How To: Make a Reed Diffuser

Home fragrances rank pretty high for making a space feel clean and inviting. Realtors pay attention to smell because they know it helps to sell people on a home (some of their tips in our post on 12 DIY Air Fresheners). But candles and diffusers can start to get pricey for something that seems like you could make yourself, am I right? Jump below for instructions for making your own fancy reed diffuser:

What you need:
1 Package of bamboo skewers from grocery store or craft supply store.
Essential Oils or Natural Soap (like Mrs. Meyers)
1/2 Cup Water
Bit of Vodka
1 Container (we like the ones pictured because they aren't the usual glass ones, in fact you could use one of those vases from ikea and just paint it).

What You Do:
To make the oil concoction, mix 4-5 drop of oils into about the half cup of water. Add the vodka as an emulsifier to keep the oil and water mixed. Pour this into your container, add the reeds and flip them to refresh the smell.

Image from West Elm.

Comments (11)

Thank you for this post! My partner's mother has these in her bathroom. I wanted one, too, but I wasn't really digging the glass perfume-like bottles. I think I'm going to give this a try with a small Jonathan Adler vase I have.

posted by justveggingout on March 10th 2009 at 9:11pm
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Nice! The problem that I have with reed diffusers is that they dont put off a scent after awhile (a short while, might i add). Do they just need their bamboo sticks changed or is the shelf life in general just not very long? I've always wondered about that.

posted by Erin Lang Norris/Yellow Canoe on March 10th 2009 at 9:14pm
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Thanks, Laure and AT! I will give this recipe a try.

posted by wig3000 on March 10th 2009 at 9:39pm
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Vodka is my new best friend. I made a fabric spray using a recipe I found online, and it's just divine -- and smells SO MUCH BETTER than Febreze or Glade.

Now I can make something else with vodka!

posted by madampince on March 10th 2009 at 10:47pm
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I was always told that when the fragrance fades, pull the sticks out and flip them over. I can be a bit messy though.

posted by jake95825 on March 10th 2009 at 10:50pm
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bamboo skewers?? ...Of course, why didn't I think of bamboo skewers? I was trying to figure out how to do this myself a while ago, but couldn't figure out what to use for the diffusers. Thanks for this post and the recipe you attached with it!

posted by SoSue on March 10th 2009 at 11:15pm
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ELN/Yellow Canoe:

that is in part because we get "nose fatigue". Same reason you can't smell your own perfume after a while, and you can't smell the onions you've been cooking as well as the person that just walks in the door.

posted by mjr on March 11th 2009 at 7:39am
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How long will this last? Days? Weeks? Months?
I will do this tonight. yay.

posted by kiljoywashere on March 11th 2009 at 10:20am
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Making this TONIGHT

posted by DahliaCactus on March 11th 2009 at 12:06pm
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normally I flip the sticks to get more scent. Also since you're making it yourself, you can add more oil for more scent!

posted by laure on March 11th 2009 at 1:27pm
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Thanks AT, I was just thinking about making one myself!

posted by Lilli K. on March 11th 2009 at 10:00pm
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