Studies support that the olfactory nerve that links with the sense of smell is the most powerful in a person. It connects to the part of the brain that is responsible for monitoring memories and emotions. The scents influence your moods, concentration, emotion, and memory.
The research highlights a fascinating fact that 75% of all the emotions you generate each day result from the smell. And this is why you are 100 times more likely to recall something because of its scent. You can remember a specific event with 65% accuracy because of the smell, even a year later.
Now you understand why people love smelling great, even so, having their homes or offices smelling the same.
You can use a Reed Diffuser to make your house or office smell marvelous with essentials oils. However, if you don’t have any essential oils, can you put fabric softener in a Reed Diffuser?
Detergent companies formulate fabric softeners to maintain the integrity of the cloth. You usually use them to give your clothes a unique fragrant smell that lasts until the next wash and makes them softer.
Contents
What is a Reed Diffuser?
A Reed Diffuser is a slow fragrant oil molecule disperser that does not use any electricity or heat. It comprises a glass jar plus a few reed sticks, and its mode of operation of dispersion is very simple.
You place fragrant oil inside the pot, and the reed sticks disperse them naturally into the air without any flame, heat, or vibration. They disperse these aromatic oil molecules slowly that you will not start smelling the scent until later on.
Compared with the other kinds of essential oils diffusers, Reed Diffusers are the simplest. After placing the essential oil, you let it sit. Unlike the rest that requires a refill often, a reed dispenser’s refill might even be a fortnight later and, in some cases, a few months or so.
You won’t have to worry about being a fire hazard or a danger to your pets and kids. The only concern would be the positioning. Of which, once you place it on a high area that your pets and kids cannot knock it over, it is safe, slowly blessing the air with the essential oil’s fragrant molecules.
Can You Put Fabric Softener in a Reed Diffuser?
According to a Metro news article on lifestyle, using fabric softeners in Reed Diffusers is not the best idea.
One reason is that some ingredients may result in the reed sticks becoming moldy. This reduces their effectiveness to be suitable fragrant oil molecule dispensers.
Secondly, some chemicals in fabric softeners may cause respiratory issues when breathing them for an extended period. This is because the creators of this chemical intended it for fabrics. Inhaling is a function the manufacturers did not intend.
They have high concentrations of chemicals that may irritate the breathing system. And who knows, the build-up might have fatal consequences.
And thirdly, when fabric softeners pour on certain fabrics, they make that material highly flammable. Since the Reed Diffuser does not have a lid, having the fabric softener in the open glass jar raises its chances of spilling over.
Can you Use a Fabric Softener in Any Other Type of Diffuser?
Since we have established that you are not to use fabric softener in a Reed Diffuser, we bet you are also wondering if you can use it in any other diffuser. Well, the answer still stands to be a no.
Yet again, when you use it here, you are using it for an unintended purpose. Also, these same chemicals may cause some clogs since they have different molecular weights. Thus, the fabric softener molecules will not dissipate at the same temperature or vibrational frequency as water.
With that, we can say that fabric softener should serve the purpose the manufacturer created for laundry.
What Should You Use In a Reed Diffuser?
One of the reasons that may lead you to look for alternatives to essential oils in a Reed Diffuser is when you run out of essential oil that comes with the bottle.
Unfortunately, there is no shortcut; you must use only essential oils on Reed Diffusers.
4 Things You Should Know When Using Reed Diffusers
Even so, there are still a few concerns about Reed Diffusers that could give you ideas on using fabric softener as an alternative. Here are some of them and how you can deal with them:
1. Topping up a Reed Diffuser with a Different Scent
Once you exhaust the original scent of the Reed Diffuser, you cannot use the same reeds for another smell. Why?
The reeds have already fully absorbed the previous scent, and that smell dominates. And when you add a new fragrance, the resulting smell might not be as pleasant. For that reason, most Reed Diffuser manufacturers recommend that you refill the jar with the same aroma or get a new scent with new reeds.
2. A Reed Diffuser Not Lasting Long
The duration that a Reed Diffuser lasts depends on a few factors with the natural climatic elements. Air conditioning, closing, opening doors, humidity, temperature, and air pressure affect its longevity.
When the humidity is low, air pressure is low; thus, the oil molecules in the container get pulled outside to fill the void. With such conditions, the reed does not last long.
When it comes to temperature, when it is hot, evaporation of all liquids is higher than when it is cold. So, the Reed Diffuser does not last long during the warmer seasons.
With the opening and closing of the doors, that has mostly to do with air movements. Inevitably, the air is constantly moving in and out of the room with an open door carrying the oil molecules with it. This means that the Reed Diffuser will last longer when the door remains shut longer than when it is open all the time.
3. Used Reeds Not Dissipating as Efficiently as When they were New
When the old reeds are not dissipating as efficiently, they are most probably saturated. They do not give off the scent as strongly as they should. They might also be blockages by tiny dust particles, which is inevitable.
The solution is to get a new set of reeds that will get the job done better since they do not have saturates nor clogs of dust.
4. The Reed Diffusers Not Giving Off Scent Even With Oil in the Glass Jar
One great way to get them to work again is flipping the sides. This re-positioning may help restore the flow of the molecules. But it would be best if you did this with moderation. If you do it too often, the oil will disperse faster, resulting in a shorter span.
Another trick is to give the glass jar a gentle swirl to blend the oil’s components and initiate the flow of the molecules up the reeds.
Suppose none of these two tricks work; the reeds have most probably come to the end of their road. The pores are either fully saturated and have dust particles blocking the passing of the fragrant oils. The solution here is to replace them with a new set.
Bottom Line
Fabric softener smells divine on clothes, and you should keep using it for that purpose. DIY and life hacks are great, but others need some extra evidence to validate their safety.
If you use fabric softener in a diffuser you may get side effects from inhaling the chemicals in the solution. So, it is not a good idea to use fabric softener in a Reed Diffuser. as it may cause more harm than good.
You are better off looking for a refill of essential oils and reeds for your Reed Diffuser.
I currently work as a medical receptionist, but my ultimate goal is to work as an occupational therapy assistant. Helping others achieve a better quality of life is something I’m after. That’s one of the main reasons I started this blog. Learn more about me.