Have you ever realised upon walking into a home you are first greeted with a unique smell that is particular to that place? I always take a good inhale when I come in our own front door to make sure it’s a pleasant aroma and not a stale or food heavy smell inside.
As we live in an old villa dating back over 100 years since original construction (1915), it’s a priority for us to open the windows and air out the house on a regular basis during the cooler seasons of Autumn & Winter. During the summer all the doors and windows are thrown wide open by the kids so it’s not an issue.
I love diffusing essential oils to freshen up a room and also provide some therapeutic properties at the same time. I tend to diffuse essential oils in the bedrooms regularly at night when the room is occupied for several hours. I use an ultrasonic style diffuser for this purpose which provides some soothing white noise and a night light if desired.
Reed diffusers are a simple option that don’t require any power input and can be used virtually anywhere there’s a safe place to put them. I’ve made mini diffusers for my desk and car while larger reed diffusers are useful for areas such as the bathroom or lounge.
Now let’s talk about the difference between aromatherapy and fragrance. There is a profound difference in using oils that provide beneficial attributes versus synthetic chemicals that can produce harmful effects including hormones disruption and trigger inflammatory responses in the body.
Fragrance also commonly labelled as parfum* is found in many, many household items apart from the obvious perfume bottle. Surprisingly, you can also find it hidden in many products marketed as being natural as well.
Some of the items you probably own that contain fragrance/parfum are shampoo and conditioner, body and face moisturisers, deodorant, hand soap, hand sanitiser, hand lotion, bar soap, lip balm and make up to name a few. Baby items also contain parfum like bubble bath soap, shampoo + conditioner, body wash, baby oil, baby moisturiser and even baby wipes!
Store bought reed diffusers almost always contain artificial fragrance. It is much cheaper to use synthetically created chemicals designed to have a fragrance than to source therapeutically distilled essential oils from living plants. This is why you can often find an inexpensive reed diffuser with a high volume of oil and strong smell at a low cost. It’s not pure, quality essential oils. Even expensive brands use parfum and just mark up the retail price!
When it comes to looking for plant derived essential oils for personal use you will still come across low quality and higher quality oils. It’s best to do your own independent research on how the brand sources the oils and conducts testing to provide evidence of their therapeutic constituents.
I also like to take this a step further and look at it from an ethical standpoint of how the plant farmers are treated and paid as many of the crops distilled for essential oils are grown natively in third world countries.
For this DIY Reed diffuser tutorial I recommend using pure, therapeutic grade essential oils for the best results.
25 Aromatherapy Blends for A Reed Diffuser
- Wild Orange | Cardamom |Douglas Fir
- Red Mandarin | Birch | Vanilla
- Rosemary | Arborvitae | Lemon Myrtle
- Ylang ylang | Patchouli | Hawaiian Sandalwood
- Clary Sage | Lemongrass | Peppermint
- Juniper Berry | Bergamot | Vetiver
- Cassia | Wild Orange | Wintergreen
- Clove bud | Green Mandarin | Wild Orange
- Lemon | Lime | Grapefruit
- Lime | Rosemary | Douglas Fir
- Eucalyptus | Lemon | Cedarwood
- Peppermint | Wild Orange | Frankincense
- Manuka | Pink pepper | Roman Chamomile
- Bergamot | Myrtle | Red Mandarin
- Vanilla | Ylang ylang | Hawaiian Sandalwood
- Rose | Lavender | Jasmine
- Rosemary | Lemongrass | Wild Orange
- Lemongrass | Bergamot | Frankincense
- Wild Orange | Vanilla | Cardamom
- Douglas Fir | Red Mandarin | Myrtle
- Roman Chamomile | Lavender | Vetiver
- Rose | Magnolia | Cedarwood
- Red Mandarin | Vanilla | Vetiver
- Wild Orange | Lavender | Cedarwood
- Cardamom | Cedarwood | Juniper Berry
DIY Reed Diffuser with Essential Oils
When choosing a suitable bottle or jar for your Reed diffuser you will want to consider the aesthetic properties. You can use clear, tinted or coloured glass bottles. The height and width is not as important as the size of the opening at the top which needs to be narrow. This keeps the essential oils from evaporating quickly in the jar which happens naturally when exposed to air.
For this project I upcycled a vase I had for the past few years and jazzed it up with a lick of paint. I love the Karen Walker paints available at Resene stores nationwide in NZ. My final colour selection was Beryl Green by Karen Walker paints in a tester pot size. These tester pots work terrifically for small projects and are very affordable around $4-6 for individual purchase.
If you wish to add some block colour to your bottle, you will first want to choose the space to be painted. I decided to go with a longer, opaque space to cover up the reeds in the oil as my vase is quite tall. I used masking tape to determine the exact measurements of the painted area.
Using a roller I painted two coats of the Beryl Green colour allowing time in between for the first layer to dry. Be careful removing the masking tape as it can easily pull up the edges of the paint.
Next you will need to grab the following supplies,
- Bottle/Jar
- Bamboo skewers (15)
- Carrier oil
- Witch Hazel
- Essential oils
- Funnel
- Small & medium size beakers
- Sharp scissors
Bottle / Jar – glass with a small opening, any size works here. Make sure it has been thoroughly cleaned and dried if recycling one.
Bamboo skewers – these are easy to source at the supermarket or grocery store with barbecue friendly items. Don’t worry if they look too long as you will cut them down to suit the size if your vase.
Carrier oil – You want to taken into account the viscosity, aroma and colour of the oil. It needs to be a lightweight, thinner oil to be easily absorbed by the bamboo reeds. Some oils such as olive oil have a heavy aroma and will mask the fragrance of the essential oils. The colour of carrier oils can also have a wide range. My top picks that meet all three criteria are fractionated coconut oil (clear), camellia oil (pale yellow) or apricot kernel oil (pale yellow).
Witch Hazel – This is used at a 1:1 ratio with the carrier oil to thin the oil even further. Please note that it does have a light fragrance that you may want to compare with your chosen aromatherapy blend to see if it pairs well together. You can substitute isopropyl or grain alcohol, but the ratio would need to be much less to compensate these changes.
Essential oils – Pick 3 quality oils that blend well and suit the area you will have the diffuser. Some essential oils do have colour such as blue tansy (dark blue) or vanilla (dark brown) that may effect the look of your reed diffuser oil mixture.
Funnel & Beakers – Some chemistry class tools to make the mix and transfer process clean and spill free.
Sharp scissors – These are to cut the bamboo skewers. If your scissors are dull, use a craft knife instead.
Step 1: Measure out 10ml of carrier oil in a small beaker. Add a total of at least 60 drops of essential oils.
Step 2: Measure out the rest of your carrier oil in a medium size beaker. I used 125ml of Camilla oil for my vase.
Step 3: Using a funnel, pour the medium beaker containing the carrier oil into the diffuser bottle followed by the essential oil mixture in the small beaker.
Step 4: Measure out the same amount of witch hazel in the medium size beaker. Pour into the diffuser bottle.
Step 5: Cut the sharp ends off the bamboo reeds and discard. Place as many of the 15 reeds you can fit inside the narrow opening of the bottle leaving a little room for turning movements.
Over the first couple of days, flip the reeds upside down 2-3 times. Then every 1-2 weeks as needed to freshen the aroma of the diffuser. Enjoy!
The Kiwi Nest 