Seven Essential Oil Recipes to Diffuse to Replace Candles (2024)

FAQs

What essential oils to mix for diffuser? ›

Unlike candles, essential oils have therapeutic benefits that can enhance your physical and emotional well-being. For example, lavender oil can promote relaxation and sleep, while peppermint oil can provide a natural energy boost and improve mental clarity.

The ideal ratio of essential oil to wax is around 3%. In this case, Victoria has measured 15ml of Lavender Essential Oil for 500 g of wax. Try to maintain this ideal ratio, as the oils have a high scent throw, therefore, if you want to maintain the aromatherapeutic properties, remember that sometimes less is more!

If you compare a candle burnt for an hour to a reed diffuser open for an hour, the candle will smell stronger. Over time, the two will balance out. I'd always choose a reed diffuser, because the scent throw will be consistent and not dependent on your regularly burning your candle.

Diffusers tend to be more decorative and unobtrusive, and can provide months of continuous fragrance delivery when compared to candles.

Candles are very effective at dispersing a strong fragrance throughout a room due to the heat involved, but have a limited burn time. Reed diffusers release a slightly more gentle scent, but are very long-lasting over the course of weeks or months.

They are not formulated to withstand the heat of a flame. They break down under heat, can be extremely flammable, and some may even become toxic when burned. Essential oils are also highly volatile, meaning that they evaporate easily. This is great for diffusing but makes them unstable to use in candles.

As a general rule, we would recommend using 30-35 drops of oil for every 160g of soy wax flakes. However, if you are using an oil with a particularly strong or gentle scent, you may want to add more or less. Use your best judgement and adjust next time if needed.

Can essential oils be used as candle scents? ›

The answer is yes, essential oils can be used in candle making, but there are a few things you should know first. Essential oils are notorious for not playing nicely with candle wax. Unlike fragrance oils, essential oils oftentimes have very low flash points which cause them to evaporate when added to hot candle wax.

Using too little fragrance may result in a low scent throw, while using too much may get a strong hot throw and overload the wax, and cause candle sweating or curdling. The fragrance oil ratio may also impact what candle wicks to use and how the melt pool of the candle turns out.

In general, we recommend adding 30-35 drops of oil to every 160g of soy wax flakes. Make sure your fragrance load doesn't exceed 10% of the wax amount at any time. This may ruin the final function of your candle. Learn more about how much fragrance to add to a candle and why.

Allow your candles to cure for at least 24 hours before burning them. This will allow the fragrance oils to fully bind to the wax and provide a stronger scent when the candle is burning.

Technically, you can use any kind of essential oil with an oil diffuser, but it's important to choose high-quality, pure essential oils that are safe for inhalation.

Most diffusers will accept most oils at first but over time there is a possibility that certain brand oils will clog the diffuser head or not work at all.

Because most diffusers use water to transform essential oils into mist droplets, you must use water with every session. We suggest adding water first, then adding your oils. You don't need to worry about mixing the oil and the water together; simply drop in the oils and close the lid.

You can easily swap between fragrance oils and essential oils when using a diffuser, although you should always follow the instructions that come with the diffuser. For example, if you purchase a humidifying diffuser you will have to take note of the amount of oil in the device to ensure it can emit the scent.