You all know about my obsession with essential oils. The direct sales series has almost convinced me that I need to sell doTerra oils fulltime. I certainly spend a lot of money on their oils!
The essential oil companies encourage users to buy electric diffusers to use with their oils. This takes the place of chemical laden candles and it is much cheaper to use oils in the house instead of buying candles. Of course, you could always make your own candles, but that is a post for another day.
I toyed around with the idea of buying a diffuser and I found a few that I love. Unfortunately these gadgets aren’t cheap. They start out at around $40 and can run over $100 for a quality one. Then we have the problem of where we would plug it in. Our condo is so small that most of our outlets are currently being used. The ones that aren’t used are in inconvenient spots. I just couldn’t justify buying a diffuser if I didn’t have the place to put it. But I was still dying to get all the benefits of my essential oils.
That’s when I remembered reed diffusers. I’m now using homemade reed diffusers in three places around my condo as well as spraying a water and oil mixture into the fans several times a day in order to get the health benefits from the oils.
DIY Reed Diffuser
- Use a 1:1 ratio of oil to alcohol. You can use any oil and any alcohol. I prefer fractionated (liquid) coconut oil and isopropyl alcohol because that is what I had on hand. Many people use vodka, which works just as well.
- Add 10-20 drops of essential oil into your glass container. Stronger oils need less drops. I used a ton of drops in mine because I was using cheaper oils for my diffusers (doTerra can be expensive and I prefer not to use them for the reed diffusers- I save them for cleaning, room sprays and topical use).
- Put bamboo skewers into the oil and let them soak up the goodness.
- When the scent isn’t as strong, flip the skewers and swirl the oil to refresh.
Mine last about a month before I have to add more oil or completely change it out. I also use the empty essential oil bottles as mini diffusers to get the most for my money. I add a little oil and alcohol to the bottle and have myself a tiny reed diffuser.
For my more expensive oils such as OnGaurd, I add a few drops to a spray bottle with water and spray it directly into my ceiling fan a few times a day to get the immune benefits I would get from a pricey electric diffuser.
If you haven’t read about the health benefits of OnGaurd, check it out here (for Young Living fans, it is the competitor for Thieves oil). Also, if you are a skeptic, just do a Google Scholar search for essential oil uses and you will see many scientific studies that show the benefits of using oils. I like using oils to enhance my health, but I would never use them to take the place of modern medicine. Please don’t think I am encouraging the use of alternative medicine here! I may be a bit of a hippy, but I still love vaccines and the occasional antibiotic use when it is necessary.
How do you make your house smell good without the use of chemicals?
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