ENVIRONMENTAL AROMA
FRAGRANCING
Today we are very fortunate to have so many ways to disperse essential oils into the air. Aromatherapy rings rest on top of light bulbs, using that heat source. Electric diffusers use aquarium pumps to force air and essential oils into a fine mist; however, in many aromatherapy diffusers, the aquarium pump makes a background noise that may be
annoying. A new type of diffuser utilizes a cotton wick saturated with water and essential oils and a silent fan that diffuses the oils into the room. With an aromatherapy lamp (potpourri pot), you can create magic by lighting a candle. You can bring the aromas of nature into your home all day.
When the children were small and came home with colds, we immediately lit an aromatherapy lamp in their playroom, using rosemary and eucalyptus oils.
A vaporizer is a great way to diffuse oils and add moisture and a wonderful aroma to a dry room. Just add 10-15 drops of fats into the water. If you burn a wood stove, place a pot of water on top and periodically add essential oils. In winter, adding moisture and oils to the dry, overheated air is especially important.
One of the fastest and easiest ways to environmentally fragrance a room is to use a spritzer or spray bottle. These are easy to obtain, but unfortunately, most do not contain components in their pump mechanism that can withstand essential oils, even in dilution. We have bought dozens of pretty plastic spray bottles in grocery and drug stores, only to have them fail, sometimes in a matter of days. For a bit more money, you can buy a spray bottle resistant to chemicals. Try a garden shop. The intended use for these sprayers is for pesticides and herbicides, and they’re not beautiful (with all kinds of information, warnings and technical information on them). However, spray-paint the bottles with your favourite colour or glue some pretty cloth or paper around the outside. These will work with your standard dilutions of essential oils. In a quart of water, 15-30 drops are generally more than sufficient, and you’ll be surprised how long that quart will last and at the dramatic change in the environment. Plants love to be spritzed, and the essential oils in your spray bottle only add more life to them as long as your mixtures are well-diluted. Plants will be happy to take in the essential oil from one of their brothers and use it in their defence and immune systems.
Some people use these sprays to encourage fleas to leave their pets, using mixtures insects don’t like—such as pennyroyal, sage, eucalyptus, tea tree, and citronella. I would recommend doing this outside so that if the fleas jump off, they will not jump off in your house. Be sure to protect your pet’s eyes from the spray.
You can drop a few drops of essential oils into the wax of a burning candle, and as the candle draws the oil up into its wick, the essential oils will be released (the burning alters its smell somewhat). You can also do this with oil lamps.
It is possible to add essential oils to incense. Nag Champa, one of my favourite types of smell, is made from the bark of the Champa tree. But you can add Champa flower oil to the fragrance before lightening it. Other favourite incense additives include sandalwood, camphor, jatamansi, rose and cinnamon.
Our imagination only limits how essential oils are added to the environment. Sophisticated diffusion systems for industrial use have been developed, in which quantities of essential oils are diffused into air conditioning systems and circulated throughout buildings. These are being marketed and used around the world, especially in Japan. Increased work efficiency has been documented when workers are exposed to changing essential oil aromas every 15 to 20 minutes.