Many weeks ago I came across a pin on Pinterest for DIY Wallflower Scented Plugin Refills. As with other nifty pins that I find I pinned it with plans of trying it myself eventually. I currently use a few Wallflower Scented Plugins in our home. I love them, but the refills are quite expensive. I always try to buy 5 or more to get them at a better price.
When I put my last refill in a couple of weeks ago I went ahead and made a trip to our local Sadie’s Herbs and Homemade Soaps shop. I will confess that I have never been in there before. It is a local shop in a small town. The weekday hours make it difficult for me to get to as I work. And although I have been meaning to visit forever now, seems like Saturday is always busy. I am a complete newbie to essential oils, tinctures and such. Oh the aromas that filled the air in the shop were wonderful. There were so many wonderful products, but I had to stay focused. I had little time, little money, and could easily get overwhelmed by all their offerings if I did not stay on track.
I too love the smell of peppermint (any mint really) and think it has a fresh, crisp, clean scent. I purchased a few ounces each of peppermint essential oil, lavender essential oil, and apple cinnamon scented oil. Here is a helpful link discussing the differences between essential oils and scented oils. The apple cinnamon scented oil was noticeably cheaper in price as it was not an essential oil. At Sadie’s you can purchase by the ounce and the oils are not pre-bottled. The first time you must also purchase the dark glass bottles as well, but they are reusable. Next time, I will only need to purchase the oils and they can refill my bottles (unless I buy different oils of course). For more information on the proper storage of essential oils click here.
Finally, this Saturday I needed to refill the plugin in the bathroom. I followed the pins instructions. In addition to rinsing out the bulb I let the wick soak in water for a bit to remove some of the residual scent from previous use. I chose the peppermint essential oil and filled the bulb a third full using a dropper from Sadie’s rather than pouring it in. I then filled it the rest of the way with water.
It works wonderfully! I am very happy. I do think it is burning (dehydrating) at a quicker rate than the bought refills. My hunch is that my combination has more water than the store bought version thus it is dehydrating quicker. The next time, I believe I will try half oil and half water.
I will try the apple cinnamon scented oil in a different room when the time comes. I am interested to compare not only the aroma effectiveness, but also how long it lasts compared to using essential oils. Essential oils are more volatile so they may oxidize and loose their essence quicker. We will see. But long term, I believe I will opt for using mostly essential oils and experiment with different varieties as they are not synthetic and provide so many other benefits.
There are many other types of scented plugin brands. They may be adapted to DIY refills as well. It would just depend on the construction of their refill bottle/bulb and the ease of taking it a part and reassembling. I think it is definitely worth trying on other brands as well.
To learn more about peppermint, click here.
