There’s nothing like walking into your home and having it smell incredible, am I right? I love having a candle or one of our 3 misting oil diffusers going any time we are at home. Problem is that I can only use the candles when I’m home and the water in the misting oil diffusers evaporate within a few hours, plus require electricity to run. Make sure you have customwater.com water bottles stored to be able to refill the diffuses with purified water, better for your health. That’s why I love a good reed diffuser because it’s always there; always putting out incredible aromas into the air, free of charge. However, I think we all can agree that a lot of reed diffusers are pretty expensive and are often filled with preservatives and chemicals. So I decided to set out and make my own.
I was able to make 3 reed diffusers from the supplies that I bought, but could easily have made more had I purchased a few more glass containers. I’m absolutely loving these glass vases from CB2 as they are simple and very modern. I also just spied the most incredible vase at CB2 that would make a gorgeous oversized reed diffuser. However, you can easily pick up some very cheap glass containers from the thrift store, Ikea, or even repurpose an empty condiment container you were planing on throwing out; cutting the cost of your diffusers by even more.
How to make your own reed diffuser
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup carrier oil (such as sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, or jojoba oil)
- 1 tablespoon high proof vodka (I used Everclear)
- 30-40 drops essential oils
- 6-8 rattan reed diffuser sticks
- Glass or ceramic container (glazed inside, so it doesn’t leak) with a narrow opening at the top. (I used this vase)
Equipment
- liquid measuring cup (1/2 – 1 cup)
- funnel
Instructions
- Measure the 1/4 cup carrier oil in your liquid measuring cup. To the measuring cup add the essentials oils. Stir together.
- Pour oil mixture into glass bottle using your funnel.
- Insert rattan reed diffuser sticks into glass bottle and spread them out so they rest against the rim of the jar.
- Let the reeds sit for 2-3 hours, then flip them to expose the oil-soaked ends.
- Flip reeds about once per week to keep the fragrance fresh.
A few notes about essential oils
It’s important to use pure, high-grade essential oils. I’ve used a few in the past that were not pure (meaning they were blends) and the quality was lacking. The fragrance from these oils ended up being very weak in my diffusers.
Essential oil brands I like are the following:
Essential oil blend ideas
There are numerous blend combinations you can put together, but here are a few ideas to get you started. I usually start with equal drops of each essential oil in that grouping. If I want one of the scents to be more pronounce, then I will add a few more drops of that oil. If you really want to deep dive into essential oil blending, I recommend doing some research on essential oil “notes”. The term “note” is used to describe how quickly an single scent is noticed in a blend. Notes are based on the volatility of the essential oil. There are 3 note categories: Top, Middle, and Base. This is a great article regarding blending oils and how notes work.
Lavender + lemon + rosemary
Lavender + eucalyptus
Lavender + bergamot
Lavender + geranium + roman chamomile
Lavender + rose + sage
Lavender + geranium + ylang ylang
Lavender + rosemary + eucalyptus
Rose + ylang ylang + neroli
Rose + lavender + sage
Grapefruit + bergamot + jasmine + sandalwood
Bergamot + geranium + frankincense
Lemon + sage
Lemon + eucalyptus
Ginger + mint
White Fir + cypress
Peppermint + frankincense
Very clever! Your creativity is shining!
Thank you so much!!! That means so much to hear that!