A gorgeous scent in your home makes your space warm and inviting. Nothing could be better than choosing some of your favourite fragrances to make your house smell elegant. We spend our hard earned money on purpose made home fragrances, but I do not feel these match up to the pleasure we can get from using a wearable scent.
Can I Use Perfume In A Reed Diffuser? Yes, it is perfectly possible to use your own perfume in a reed diffuser. You will need a high necked bottle to house the fragrance, 6-10 reeds to diffuse the scent, a carrier oil, and your preferred perfume. Either ‘eau de parfum’ or ‘parfum’.
Scenting a room with your favourite fragrance is not only a heart-warming way to vary how you use your scent but is also a great way to analyse the different notes each fragrance has without the added complexity of the perfumes reaction to the chemicals and oils in your own skin.
Let’s now investigate how you can make your own room diffuser using your own perfume. It’s interesting to explore how the top and mid notes give way to different base notes in a neutral environment without reacting to your own skin.
How To Use Perfume In A Reed Diffuser
Equipment Overview
- 1 diffuser bottle
- 6 – 10 rattan or bamboo reeds
- Your chosen perfume
- Fractionated coconut oil (carrier oil)
The Diffuser Bottle
Firstly, you will need to gather the correct equipment, A small bottle with a narrow neck opening is ideal for making a reed diffuser. It should be sturdy enough to hold the reeds and a smaller neck opening is best to stop the perfume from evaporating too quickly.
You might find you have some old perfume bottles that will be perfect for the job, or an empty reed diffuser bottle. Alternatively you can purchase a reed diffuser bottle to save you searching every cupboard, the reeds in this example are not included.
The Mixture
Along with your chosen perfume you need a ‘carrier oil’ to carry your perfume up the reeds. Fractionated coconut oil is ideal as it is a pleasingly light colour. Thicker oils won’t travel up the reeds properly and dark oils can look unsightly. A massage oil or baby oil can also work well.
Some home-made reed diffuser methods call for perfumer’s alcohol or rubbing alcohol but you should find this is already included in your perfume. You could add a little if you find your perfume doesn’t have enough for the scent to carry or last very well.
The Reeds
Last but not least, you will need some clean rattan or bamboo reeds. Don’t be tempted to reuse old reeds as they may carry the scent from your old room fragrance and they won’t work as well once they are already saturated. They need to be at least as long as your chosen container so that plenty of reed meets the air to allow the fragrance to disperse.
How To Do It
Step #1
To figure out how much liquid your diffuser container can hold. Fill it 3/4 up with water, then pour that water into a measuring jug to see how much is can contain. For the rest of this guide we will presume 100ml
Step #2
Into a separate small mixing container, add 2/3 carrier oil and 1/3 of your chosen perfume (eau de parfum or parfum) to make 100ml. You can add more perfume if you find it is a light fragrance
If using the magic of Google you find your perfume does not contain alcohol (most do contain alcohol), then add an additional 20ml of perfumers alcohol to your mixture.
Step #3
Gently mix but avoid stirring too vigorously or you will cause the perfume to evaporate and lose strength in the top notes before you even add it to your bottle.
Step #3
Carefully pour your mixture into your chosen container.
Step #4
Add the reeds and spread them out in a fan shape to encourage the scent to disperse into the environment.
Step #5
Place your diffuser somewhere well ventilated to help the scent carry throughout your room.
What Perfumes Work Best In A Reed Diffuser?
The best perfumes for reed diffusers are eau de parfum or pure parfum as these contain the highest concentration of fragrance oil.
Eau de toilette is not recommended. It can be heavily diluted which will mean there won’t be enough fragrance oil for the diffuser to work effectively. Instead, it will evaporate very quickly and leave very little actual fragrance behind.
Similarly, a perfume that contains mostly top notes will work nicely at first but once those short-lived accents have evaporated, you might be left with little or no scent at all.
If you want a room diffuser to last, you need to select a perfume that is rich in base notes as these will continue to permeate the reeds and fill up the room with gorgeous fragrance that will last as long as possible.
Can I Use Up My Old Perfumes I No Longer Wear?
We all have several bottles of perfumes on our dressers that we used to love but find we no longer wear, either because our tastes have changed, we have fallen in love with something else, or they have lost their original appeal.
Creating beautiful reed diffusers can be a fantastic way to use up those perfumes you once adored but no longer have the chance to wear. Because perfumes smell differently on our skin, you might find that even something you don’t like very much when you wear it can be make a delicious room fragrance.
Making your own diffusers is a great way to experiment with different fragrances that produce a totally different effect when used in a diffuser. If, like me, you like to collect some testers or samples this can be another great way to use perfumes that you wouldn’t normally purchase for yourself. It’s also a good way to use any unwanted perfume gifts you have been given that you don’t particularly like to wear.
What Is A Reed Diffuser?
A reed diffuser is quite simply a bottle filled with your chosen fragrance and rattan or bamboo reed diffuser sticks. The sticks need to emerge from the top of the bottle by several inches or more.
As the reeds sit in the fragrance, the carrier oil travel up the sticks, taking the fragrance with it so that the scent gently evaporates into the room. Over time, the base of the reed sticks will become saturated and you need to turn them to allow more fragrance to travel to the top.
If the reeds are too short, you will find that not enough fragrance reaches the top to evaporate effectively enough to make the room smell. If the reeds are too long, the fragrance might have completely evaporated before the oil reaches the top.
Arranging your reeds in a fan shape is the best way to make sure the scent is dispersed as broadly as possible and you can use a simple ribbon tied in a bow to help them keep their shape if the neck of the bottle is wide and doesn’t fully support them enough.
How Does A Reed Diffuser Work?
The rattan reeds are permeable which means they absorb the liquid around them. As they sit in the liquid perfume, the reeds gradually soak up the oil so it travels to the very top of the reed. Once the perfumed oil meets the air at the top of the bottle, the perfume in the oil begins to evaporate and is gently released into the environment.
Because the reeds are very porous, they continue to absorb more and more perfume to replace what has already evaporated and in doing so, they continue to emit gorgeous fragrance until the perfumed oil runs out.
Reed diffusers are a great alternative to scented candles or plug-ins as there is no risk of fire, no soot, and no potential for electrical malfunction. They simply continue to work naturally, without posing any risk to your home.
What Are Essential Oils?
Most of the reed diffuser sets you can purchase use stronger essential oils due to their durability. Many people use a particular essential oil that they select to add a certain fragrance their own diffusers.
Essential oils are extracted from plants and concentrated to capture their flavour, scent, or essence. They are the extracts used to create most perfumes as they carry the fragrance from the plant and can last a long time.
Essential oils have been extracted from plants or flowers. Extraction methods can include compressing the plants until the oil is released or using high temperatures so that the oil is distilled. As you might imagine, each plant is only able to release a tiny amount of oil which is why so many flowers are used to create the essential oils used in perfumes.
Most perfumeries own massive fields where they harvest their own plants and flowers in order to extract the oils to make their perfumes. Up to 700 roses can be used to create a small 15 ml bottle of perfume, which is one of the reasons why perfume can be so expensive.
How Many Reeds Should You Use In A Diffuser?
It is quite clear that the more reeds you use, the more oil can be soaked up and therefore the more fragrance can be released into the atmosphere. More reeds diffuse more scent and using enough reeds to fill the neck of the bottle can have the added advantage of forming a sort of stopper to stop the oils inside from evaporating too quickly.
In general, most diffusers use about 6-10 reeds though this will depend on the size of your chosen bottle. If you are aiming for a very strong scent, the more reeds the better, If you find the mixture is too overpowering, using less reeds might help to lessen the intensity and reduce its immediate impact. Less reeds will also make the perfume last a little longer as the liquid will evaporate more quickly the more reeds you use.
How Often Should I Rotate The Reeds?
You can rotate the reeds as often as you like to get the most out of your fragrance. Rotating the reeds means that you can get a stronger scent because the top of the reeds will now be more heavily saturated with perfume oil as these reeds have been sitting in the liquid for some time.
Some people rotate the reeds every day to maximise the fragrance, although you need to remember that this will cause the whole diffuser to evaporate more quickly and will use up more of the perfume. In most cases, you need to flip the reeds at least once every few days.
How Long Will Perfume Last In A Diffuser?
In general, a 100 ml reed diffuser with perfume should last around three months. If the temperature in your home is quite high or the diffuser is placed somewhere well ventilated, you might find that the perfume evaporates more quickly.
This will also be the case if you rotate the reeds very often, If you have chosen a perfume with a high concentration of top notes, you might find that the fragrance changes and if there aren’t enough base notes to carry the scent for longer, there will very soon be no smell left at all.
How Can I Make My Reed Diffuser Last Longer?
Rotating the reeds is a great way to give the scent a boost that will make it more noticeable for longer although this will help the liquid to evaporate more quickly.
Another good way to make the diffuser last longer is to keep topping up the perfume oil. When you first created the perfume oil, you might have made more than you could fit in the bottle. Any leftover can be stored in a sealed bottle or jar so you can top up the oil as often as you need to make the diffuser last as long as possible.
If you find the perfume is still evaporating too quickly, you could try moving the bottle to somewhere cooler or less draughty. You could also try replacing the reeds as they will become completely saturated over time and less able to soak up more perfume. As a general rule, all reeds will need to replaced after about six months.
Room Scent Layering
Just as you can experiment with perfume layering on your body, mixing 2 different scents can be an interesting way to create a layering effect in your home so the scent doesn’t fade into the background.
You could have different fragrances in different rooms. This way, the fragrance will be more noticeable when you move from one room to another and you can give each space a character or personality of its own.
You could also try fragrance layering by combining two or more diffusers in the same space, though you will need to make sure the room is big enough and well-ventilated as you don’t want to create a heady atmosphere.
Related Article: How To Layer Perfumes Like A Pro
Another way to experiment with fragrance layering in room diffusers is to add more than one perfume to the bottle at the start. Through trial and error, you might find the perfect blend to create a signature scent that is unique to your home.
Benefits Of Using Your Perfume In A Reed Diffuser
Using your wearable perfume in your reed diffusers is not only a great way to use up older perfume that you no longer wear but can be an exciting way to make your home smell inviting and truly unique.
Home fragrances can seem all a bit the same, but with wearable perfume the field is wide open for you to choose anything from an elegant musk to a warm amber or rich patchouli.
Interesting: 12 Most Classic Perfumes Of All Time
Whenever you enter your home, it is surprising how a pleasing fragrance can create an immediate effect. You can immediately leave all the stresses and strains of the day behind as you enter an environment of your own creation where you can truly relax. Guests will notice the appealing scent as you use fragrance to turn an ordinary house into a delightfully welcoming homestead which is both charming and warm.
Reed diffusers are an effective way of adding fragrance to your home with minimal effort. There is no candle to light, wax burner to attend to, and no aerosol to spray around. By using reed diffusers, you instantly avoid all the dangers and risks involved with other home scenting methods as you won’t have to worry about naked flames or chemicals from aerosol spray that could be harmful to pets as well as yourself.
Once you have created the perfect reed diffuser, all you need to do is leave it in place for it to do its job and turn the reeds over every now and again when you are looking for an extra boost of fragrance.
Final Thoughts
Using different fragrances in reed diffusers throughout your home not only creates a relaxing and welcoming environment but can help you give each room a personality of its own. A calming fragrance in the bedroom might even help improve your sleep, while a fresh fragrance downstairs can make you feel energised and ready to take on the day ahead.
For anyone who loves fragrance, using wearable perfume in the home is an interesting way of creating a whole new canvass that you can paint with different scents. Your fun adventures with perfume can be taken to a new level with a wider dimension to enjoy.
Before you go, I have put together a review of the most elegant perfumes ranging from timeless classics to modern day sophistication that I think you will enjoy.
