If you have been browsing in a candle shop, a convenience store, or just any place that sells arts and crafts, perhaps you may have seen in a small box a product advertised as an air freshener. This box contains a small glass bottle filled with a clear liquid, and a bunch of small pieces of wood resembling chopsticks. What you may have found are essential oil reed diffusers.
Reed diffusers could not be simpler to use. Basically, you take a small glass bottle and fill it about three-quarters of the way with your favorite essential oil or perfume oil. Then take about five or six reed sticks and place them in the bottle so they are submerged in the liquid. The reeds should be long enough to stick at least 6 inches out of the bottle. The reeds will soon begin to absorb the essential oil and the scent will diffuse into the air, leaving behind no dust, smoke, or toxic chemicals.
This process is very eco-friendly because nothing is burned. In addition to being greener, the reeds are also safer because by virtue of the fact that nothing is burning, they can be left unattended, worry-free.
When things such as incense or candles are burned, they produce carbon dioxide gas. And due to safety concerns, candles and incense should be supervised. Incense has also been shown in recent studies to cause lower-respiratory infections and higher instances of lung cancer in people who burn it frequently.
Many of the reed diffusers that come prepackaged include a bottle of premixed perfume oil. The purer the essential oil, the better it is for you and the environment. You can search for oil bottles filled with “pure” or “all natural” oils, or you can simply create your own.
To create your own custom blend, use a small glass bottle—either one you’ve recycled from some other product or one you can purchase—and just fill it with your own mix of essential oils. These oils can be found at many health food stores, wellness centers, spas, and massage parlors, or ordered online. As a general rule, the purer, the better. The reeds can be found at candle shops, or arts and crafts centers, or ordered online as well.
These diffusers can be used in any room of the house. They do not attract bugs. Just keep an eye on any pets. Besides that, if you are the kind of person who likes to use air fresheners to keep your home or office a little more on the fresh side, these reed diffusers can be a great green alternative to artificial air fresheners. They are an excellent gift idea as well.
