vacuums

I love shopping and I love my dog — they're both reasons to get out of bed early in the morning! If you're taking advantage of Black Friday this year, there are a few deals at PetSmart that are worth a detour.
$50 off for one day only are the covetable Bissell Yikes! Deep Cleaner (now $80) and the LitterMaid Elite Basic 5500 automatic litterbox (now $70) if you've been eyeing those products at full price!

See the deals on the two things I personally want when you read more

While I do love living with my four-legged canine friend, sometimes I worry that our house might retain a little of that doggy smell. Even though no one's ever actually said this, I'm definitely paranoid about the matter.

So, to combat dog hair and dog odor, I vacuum our house daily. However, when I do a weekend deep clean, I always grab sprigs of rosemary from the bushes outside of our house.

Once back inside, I crumple the needles up and liberally sprinkle the rugs in our house with the crushed, aromatic herb. When the vacuum sucks up the herbs, the entire house is filled with the scent of rosemary and my worries about a canine-scented casa are put to rest!

Another side benefit is that rosemary is also noted as a tick and flea deterrent. Even though we use a monthly flea treatment, it's still nice to know that there's a natural remedy out there as well.

Have you ever used herbs as a way to improve your home's indoor air quality? Tell me about your method in the comments!

Vacuuming sucks, so when our old canister vacuum bit the dust, I was left with the unglamorous task of purchasing a new one. I've had my eye on Roomba – the robotic machine that will clean my floors while I nap. Seriously. Upon purchasing the Roomba 530 ($300), I was a bit skeptical but more excited (and a little giddy) to give it a shot. Quite honestly, I have never been so thrilled to plug anything in.

After I waited for it to fully charge (about three hours), I let it loose to have its way with my filthy floors. The robot took about 45 minutes to do about three rooms. Longer than I had anticipated, but it cleaned far better than I expected, and I was smitten. Perfect? No. There were a few specks of dirt left behind, but that was in part my fault (I didn't realize that I needed to empty the bin midcycle because it's smart enough to know when enough is enough). Then when it was done with the job, it made its way back to the charging station as I watched in amazement. For my full evaluation, including what I didn't like, just read more

I am quite content with my Dyson DC24 vacuum. But while I love that it's fit for all floor types, it doesn't lose suction, and it's easy to move around, if I were shopping for another vacuum, I'd really only have one priority: power. A powerful motor makes for a powerful vacuum. So when you're shopping for your next cleaner, remember that its strength is in direct proportion to how much dirt it will lift as you pass it across your carpet. Pick the one with the highest strength!

A 12-amp motor is fairly standard, and anything less than that won't be very productive. Meanwhile, a vacuum with more than 12 amps will send more power from the outlet to your motor.
After you've found a few selections with a good strength, suction power (mine is 220 AW) will be next important, and then you'll want to narrow down other needs like floor types and size.

Wool rugs are beautiful and natural, so they're a wonderful addition to your home. But since wool comes from an animal that sheds itself, rug shedding is inevitable. But it's also not a major battle if you learn a few tricks to deal with the shedding.

• First of all, you should put your rug in a low-traffic area. People treading on it causes friction, which in turn causes it to shed its fibers. So a wool rug is better placed under a dining table than as a runner in a busy hallway or in a living room where you spend most of your time. To learn some other tricks to deal with shedding, read more