I’m always looking for nice new ways to spread happy smells around my house. I love insence, candles and all of those types of things. I got a new oil diffuser the other day, it’s a cute little Halloween themed bottle with pumpkin pie scent in it. Oil diffusers work REALLY well, and they are safe to keep around pets and kids. No flame or heat is ALWAYS a good thing. I honestly like the bottles with the reeds much better than the plug-in type. Man, there really is a pretty big war on for your room freshener loyalty. Glade and Febreez have so many different options it’s crazy! I love some of the things they are coming up with, but I still always seem to stick with candles, insence and reeds.
There are some really great reasons to try oil diffusers over other home fragrence options. First of all, no flame. Of course that’s huge for a lot of people. Of course, glass bottles are beautiful, so you can use them as part of your home decor or you can just tuck them behind a plant or a picture if you don’t like how they look. Reed oil diffusers are a 24/7 way to fragrence your home. You don’t need batteries to keep the darn thing working, nor do you need to plug them in. There is definately a bit of a savings there. The oil in the bottle will last 2-3 months, and you can make your own if you want to save more cash.
There are a few things to keep in mind to maximize your oil diffuser.
Make sure you are using reeds. Many brands are selling beautiful bottles and great oils but packaging them with wooden sticks instead of reeds. The reason that reeds work so perfectly is because they have hollow tubes in them which wick the oil upwards. Wooden sticks don’t really work at all, so make sure you check the sticks your diffuser comes with to be sure they are reeds. It’s easy to tell by looking at the tips. If you see the tubes, they are rattan reeds- just what you’re looking for!
If you already own a diffuser and happened to buy wooden reeds, no worries! There are lots of great places online to shop for supplies. I’ll name some at the end. Reeds are cheap, and often you can get a deal buying them in bulk. If you do decide to do that, it’s not a bad idea to buy them in a longer size, that way you can cut them to the correct length for your bottles.
When you decide that you want some more fragrence in the room, just filp your reeds over. It’s an easy way to make the smell stronger in the room. The more often you flip the reeds, the faster you’ll use the oil, just keep that in mind. It’s a good practice to give the oil a stir when you mess around with the reeds. This helps to keep the oil mixed with the alcohol it’s suspended in, which in turn will make it last longer. If you want to put your diffuser by an open window or by your air conditioner, that is an excellent way to spread the scent. It also will dry the reeds out faster, which means they will suck the oil up faster. Again, you may use the oil faster, but you’ll love to have that beautiful smell all over the house!
You can buy bottles anywhere. Again, TONS of great deals online, but then there’s always Hobby Lobby and places like that. Some of the coolest bottles I’ve seen I’ve found just walking around antique stores and flea markets!
Oils to refill your bottles can be purchased for somewhere between $5.99 and $15.99. This depends on the size etc. It’s actually really simple to make your own oil, which is a great way to customize the smells around your house! All you need is some essential oils and you may also want some perfumers alcohol. Perfume alcohol can be really difficult for the average person to find. It’s usually only sold to people in the fragrence industry, so if you cannot locate some, you can use a little vodka. Either one will thin the oil so that it wicks up the reeds faster. (IF you DO use vodka- YOU MAY NOT SELL THE PRODUCT- there are laws with regard to licensing that one MUST follow if selling alcohol, and they ARE enforced!)
The recipe is simple. Just 1 oz of essential oil and 1/4 oz of either perfumers alcohol or vodka. Stir with a reed or two to mix. The recipe can absolutely be adjusted to make more volume. If you find that the liquid still seems too thick, add a little more alcohol or vodka. You can visit AromaWeb to get recipes for aromatherapy oil recipes and more. This website is AMAZING- you will LOVE it if you get into creating your own scents! If you are a fan of aroma therapy or making your own beauty products and cosmetics, this is totally the place to be.
Essential oils are easy to find at any natural health food store, lots of head shops and many grocery stores even carry them now! Be sure that you are buying “ESSENTIAL” oil, not anything else. I still believe that the internet is the cheapest way to buy your oils, but you can’t smell them ahead of time. I often smell oils at my natural food store and then go buy them online cheap. It works 
Now is a great time of year to try to create your own smell! Most of the oil companies put out special holiday fragrences. You can always get deals in bulk. You can make beautiful gifts out of little oil diffusers! Choosing different bottles and scents can be a lot of fun! I think it could be a neat little wedding favor! I’d like to try to make my own as soon as one of my current bottles gets low. If anyone else has tried this, let us know on the forum!
No comments yet.