As any essential oil enthusiast can tell you, you will eventually use up all the oil in your little bottles.
At that point, you throw the bottle away...right?
NO, NO, NO, NOPE, NADA, NEVER!!!!!
It's now time to get the LAST BIT of oily goodness out and make yourself some diffuser water.
Let's get started.
I start by taking all my used oil bottles (which I keep in a large plastic bag) and start to organize them.
Now, don't get excited because this is about 4 months use in our house. You may not have as many AND you may only have to do this process once a year. That's okay...
No matter how often you go through your oils, SAVE THE BOTTLES for this project.
The next step is to organize the bottles into like groups. This will allow you to see which oils you are using quite frequently as well as start to consider which oils you want to combine...
After all was said and done (translate organized), I had two groups of oils.
The top set was a combination of oils that we use to help support healthy lung function, sinuses, and clear breathing. Oils like lavender, peppermint, lemon, orange, eucalyptus, and a YL blend called RC.
This was a smaller collection of oils that help support our emotional well-being and alleviate the occasional "blue" feeling we tend to experience this time of the year. Oils like frankincense, geranium, and our YL blend called Peace & Calming.
If you struggle with how to categorize your oils like this, use my Pinterest Board to research some diffuser blend ideas. It helps me a lot when combining oils for our diffusers.
Next, grab some pots and fill with water. Do not place the pots on the stove just yet.
I recommend you put the water in about half to 2/3rds full. You want the water to eventually cover all your bottles, but adding the bottles will make the water rise, so don't overfill at the beginning.
I begin by taking off the tops and popping the clear drip stoppers out of each bottle. The easiest way to remover the clear drip stoppers is to use the side of the screw cap to gently pry it off.
Place all the parts in the water.
PUSH the bottles down into the water so that they fill up. You want to get as much water into the bottle so that it gets all the oil still left inside.
The bottle will bubble until it's filled with water.
Even after a few bottles have gone in, you will start to see A LOT of oil already on the surface of the water. See... and you thought you had used up all the oily magic!
Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat on to a medium setting. You're not trying to get a rolling boil going. Let the water heat up gently...
Here are my two pots, starting to heat up. Notice that the water is now about an inch or two from the top of the pot and all my bottles as submerged on their sides.
Again, the heat is on a medium setting.
Now, find something to do around the kitchen while you wait the few minutes it takes for the pots to heat up.
You will start to notice a few things happening.
1 - Your kitchen will take on an INCREDIBLE smell. As the bottles and tops are boiling, they are diffusing the oils into your kitchen. It's okay that you are basically diffusing 2 different combos of oils. You are benefiting from both.
2 - You will see even more oil come to the surface of the pot as the little boil bubbles start to happen. That's great!
As soon as it starts to simmer, place lids on your pots and turn off the heat.
Now, wait about 5 minutes or so, letting the heat from the boil capture as much oil as possible.
After 5-10 minutes, take off the top and USING TONGS, start to remove the bottles.
You will need to remove them upside down so that all the water inside the bottles empties into the pot. If you don't do this you will have water all over your stove and countertop.
Place your bottles on a towel or in a bowl to cool. DO NOT TOUCH...THEY WILL BE HOT, HOT, HOT!
You will have the stoppers and drip caps left. I use a large strainer to remove those.
At this point, you have some AMAZING diffuser water AND you've gotten your money's worth of oils out of those bottles.
Look at all the oily goodness!
Once the water has cooled a bit, I use a funnel to pour it into these large, clear bottles that I recently purchased from Amazon. However, prior to that, I used glass Mason jars to store my diffuser water.
TIP: Do NOT use plastic to store this water. Oils that are citrus based will eat away at the plastic. I only recommend glass storage. I've seen beautiful jars at the Goodwill and thrift stores as well as at The Dollar Tree.
I pulled out my P-Touch label maker (of course) and made two labels.
"Breath In Breath Out" for my breathing blend and "Don't Worry, Be Happy" for my happy blend. Quite self-explanatory.
I waited to adhere the labels until the bottles had fully cooled.
The great thing about making these diffuser bottles is that you can place them right with the diffuser you want or easily transport them through your home to all your diffusers. This is great for diffusers that are not near water sources.
You can also make they super pretty with fancy labels and ribbon or twine. I think they'd make great gifts. In fact, you can make them without having to boil your old bottles...Hmmmm...
I used our breathing concoction in our kitchen that evening. It had a minty citrusy smell that permeated the entire living area in our home.
Diffusing oils is one of the great ways to use quality essential oils in your home.
When you inhale them, the receptors in your olfactory membrane identify and deliver the sensory stimulation messages to your brain, helping you to recognize the smell and utilize the essential oil’s therapeutic benefits.
We use several diffusers throughout our home every day.
Yes, we have a dog, and we have not had any troubles with her in regards to our essential oils use. Of course, we ONLY use Young Living essential oils and products and I check to make sure that she is not exposed to those oils that are not safe for animals. YL has a line of oils and products for use with pets, many of which we use with our "baby."
I'd love to hear if you try this with your oil bottles and what type of diffuser water you made. Drop a comment below to let me know!
Break the rules today!
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