How to Make Your Own Reed Diffuser with Oil Recipes - Freshen your Home Naturally!

Everyone loves walking in to a home that smells of fresh lemons or floral bouquets. Unfortunately, like most commercial products, most candles on the market are not good for our bodies or our environment. They are made with synthetic ingredients and by-products that can lead to headaches and other side affects. There is an easy solution to the problem - a handmade diffuser. By creating your own you can control the ingredients, experiment with scents and best of all it is relatively affordable!

Creating your own diffuser only requires a few ingredients and can be made in as little as 5 minutes. You can dress it up with rattan chair caning or dress it down with bamboo reeds. It doesn't require electrify or flame with makes it a lot safer since you can leave it without fear of an accidental fire. 

DIY Reed Diffuser

The hardest part of the process is deciding on your fragrance. There are so many tantalizing oil blend recipes on the internet that it is hard to settle on just one. My personal fav is a tropical beach scent. I will share a few of my favorite oil recipes below.

The fragrance blend is made from a light carrier oil that is mixed with one or more essential oils to lend your space with a unique, natural scent. Once the fragrance have been selected, only a few materials are required to create a reed diffuser. It is important to note that you have a choice of base liquids (the carrier for the essential oils). You can use a thin oil with a light scent like sweet almond, jojoba, or fractionated coconut oil. Alternatively you can use distilled water. If you choice to use water your diffuser liquid may evaporate quicker than if you chose to use an oil base. Ultimately it is up to preference. Some people have reported that they have better luck with water than oil and visa versa so do which over works best for you!

Regardless of your base it is a good idea to add a small amount of alcohol to your essential oil mixture to bind the oils together so that they can travel up the reeds better and the scents will disperse evenly. Use the highest concentration of alcohol available. 95% alcohol is optional. If you can't find any alcohol you can substitute it with witch hazel or vodka (surprising I know, but it works).

What You Will Need

• A glass container with a small opening (a mason jar will do)
• Reeds, rattans or bamboo sticks
• Base liquid
• Alcohol, vodka or witch hazel
• Your choice of Essential oils

Directions

1. Pour essential oils into the container.
2. Add 20 -30 drops of oil for every ¼ cup of carrier oil (decrease or increase according to preference)
3. Carefully mix the oils with one of the sticks.
4. Leave the sticks in the oil blend for about 2 hours and then turn them upside down to release the fragrance.
5. Once the end of the sticks seem dry or the fragrance fades swirl the jar and flip the sticks over. Once the scent has been depleted just add more essential oil to the remaining base and start all over again!

Note: At some point the sticks will become fully saturated and lose the ability to diffuse the oils. At this point they will need to be replaced. If your base starts to look or smell "off" you need to dump it out, wash out the jar, and make a new batch. This usually happens after 4 - 6 weeks of use. 

DIY Oil Diffuser Recipes

Tropical Bliss

10 drops of Bergamot 
10 drops of Lavender 
5 drops of Sandalwood
5 drops of Lemon

Rose Vanilla

10 drops Damask Rose
10 drops Vanilla
10 drops Bergamot

Cleansing Blend

10 drops Grapefruit10 drops Peppermint
10 drops Lime

Calming Blend

10 drops Bergamot
10 drops Lavender
10 drops Frankincense

Sleepy Time Blend

10 drops Cedarwood
10 drops Patchouli
10 drops Chamomile

High Energy Blend