How do you activate a reed diffuser?
Believe it or not, there's actually a technique to maximising the scent throw of your brand new reed diffuser.
When you open your reed diffuser box for the first time, before you unscrew or lift out the cap, it's important to give the bottle a little wiggle, to make sure the diffuser oil is blended correctly. If the formula is misty or you can see oil swishing around in the mixture, the diffuser has probably been sat for a while. Make sure you only wiggle the glass bottle when the lid is securely fastened, wiggle and jiggle until the mixture is clear or a yellowy colour.
This method is best applied to natural rattan reeds, the type you find in our Country & Cove Reed Diffusers .Take out the reeds, making sure you're wearing gloves and remove the cap or bung from the diffuser gently! Place all of the reeds in to the diffuser bottle, allowing the mixture to be soaked up by the reeds, then gently flip them over - being careful not to flick any mixture on to surfaces or your skin! Your diffuser sticks should now be damp at the top and they will be full of fragrance oil - this is usually the quickest way to activate a reed diffuser - instead of waiting for the mixture to slowly be drawn up in to the channels of the reeds.
Can you put water in a reed diffuser?
No. Is the short answer. Water has a different viscosity to diffuser base oil and fragrance oils. This means the fragrance oil will sit on top of the water and will not disperse. The diffuser reeds will also no longer work correctly and you'll have to completely replace the reed diffuser bottle, as the water will contaminate the container and wash out the base and fragrance oils. Never put water in a standard glass reed diffuser bottle, you should only ever use pre-blended diffuser oil formulas from established retailers in the UK. This is different if you're using an electronic air diffuser, which uses water and essential oils, where the oils are intended for use with water. Country & Cove reed diffusers are pre-mixed fragrance oil and diffuser base oil blends, adding water will separate the contents and create a mess, which can only be rectified by throwing your diffuser away and purchasing a new one!
Are you supposed to flip diffuser reeds?
Yes. We recommend flipping your reeds every 2 to 3 weeks. Our natural diffuser reeds are made from rattan, a type of wood. This means they dry out at the top when left on a window sill or table top. If you flip the reeds every few weeks, the diffuser oil will re-activate and dampen the top of the reeds, giving you a burst of fragrance. Flipping diffuser reeds can also help with unclogging the channels in the reed. If you look at one end of a diffuser reed, you'll see tiny little holes. This channels can get blocked over time, as the fragrance oil dries up, meaning the fragrance gets stuck half way up the reed. Flipping them, releases the dry part of the reed and creates fragrance flow. Typically, a 100ml reed diffuser purchased from Country & Cove will last around 12 weeks, so you should flip the reeds 3 or 4 times during this period, to maximise scent flow. You may also notice that the diffuser oil in the glass bottle doesn't go down very quickly, this is usually because some of the channels on the reeds are blocked, meaning it's time to flip!
Why can't I smell my reed diffuser?
This is likely an issue with your reeds. At Country & Cove, we've opted to use natural rattan reeds, made from a type of wood. Although natural, they may not disperse fragrance as much as engineered fibre reeds. You can purchase fibre reeds separately and we recommend doing this if you need your diffuser to fill your room with aroma quickly and for a short amount of time. Fibre reeds will draw fragrance oil up in to thicker channels within the reed, meaning your oil won't last as long but you'll get a stronger scent throw. Our natural rattan reeds are intended for a gentle aroma, so you may need more diffusers per room, if you have an old Victorian home for example, as the aroma will float up to the top of the room and, if you have high ceilings, it may be difficult to smell the fragrance. We would recommend either changing your reeds to fibre or purchasing 2 or more diffusers for each room of your home.
What are the advantages of a reed diffuser?
Unlike candles, reed diffusers have no flame, so there's less fire risk, although you MUST keep reed diffusers away from fireplaces, direct sunlight or radiators!
Reed diffusers can last anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks or even longer, depending on their volume and the reeds used. A typical 200g candle will last 35 hours at the most and you'll need to burn it each time, to release more fragrance. A reed diffuser will offer gentle, background aroma for 12 weeks at a time.
Refillable - reed diffusers can be refilled. We would never recommend replacing the diffuser oil with a different scent, it's best to use the same fragrance oil but we do also sell reed diffuser refill bottles, so you can replenish your diffuser oil every 12 weeks without having to purchase a new diffuser each time!
