
Tips
Use whatever scent appeals to you. Lemon, orange, and citrus-y scents are great for lifting bad moods. Lavender and chamomile are soothers.
If you want to kill bugs like fleas or bedbugs use food grade diatomaceous earth. I swear by it. It dries the outer shell of the bugs and dehydrates them which kills them and as long as you get food grade it’s completely safe for children and pets. The only problem is inhaling large amounts so it wouldn’t hurt to vacuum with the windows open.
Make sure your vacuum can handle fine powders. Sometimes carpet powders can clog the HEPA filters.
Some essential oils can be toxic to animals so do your research first. Also, a little goes a long way, use too much and your throat and your head will suffer for it.
This is fantastic. I love getting more essential oil smells in my home, so I can’t wait to try this. I use essential oils in my homemade deodorant, which works better than any store bought deodorant that I have ever used. Thanks for the great article!
Thanks for reading!
I can really relate to this! When my depression and anxiety are bad it’s really hard to motivate myself to clean. I have been doing some cleaning and tidying more recently. One of the books I like is Tess Whitehurst’s Magical Housekeeping.
Thank you for the carper freshener recipe, I’ve saved it for future refererence. :)
That’s one of my favorite reads!
It is a good one! I like her others Holistic Energy Magic and The Good Energy Book as well. :)
I have anxiety so I can understand about not being motivated some days. Thank you for the carpet freshener recipe, This can also be used on your mattresses as well. Just sprinkle on, let it sit and then vacuum..