When you walk into your home and take a deep breath, it’s lovely to inhale a scent that lifts your emotional state or calms your spirit. Scents have a way of impacting our mood, so it makes sense to look for ways to safely scent your home.
So, how do reed diffusers and wax warmers compare? When you evaluate both reed diffusers and wax warmers, you might think they are both the same. The truth is, despite both being safe and fantastic options for creating an atmosphere in your home with scent, they do have some differences that will appeal to personal preferences.
| Reed Diffuser vs. Wax Warmer | |
| Similarities | Differences |
| ● Neither uses a dangerous flame
● Both have aromatherapy benefits ● Both are able to scent large and small rooms
|
● Reed diffusers do not require power
● Wax warmers let you change fragrances more quickly ● Reed diffusers are messier ● Reed diffusers last longer |
When deciding between a reed diffuser vs. wax warmer, there are some pros and cons to consider before you shop. Both have the potential to fill your home with pleasing aromas, but you may find one suits your needs best.
Why Do I Want One?
Aromatherapy is not just a buzzword. Certain scents are known to create a peaceful environment, and others help invigorate you.
Other times the scents you wish to fill your room have nothing to do with the properties and benefits of aromatherapy. Often, specific scents are naturally pleasing or perhaps they trigger happy memories, and you want to wrap yourself with a scent to help you reminisce.
It really comes down to personal preference and how much time you wish to invest in setting up and maintaining your scents.
Safety Matters
Frequently, those who turn away from candles do so because of safety reasons. Open flames are hazardous, and the danger is complicated further when you add kids or pets to the mix. Plus, if you are forgetful, you run the risk of candles being left unattended, which increases your risk of a fire.
Using a reed diffuser or a wax warmer is a much safer alternative without the worry created by burning candles.
Does the Size of My Room Matter?
You may notice several size options for wax warmers. Some warmers are larger pots and can contain quite a bit of wax, which is suitable for larger rooms. This warmer, sold on Amazon, is a perfect example of a wax warmer with a large pot to accommodate a large room.
Other wax warmers are small enough to plug directly into an outlet. These are suitable for small spaces, such as bathrooms, and require very little wax. These owl wax warmers on Amazon are an excellent option for scenting your bathrooms or other small rooms.
Reed diffusers are often purchased to scent medium to larger rooms. However, if the scent of a reed diffuser is robust to the point of being off-putting, the smell can be adjusted by removing some of the reeds.
Furthermore, if you find you have the opposite problem, you can increase the scent by either adding reeds or turning them upside down. Flipping the reeds exposes the oil-soaked ends to the air, allowing the scent to permeate your space further.
How Long Does the Scent Last?
Time is a factor when it comes to this decision, and this question is impossible to nail down with a direct answer because it depends on several circumstances.
Reed Diffusers
- Air circulation helps circulate the scent, but if you have your reed diffuser placed in certain places, you might find the scent being circulated out a window or into an unintended room.
- Higher circulation fills your room with scent, but it also helps your oil lose its scent more quickly since the air helps with evaporation.
- If you are in a humid climate, you might notice the rate of evaporation decreases, thus preserving your scent longer.
- To make the oil last longer, try removing some of the reeds. This will cause the scent to be lighter, but the scented oil will last much longer.
- If you find yourself in a situation where you need extra or new reeds, Amazon has inexpensive and stylish replacements you can check out here.
Wax Warmers
- The amount of time the scent of the wax lasts depends on the brand of the wax.
- Typically, you can expect a block of wax that is made up of several cubes to give you several days of scent.
- Every company uses a different fragrance concentration, and this fragrance ratio impacts how long your scent lasts. Look for a higher concentration of fragrance oil in the wax for a stronger and longer-lasting scent and a lower ratio if you prefer a lighter fragrance.
- To make the scent last longer, you can also keep the warmer on for as long as it takes to fill the room with the scent and then turn it off. Intermittent use will give you scent while prolonging its usefulness.
Read our full article on How Long Does Candle Warmer Scent Last.
Is It Messy?
Making a mess complicates life, especially in a busy home. While neither requires a tremendous amount of work, reed diffusers require a little extra work and create more of a mess compared to wax warmers.
Reed diffusers require some care to keep from making a mess. The reed diffusers are refillable. This means you can buy the oil separately and refill the reservoir. This requires the reeds to be removed and the reservoir to be washed and left to dry before replacing the oil. Read our full article on Best Reed Diffuser Oil Refill.
Also, any residual oil on the sides could drip and pool onto surfaces. You will want to use a coaster if you plan to use your diffuser on a surface that could be damaged, such as wood. This also means oil will be on your hands when you handle the reeds or change the oil.
The wax warmer, on the other hand, requires much less handling. The leftover wax can be easily absorbed with cotton balls or tissue and disposed of. Also, if you opt to swap out wax before the scent is gone, you may pour the wax back into its container to reuse later.
Spilled wax easily scrapes up when cooled if it is spilled on a hard surface.
How to Make Sense of Scent Options
In the debate between a reed diffuser vs. wax warmer, there is not a clear winner because they are both terrific options. While you decide which works best for you, thinking about the scent variety and versatility may be helpful.
Both options allow you to customize your scents, but since the reed diffusers last a lot longer, you are committing to the scent for a longer time. If you find yourself looking for a change, LOVSPA makes a wide variety of different scented oils to replenish your diffuser’s reservoir, and they are sold on Amazon.
You have a little more flexibility with the wax warmers, but you are sacrificing the convenience of setting it up and not worrying about it.
With so many fragrance options on the market, you are not going to have difficulties finding a scent you love. However, if you like mixing and matching scents day-to-day, a wax warmer is a solid bet. If you are looking to mix up your scents for your wax warmer, Farm Raised Candles sells this combo pack of scents to mix and match.
Is This Thing On?
Wax warmers need a source of power to operate. Typically, the cords have an on/off dial making these easy to turn off without having to reach for an outlet. Other wax warmers don’t utilize a cord as they plug directly into an outlet. This option is helpful for small rooms and where the outlets are up high and unlikely to be kicked or knocked over.
On the other hand, reed diffusers don’t require power at all to fill your home with scent. Simply fill with oil, place your desired amount of reeds, and find a spot in your home.
In Conclusion
Both a wax warmer and a reed diffuser are excellent choices to safely scent your home. To sort out which choice is best for you, evaluate your personal preferences and check out the options linked in this article. Maybe you decide on both!