How to make your own reed diffuser

For those who like subtler scents, a reed diffuser can be a great option. You can buy these anywhere like Target, or you can make your own (guess which one I do).When you make your own reed diffuser, you can choose the container that goes with your decor and customize the scent to exactly what you like.

If you’re like me, you like your home to smell amazing. From candles, to potpourri, to linen spray, and essential oil diffusers, I love them all. Today, I’m going to walk you through how to make one of the more subtler fragrance diffusers – reed diffusers.

Reed diffusers contain four parts: The container, the base, the fragrance, and the reeds. For those of you that don’t necessarily like in-your-face scents, reed diffusers provide a nice, subtle scent that doesn’t require much from you. Once you have it made, all you need to do is turn your reeds upside down every week or so, which will just refresh the scent a bit. I have one in each of my bathrooms and I love them because they look pretty and elegant and they put a nice, continuous scent.

So let’s get started:

Materials to make your own reed diffuser

1. A container. I like to use smallish containers with a narrow neck. Smaller containers use less fragrance oil (or essential), saving you money – but with the exact same impact as a larger container. They’re also cute. A narrow neck isn’t totally necessary, but it helps to avoid dust getting into your diffuser. Plus, if you happen to drop it, there’s less chance for a total disaster.
2. The base. The base is the liquid that you put your fragrance oil in. You can either buy a pre-made base, which is what I typically do. Or you can make your own out of fractionated coconut oil and alcohol. I’ll show you how to do both.
3. The fragrance. Since I make candles, I have a ton of great fragrance oils on hand, and they work really well for reed diffusers. You can also use essential oils if you prefer. You can use single oils, a pre-made blend or blend your own. Whichever route you choose, be sure to buy a good quality oil that doesn’t have any harmful chemicals. See my recommended products at the end of this post for my favorites.
4. Reeds. I always buy reeds that are sold just for this purpose. I think they’re just bamboo, and the ones I get from Candlescience work great.

How to make your own reed diffuser

Now that you have all your materials, it’s fairly straightforward.

1. Make sure you container is clean and dry.
2. Mix your base with your fragrance
   • For pre-made base, follow the instructions. For the Candlescience base that I use, you mix one part fragrance with 3 parts base. So for a small container, use ¼ cup of base (2 ounces) and .7 ounces of fragrance oil or essential oil (about 1.5 Tablespoons)
   • To make your own base, combine ¼ cup of fractionated coconut oil and 1 Tablespoon of alcohol, such as perfumer’s alcohol or vodka. Then add the fragrance as above.

• 3. Pour your base and fragrance mix into your container. Fill your container anywhere from half full to 2/3 full.

• 4. Cut your reeds to size if needed. They can easily be cut with scissors or a utility knife. I usually cut mine a few inches taller than the top of the container, but do whatever you think looks best.

That’s it! It will take about a day for the reeds to absorb the oil. After the first, day flip your reeds over so the top of the reeds is now at the bottom of the container. Every week or so, flip them again to refresh the scent.

My favorite products

There are plenty of companies that sell products to make your own reed diffuser. These are my favorite vendors because I’ve found their products to be safe and of high quality.

Fragrance Oils

I buy most of my fragrance oils from Candlescience because their oils are phthalate free and have no unsafe chemicals. Plus, they have a great selection of wonderful oils.

Essential oils and carrier oils

I love Rocky Mountain Oils because they’re easy to buy from (no MLM schemes here), affordable, and they provide information about each oil you buy so you know it’s the real thing. They also have a nice selection of carrier oils, like the fractionated coconut oil you’ll need if you make your own base.

Reed diffuser base

I also buy this from CandleScience. It’s just easier than making my own, and I don’t always have the fractionated coconut oil and alcohol around.

Reeds

Again, CandleScience. They have natural colored reeds and black diffuser reeds.

Perfumer’s alcohol

You can use vodka as your base, but I usually perfumer’s alcohol, which is denatured (meaning it’s undrinkable). I like to drink my vodka so I don’t waste it on stuff like this. My go-to source for perfumer’s alcohol is Vetiver Aromatics.