Fragrancing Your Home 101

By Christelle Baxter

Let me begin with one of the most simple ways to scent your space, Room Sprays.

Room sprays are amazing for the fact that you can easily and lightly carry the bottle around, allowing you to spritz as and when you need it on the go. The scent from a spray is temporary, making this a suitable product for a boosting or energising aroma. 

E.g. A citrus oil will make a space a lot fresher for its awakening and juicy notes. This could come in handy for a kitchen, a bathroom or even better, open plan living.  

Another way to achieve a more temporary scent would be Wax Melts. At just £9 this is a really cost effective way to create an aroma in your home.

In order to burn your wax melts you will require a wax/oil burner, in which you simply light a tea light below the bowl that you place your wax into.

This method is a great one if you’re looking for an alternative to candles. There is no wick to maintain, the wax will just melt at it’s own accord, creating a short but lasting aroma. Unlike a candle, which needs to be burning for ideally 4 hours at a time (large candle) or 1 hour (small candle), meaning you need to know you’re in for a length of time if you’re going to light a candle in the first place.

Incense Sticks

The first thing to note here would be that the aroma from Incense is strong. 

The stick is lit from the tip and steadily burns away over 60-90 minutes, shedding ash as it does so. You can always stop a stick from burning, if for example you only wanted 15 minutes of incense. Simply break off the tip with the ember (either use scissors or press it against a heat resistant surface such as glass, ceramic or metal) and the other half of the stick will easily light and burn for the next time you want to use it. You may read elsewhere that dabbing the tip in water is a method to put incense out. However, we prefer to advise you don’t use water because it can affect the quality of burning. 

Incense goes really well with the likes of yoga, mediation or any scenario you are unwinding. 

Again, this is another easy and cost effective way to fragrance your home, but I would advise you are prepared to catch the ash from the stick and be sure to love a more powerful aroma.

Almost as popular as Candles, if not on par it’s Reed Diffusers. 

This is most definitely one of the most practical home fragrance products. 

No serious maintaining is needed, nor is there the danger of a flame involved. Simply, keep your diffuser out of direct sunlight and away from heated rooms (to prevent the oil evaporating quicker), refill as and when needed and buy new sticks when your current ones clog up or if you are refilling/changing fragrance. 

Generally speaking, diffusers can last anything from 4 weeks to a few months. 

You will notice reed diffusers widely used outside of home fragrance, from hotels to restaurants and shops. They are very welcoming in the sense that the fragrance is gentle yet constant, filling your home with that favourite scent of your’s. 

Candles, candles galore!  As previously mentioned, candles must be burnt for a certain amount of time to ensure the flame melts to the edges. Therefore, candles truly are for those afternoon or night’s in. For this matter, at Wild Planet Aromatherapy we think that more woody and spicy aromas are beautiful for lengthy burning times, especially at this time of year. Nothing is better than a cosy and warming lounge area. 

Not everybody keeps on top of their candle maintenance. However, we advise you do! Our 100% cotton wicks should be trimmed before each use, to roughly 5mm. This prevents the wick from curling which would encourage only a side of the wax to melt. 

Another tip that we love regarding caring for your candle/s is to pop it in the fridge a couple hours before burning. Once the wax is cold it takes a lot longer to melt, allowing you to get so much more out of it! 

Last but not least, Oil Burners.

Similar to wax melts, burning essential oils requires a wax/oil burner with a tea light for warmth. It is really important that if vaporising is your chosen style of perfuming your home, you must add water to the bowl of your oil burner before adding 8-10 drops. Otherwise, another way to use essential oils directly is to drop the essential oil directly into the water of your electric oil diffuser.

Oil Burners should be used for 30-60 minutes at a time. Ideally Oil Burners need to be in a very safe place, especially out of reach of children. Not only is there a flame to watch but also the chance of getting burnt by the bowl or heated water and oils. On the plus side, they are reasonably priced, the aroma produced is excellent, you can buy all different colours and styles and they are portable. 

I would say a relaxing or unwinding aroma really compliments this style of aromatherapy. Why not try this out in your bedroom to enjoy peaceful and soothing aromas before sleeping. Of course, don’t fall asleep! Oil Burners should never be left unattended.  

So whatever your choice of home fragrance, I hope this read can teach you a little more and inspire you to enjoy more out of Aromatherapy.