HiFi Surround Smell System

October 19, 2007 8:25 AM

What's a good system for gettin' some essential oils smell action in my apartment? I've been reading about the benefits of certain smells to concentration and relaxation and would like to get my smell on.

Please feel free to recommend specific brands, and if you've had good experience with certain machines or systems.

posted by parallax7d to health & fitness (10 comments total)

Go to Scarborough fair.

A planter with your favorite herbs and spices will help clean the air, give you a good mood and improve your cooking, all in one pot.
posted by nedpwolf at 8:31 AM on October 19, 2007

Reed diffusers wick essential oils into the air. My friend uses this one, and it smells great. I am sure you could rig up your own diffuser if you had a particular oil you'd like to use.
posted by rmless at 8:43 AM on October 19, 2007

A simple burner works well. Remember to float the essential oil in some water or the bowl may crack. For a real, full-on house smell buy a vaporizer. Check ANY massage supply store for boucoup options.
posted by kristymcj at 8:45 AM on October 19, 2007

I've tried burners (lots of them) and they all work great at getting the essential oil into the air, but they all seem to share the problem of burnt-on essential oil. And the water based one's can boil dry. And the candles are a fire hazard. And you can't use them with pets or young children. I'm not a big fan. That said, my mom loves them for the aesthetic value, keeps them up high so the dog can't get near them, and uses large salt crystals to absorb and radiate the heat.

I bought a cheap air purifier and put the oils on the pad at the bottom. The one I have cost me about £5 ($10 ish) from ebay. It's called an Aromastream and it's amazingly quiet. So quiet that I can run it all night, and sleep just fine. The hard drive in my PC makes more noise. And you get the added bonus of the fact that the oils aren't heated, with can affect the therapeutic properties.

There are 3 main oils to use - Peppermint, Basil and Rosemary. All three will stimulate the brain (apparently, Napoleon used copious amounts of Rosemary based Eau-de-Cologne when planning his military manoeuvres). If they don't suit, try the citrus oils, like Grapefruit or Bergamot.
posted by Rabulah at 8:59 AM on October 19, 2007

(I see you're in Portland, so I assume you have heat). Moving into the colder weather, I put a small bowl of water on top of the radiator with a few drops of essential oils. Lovely. You can also just drip the oil onto the radiator, but the darker oils (such as patchouli) leave marks. Otherwise the simple tealight oil burners do the trick.

For the full-on concentration oils (such as rosemary), I find wafting the open oil bottle under my nose to be the most effective method, unless I'm about to take an exam or have a job interview or something, in which case a few deep sniffs is the way to go.
posted by goo at 9:00 AM on October 19, 2007

Seconding the Aromastream. I love mine. Be sure to buy replacement/extra pads when you buy the thing. I actually have separate pads for each different smell so there's no weird mixing.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:32 AM on October 19, 2007

If you have a cat, you may want to diffuse essential oils with caution.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 9:41 AM on October 19, 2007

get an essential oil burner that has a relatively deep bowl on the top. a tall burner with a bowl depth of 1 inch is best- you want the burner to be tall so the candle flame doesn't overheat the bowl. the proportions of this one are good.

fill the bowl with water almost to the brim. then add ~20 drops of e. oil. (i like lavendar, palmarosa, or peppermint). the trick is to have lots of water and a good thin layer of oil floating on it- this keeps the water from all evaporating too fast.

light the tealight and check on it every couple hours to make sure it's still doing what it should, you might need to add a little more water.

eventually, if the inside of the bowl gets gummy and gross, clean it out with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.

enjoy!
posted by twistofrhyme at 11:21 AM on October 19, 2007

This is a diffuser that I use a lot: http://www.amrita.net/diffusers.htm (scroll down to the Ball Diffuser). It plugs into the wall and you just put a few drops of the oil onto the pad and slip the pad in. This diffuser is great for scenting a whole room; I like it as an alternative to incense when I can't tolerate smoke. If you need the essential oils specifically for aromatherapy, I would suggest that you just put a dot of the oil you want on your hand and smell that, or smell it from the bottle (if you have sensitive skin)...that would give you the most bang for your buck. The diffuser is good for aromatherapy but it does scent the room, so if you want to change the oil it may take a while for the new one to overpower the last. The smell gets into your fabrics, which is really nice, but not so effective if you are trying to do specific aromatherapy.
posted by kenzi23 at 11:27 AM on October 19, 2007

Hi,

Get a really good therapeutic grade oil if you can. The cheaper ones don't last and if they do the smell can turn rancid. That said, I like to sprinkle it on pillows, linens etc. Also I wash down surfaces with some oil on a paper towel, then hide that crumpled towel behind something so it's out of sight but still carries the scent. Basically you want a scent that's refreshing and stimulating while it's also calmative - so go with anything woodsy, tea tree is great, lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus are faves here. You can also put a few drops into a pot with some water and simmer that for a while. Another idea is to put some in an atomizer and spritz as needed.
posted by watercarrier at 2:01 PM on October 20, 2007