Whether you are planning a romantic event outdoors, or hosting a Valentine’s day inside your house or apartment, finding a quick way to clean up rose petals is necessary. After all, who wants to pick each one by hand? A vacuum cleaner would be the first option, but can you actually vacuum rose petals?

It is not recommended to vacuum rose petals because the moisture can damage the filter and brush roller of an upright vacuum cleaner. You should be able to sweep them up with a regular broom. But if you must use a vacuum cleaner, use a garden vacuum cleaner capable of sucking rose petals and leaves.

In this post, we will answer the question: can you vacuum rose petals? After you have learned how to clean rose petals, there are many things you can do with rose petals instead of throwing them away. So read on to discover ideas on what to do with rose petals, including how you can preserve rose petals in a jar. 

Can You Vacuum Rose Petals?

The problem with vacuuming rose petals is moisture. A regular household vacuum cleaner is not designed to pick up anything wet and moist, so vacuuming rose petals is not recommended. The moisture in the rose petals may jam up the filter and brush roller on a standard upright vacuum cleaner.

Additionally, the sheer size of the rose petals can get caught in the filter and brush roller. A household vacuum cleaner is designed to pick up small dust particles, and most rose petals are bigger than them. Vacuuming rose petals can clog your vacuum cleaner, and then it will blow dust back into the air.

How to Clean Rose Petals Properly:

Vacuuming Rose Petals Indoors

So it’s Valentine’s day and you are planning to host a romantic event in your home or apartment. After the event is done, lots of rose petals are scattered all over the floor. What do you do?

When indoors, sweeping rose petals with a broom and dustpan is more than enough to get the job done. Sure it’s a lot of work, but you need the same effort to clean them with or without a vacuum cleaner. In fact, sweeping rose petals is easier to do than using a vacuum cleaner to suck them up.

Moreover, rose petals are not sticky like rice. So whether you are trying to clean them from hard floors or carpet, sweeping rose petals is simple to do. It’s not like you were tossing hundreds of rose petals into the air during an outdoor ceremony, in which case, you need more effort to clean them, which brings us to...

Vacuuming Rose Petals Outdoors

If you are planning an outdoor ceremony and want to throw rose petals into the air, be prepared to clean them afterwards. Large amounts of rose petals outdoors can create a huge mess. In most cases, the venue requires you to clean the mess, especially scattered rose petals, whether they are real or silk.

Your best option when cleaning huge amounts of rose petals outdoors is using a garden vacuum cleaner. Some leaf blowers have a built-in vacuum setting. It can suck up leaves and rose petals easily and collect them in the attached collection bag, like this leaf blower from Black and Decker (link to Amazon). 

A 3-in-1 garden machine can blow, vacuum, and mulch at the same time. So whether you are trying to pick up leaves or rose petals, a handheld leaf blower can make quick work of any outdoor mess. If you decide to buy a leaf blower, you can use it anytime fall comes around and pick up leaves with it too.

However, if you are dealing with rose petals in your own garden, you can leave the rose petals where they fall. In most cases, it’s best to leave them be because it’s not possible to get them all. Mother Nature will take care of it. The petals shrink up to nothing pretty quickly and have little risk of fungal contamination.

What to Do with Rose Petals After They Died

Unfortunately, bouquets of roses and their petals will all die eventually. The good news is, rose petals can keep their scent for weeks after they die. There are creative ways to preserve dead rose flower petals. So what can you do with rose petals after they have died? Here are 10 creative ideas:

1. Leave them be - If you are in love with the look of rose petals, you can leave them be whether they are fresh or dry. Place them in areas of your house where plants can’t survive and leave them be.
2. Make potpourri - Roses are amazing natural aromatherapy. Take the rose petals and place them together in a decorative bowl. Let the floral scent roam naturally in your home.
3. Add rose petals to your bath salts - Did you know you can combine rose petals with bath salts? Just mix the petals together with Epsom salt and soothing powdered milk, then relax.
4. Create a pressed rose flower picture - If you enjoy doing arts and crafts, you can create a rose flower picture. Stick rose petals with glue on a piece of paper before they completely wither and dry.
5. Make homemade candles - Keeping with the arts and crafts theme, you can add color to regular candles by melting small candles and using the wax to stick pressed rose petals onto them.
6. Place in a frame - If the roses are meaningful to you, place them inside a frame to create a lasting memory that will last a long time. You can place only the petals or the entire flower inside the frame.
7. Freshen your car or drawers - Rose flower petals keep their scent for weeks after they die. This means you can add floral scent to drawers or inside your car with rose petals instead. 
8. Preserve the bouquet - Hang the bouquet upside down and air-dry them without direct sunlight. After a few days, apply hair spray to make them stronger. You will end up with beautiful dried rose bouquets.
9. Use them for a romantic decoration - Rose petals are excellent decorations for any romantic event. You can scatter them on the floor, on the bed, inside a bathtub, or a rose path from the door to a destination.
10. Preserve rose petals in a jar - Similar to creating a potpourri, preserving roses in a jar is becoming more popular because of its appeal as a decoration. You literally only need dried rose petals and a jar.

How do you preserve rose petals in a jar?

One of the most unique ways to process rose petals is to preserve them in a jar. To create a preserved rose petal jar, all you need is a jar with a lid and dried rose petals. You can also add vintage laces for additional decoration, but it is completely optional. These are the steps to make them:

1. Collect mature roses before they start to turn brown. 
2. Pull the rose petals from the stems.
3. Place each individual rose petal on a paper towel or newspaper.
4. Let the rose petals dry for several days. If your area is humid, you may need to turn the rose petals while drying.

Once they are dry, you can simply place them in a jar. We like to keep the jars half-full to maintain a bit of air. Feel free to decorate the jars any way you like and place the jars on a cabinet or a shelf. Whenever you want to smell the sweet floral scent of rose, just open up the jars and get a fragrant whiff of roses.

Bottom Line

And there you go, the answer to the question: can you vacuum rose petals? Vacuuming rose petals with a household vacuum cleaner is not recommended. However, you can use a garden vacuum cleaner designed to pick up rose petals and leaves. In most cases, using a broom and a dustpan should work just fine.