Reed diffuser scented oil refill

[Arbor]

Someone bought me a reed diffuser as a gift. All the scented oil has now finished but I am left with a lovely, decorative bottle.

My local garden centre sells the diffuser sticks for 50p but the scented oil is very expensive and seems to contain a lot of chemicals.

Has anyone made their own refill? I was wondering about mixing almond oil and a fragrant oil but the ones I looked at contained alcohol but I don't know why.

I think the tiny sticks are made of bamboo, they seem to have tiny, little holes which I assume have a capillary action for the oil. I wondered if any of the plants in the garden would have a similar structure.

Thanks

[the.fee.fairy]

a pack of bamboo chopsticks might be cheaper!

Or, if the reeds are ok, then reuse them.

The alcohol is to help the oil diffuse and to help the wicking action of the reeds.
You can use some vodka and then add a few drops of essential oil. Shake well and refill that way

[sda]

Check pharmacies, or over the counter in Boots - for some oils - they only have a small selection but tend to be that bit cheaper. Boots in the shop recently has had a special offer, something like buy two get one free.

[wolfhazel]

I have before, basically you just need a carrier oil and some essential oil.

I use either grape oil / olive oil with essential oils like lavender but you can mix and match to your taste. The majority should be the carrier oil with just a few drops of the essential oil... I tend to put in about 5 - 8 drops? But go with your nose :D

[wolfhazel]

Oh I forgot to mention alcohol is supposed to help it somehow, fee fairy seems to know more about it then me though, but I didn't want to use the alcohol so I didn't on my few goes... I guess the key thing in my opinion is just to experiment :D

[Arbor]

Thanks for your replies-just off to experiment!

[the.fee.fairy]

As far as I'm aware, the alcohol works in the same way that it works for a home-made spray air freshener.
Oil and water don't mix, but alcohol dissolves the oil and disperses it in the water.

I made some spray air fresheners when my sister was at Uni - she didn't want to be using stuff like Glade, so I made her some.

I used 1/2 alcohol, 1/2 water and then however many drops of either essential oil, or fragrance oil smelt right. They worked well, so I assume that the alcohol in the reed diffusers is for the same reason - to dissolve the oil and make it easier for the reeds to wick it up.

[the.fee.fairy]

I just had a thought...The alcohol is probably also there to preserve the ingredients. Water and Oil will go stale pretty soon on their own.

I don't know how quickly a reed diffusers diffuses the contents. If it's over maybe 2 weeks then it will need a preservative to stop it going mouldy and diffusing mould! If you're not going to use alcohol, there are some other preservatives available (I believe it's vitamin E, but there's something telling me that's wrong...). If you're going to refill on a regular basis, it might be worth spending out on a good preservative (can't remember the name...starts with a P is all I can remember). You usually only need a few drops, so it will last for ages.