It seems that reed diffusers have been taking the home fragrancing world by storm these days. My friend Abby has told me how wonderful hers smells and my Aunt Grace is completely in awe about how they work. And me ? I was absolutely clueless as to what a reed diffuser was, how it worked or whether or not I should be jumping on the bandwagon for this one. I nodded in agreement as if I had the slightest clue of what they were talking about. So to prevent another uncomfortable head nod from happening in the future, I decided to find out exactly what this reed diffuser stuff was all about.

Reed diffusers are a way to fragrance your home or office or any space that could use a little freshening. To put it simply- a glass container (jar, vase, bottle, etc.) is filled with a specially scented oil. Then you take wooden sticks, called reeds, and put them into the oil. That’s it. Very simple ! That’s all most of us need to know.

For those of you that would like a more detailed explanation, read on.

Let’s start with the reeds. Reeds should be made of rattan. Rattan reeds are made up of “channels”. Basically, if you look into the end of a reed (either end) you will notice (look closely) that the reed is made up of a bunch of “channels”. They resemble hollowed out tubes. They run from the top of the reed all the way to the bottom of the reed. When you insert the reeds into the specially blended diffuser oil, the oil gets “sucked up” (much like a straw) through these channels. The oil is pulled to the top of the reeds naturally and is released into the air through evaporation. Be certain that you are using real rattan reeds and not bamboo chutes or skewers. Bamboo contains “nodes” (not channels) that will block the oils from traveling up to the top.

The specially scented oil is made up of a reed diffuser “base” with fragrance oil added to it. Look for diffuser oils that are designed especially for use in reed diffusers. The best diffuser oils are made up of uncut fragrance oils mixed with a base that is not made up of alcohols or dipropylene glycol. Alcohol is highly flammable and causes the fragrance oil to evaporate too quickly. This, in turn forces you to have to buy more oils in a shorter amount of time. Good diffuser oils will last a long time (approximately one month per ounce). Avoid diffuser oil blends that contain alcohols. Also to be avoided is dipropylene glycol. Dipropylene glycol, (DPG) is a solvent used to “thin out” fragrances. Though DPG is used to thin our fragances, the DPG itself is a little to thick to properly travel up through the reed channels. Again, look for diffuser oils that are alcohol and DPG-free for best results.

I have tried reed diffusers and oils from several sites. I avoid online retailers who use alcohol or DPG in their bases or claim to use “bamboo” reeds.

I like the complete gift sets from http://www.thediffusery.com and thought their pricing was budget-friendly. ($15.99-$19.99 for a complete gift set). Their base is alcohol and DPG free and they have a great slection of scents. I highly recommend their lavender and fresh laundry scents. Both smell nice and strong and I have received many compliments on these ! You can also buy refill oils, replacement reeds ($1.29 for a pack of 10) or glass containers seperately if you’d like. I shop here most often.

I have also tried and liked the diffuser sets offered by http://www.khalldesigns.com . Their grapefruit-mint is fabulous ! These diffusers and refills are a bit more pricey, ($46 for a complete set) but I like the fact that they have other products to match your diffuser scents. Bath and shower gels ($24) and body parfum ($44) make great gifts !

I personally love that reed diffusers are flame-free. Although I love candles, I hate the soot it leaves around my home and I hate always worrying about starting things on fire. Reed diffusers are a safer option in my opinion because I don’t have to remember to blow them out !

Go ahead. Jump on the bandwagon, this trend is a great one ! And now that you know exactly what reed diffusers are and how they work, you will never be left nodding your head unknowingly again !

By Sara Westbrook

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