How Do I Make My Own Aromatherapy Room Spray?
Beware of Bad Room Spray Recipes Online
The goal of DIY scent products is to customize to your preference, use better ingredients with higher quality, and possibly get a cheaper product than what you can buy in the store.
Do a quick search on how to make a room spray with essential oils. You will almost invariably find advice to mix a certain number of drops of essential oils with water. There may be additional helpful advice to use witch hazel. Some may suggest that you use distilled water or boil tap water to reduce impurities. Others suggest adding a small amount <25% of grain alcohol as a preservative. There is usually some shaking involved to combine everything. Some of the tips may actually have the reverse effect of the stated use. For example, a few blogs and facebook posts have listed salt as an emulsifying agent. In fact, salt reduces emulsion stability so that oil and water separate faster.
This is a lot of bad advice that will give you a combination of poor performance, risk of allergy, or infection from inhaling spray with bacteria or mold growth. This bad advice is published by major media companies and small blogs alike. Part of this comes from media sites trying to capitalize on interest in natural scent products, part from scammers selling fraudulent products, and part from the anti-science habits of mind that we all defend from time to time as we try to create sacred rituals for ourselves and our families.
Why Use Room Sprays?
Having control of the scent scape in your living space is transformative. Because room sprays have very low concentrations of aromatic compounds and are diffused broadly, you can make an entire space smell how you want for a shorter period than a candle or diffuser. Maybe you want to use different scents throughout the day for distinct purposes. Citrus in the morning, rosemary for attention in the afternoon, lavender for calming. Why not use room sprays? That’s a better question.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
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Alcohol-based Sprays are Easier to Make and Safer to Use
If you don’t want to learn any chemistry or tinker with recipes to get the right balance of solubilizer, essential oils, preservative, and water, use either perfurmer’s alcohol or 190-proof grain alcohol. See our Complete Guide: How Do I Make My Own Perfume? for more on finding the right alcohol. At the concentration levels for room sprays, virtually all natural oils, extracts, and absolutes will dissolve completely in alcohol. You also will not need to worry about using another preservative. If you were only trying to use ethanol as the preservative, assuming the ratio will decline as alcohol evaporates faster, you would want >30% 190 proof alcohol. But if you had a solution that was 30% alcohol, 2% essential oil, and 68% distilled water, your essential oil would not dissolve. This is a cool demonstration of essential oil solubility. This means you will have very little essential oil sprayed out until the very end of the bottle, when you would pull in almost straight essential oil. Here you would be at risk for sensitization or an allergic reaction.
Some people may not like the experience of spraying alcohol and have seen many recipes online with water as the primary ingredient. You can use water, but with some additional ingredients and some downsides.
Using Water in a Room Spray
Many commercial room sprays include water, some as a major constituent. This does not mean that you can combine water and essential oils in a bottle, shake, and spray. Water and oil do not stay in solution. Shaking will disperse the oil into small droplets, but they will reform and separate over time.
This is a great blog post on the use of solubilisers and emulsifiers.
Add a solubilizer
Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Cremophor) gets good comments on Basenotes.net for its lack of foaming compared to other agents as well as the lack of cloudiness of the solution. There will be a bit of residue, as will any effective solubilizer, which is one of the downsides.
Use a preservative
This is a good note from the US Food and Drug Administration on microbiological safety and cosmetics. Ironically, one thing they advice consumers to do is not to add water to other products.
The field’s understanding of the safety of commonly-used preservatives in the cosmetic and food industry is undergoing rapid change. Many categories of preservatives with excellent performance are being removed over safety concerns. Benzyl Alcohol, its salts, and Benzoic acid have acceptable safety performance, including for aerosol exposure based on more recent data. However, benzoic acid has a faint urinous, balsamic scent and benzyl alcohol a floral, rose, phenolic scent. This blog has a good review of natural preservatives as well as discussion of the need for and process of ensuring safe products. Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate are frequently used together and can be purchased from amazon in powder form. You will need a scale to properly dose the preservatives and solubilizer. With the alcohol, you can just add drops of the essential oils to your preference.
Get a Decent Atomizer
If you go to all the trouble to make your own room spray, you want to have a good spray bottle to get it out there. Finer mists will stay in the air a lot longer (thanks Covid-19 for educating us on aerosols). We like this bottle for affordability and performance with a solid customer reputation.
DIY Essential Oil Room Spray Recipes
All of these formulas (perfume people get grumpy about the use of recipe, but these really are closer to recipes than formulas) are based on 100 ml, which is about 3.4 ounces. This makes it easy to scale all of the ingredients to a larger or smaller volume. As with making perfume, this will all be easier if you use a scale, but if you don’t want to bother, that is fine for this application with just a few oils at low concentration. We will use volume and drops here, but suggest moving your own experiments over the weight as soon as possible. As above, it is much easier to make a room spray with only alcohol and essential oils, so that is what we present here. Although the volume per drop varies based on many factors (the dropper/pipette, the pressure on the bulb, the viscosity of the oil, etc.), we will assume here that 10 drops=0.5ml
1) Good Day, Sunshine
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
1 ml (20 drops) grapefruit essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) bergamot essential oil
0.5ml (10 drops) cardamom CO2. Check out our Top 10 Cardamom Perfume reviews.
0.25ml (5 drops) rosemary
0.25 ml (5 drops) petitgrain bigarade
0.25 ml (5 drops) lavender: We like high elevation for this application.
0.25 ml (5 drops) frankincense: We like Omani frankincense for this recipe.
2) Calming Retreat
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
1 ml (20 drops) vetiver essential oil: Vetiver is known as the “Oil of Tranquility” for its deeply calming and centering effects. Haitian essential oil works best for this recipe. You get depth of scent, but it is much smoother and less smoky than Bourbon or Java oils
0.5 ml (10 drops) rose geranium essential oil This is cheaper than rose oil, but captures enough of the rose scent effect for this purpose. Geranium is also used in aromatherapy to reduce feelings of frustration
0.5 ml (10 drops) lavender essential oil: Lavender Maillette is one of the sweetest varieties of lavender essential oil. It is high in linalyl acetate and low in camphor, so it will be much less medicinal than other oils. Lavender is widely used in aromatherapy to promote calm
1 ml (20 drops) sweet orange oil: Orange oil blends excellently with all three other ingredients, making it a great choice from a perfume perspective to provide a fresh top note. It also lifts the spirit and mood, which can help remove an impediment to calm
3) Sexual Healing
We wrote about the use of bath scents to boost your sex life. One idea is to use a scent in the bath as you get in touch with your body and then the same scent as you are intimate with a partner or yourself in the bedroom setting. Theoretically, the scent conditioning with the arousal from your bath may transfer to improved arousal in the bedroom. Even if that doesn’t work, you will still have a good smelling room.
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.5 ml (10 drops) rose geranium essential oil: Rose is used in aromatherapy to open the heart. Rose geranium is cheaper than rose oil (although more expensive than other geranium oils), but captures enough of the rose scent effect for this purpose. Geranium is also used in aromatherapy to reduce feelings of frustration.
0.5 ml (10 drops) rose damascena absolute: This is the sweet, heavy, spicy, sexy rose. The essential oil will be much fruitier and sharper while the rose de mai absolute or extract will not be as sweet. We would use more, but rose oil is very expensive. This should blend well with the rose geranium
1 ml (20 drops) lavender essential oil: Lavender Maillette will work well here given the lower camphor and sweeter scent than most other lavender essential oils. Lavender has been shown to increase trust and sexual arousal
0.5 ml (10 drops) light patchouli essential oil: Patchouli is earthy, rich, herbaceous and an excellent fixative. The light version is less intense for those who find the dark version overwhelming. This will balance the sweetness of the rose and rose geranium while grounding the lavender.
0.25 ml (5 drops) ambrette seed CO2: An extract of the hibiscus seeds, this is one of the most wonderful natural musk materials available. It is animalic, leathery, floral, sweet cognac. It is regarded as an aphrodisiac by many
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
4) Higher Calling
Some scents are pleasing or calming. Others have the potential to elevate the spirit. Find out more about the use of incense in religious ritual.
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
1ml (20 drops) sandalwood essential oil: The Australian sandalwood from Eden Botanicals is expensive, but a nice quality. It has relatively high levels of the sequiterpenoids alpha-santalol and beta-santalol, although not as high as the Mysore sandalwood from India, which is virtually impossible to purchase and exceedingly expensive when found. Sequiterpenoids are found in a number of sacred aromatic materials, including myrrh, frankincense, and palo santo
1 ml (20 drops) frankincense essential oil: We like the bright, clean frankincense from Oman, although there are wonderful oils from Somalia and elsewhere
0.25 ml (5 drops) rosemary essential oil ct cineole. Make sure you purchase rosemary oil that specifies the chemotype. The cineole chemotype has the broadest application and lowest risk of irritating airways. Rosemary has been used since antiquity in religious ceremonies and to sanctify weddings and funerals
0.25 ml (5 drops) myrrh essential oil: Along with frankincense, this is a core ingredient in the sacred incense blends of many religions for thousands of years. This unique note can take some getting used to, but will provide a spicy, sweet, balsamic effect that will add complexity to the sandalwood.
0.25 ml (5 drops) elemi essential oil: This essential oil comes from the oleo-resin of a tree from the same family as frankincense and myrrh. It is bright, lemony, green, spicy, and peppery. The high limonene content lets this perform some of the top note role that citrus would, but maintains the scent profile of frankincense.
5) Clarity
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
1 ml (20 drops) fresh ginger essential oil: Check out our Top 10 Ginger Perfumes
0.5 ml (10 drops) peppermint essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) lemon essential oil
6) Forest Adventure
The smell of a forest is very specific to one’s childhood forest experiences. We grew up on the west coast of the United States. The high desert up to the subalpine formed our understanding of forestscapes, resplendent with sage, a range of pine species, white and Douglas fir, western Juniper, meadowlands, and more.
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.5 ml (10 drops) Douglas fir essential oil: This is intense, yet soft coniferous scent, often recommended for cleansing spaces
0.25 ml (5 drops) pinyon pine essential oil:
0.5 ml (10 drops) Virginia cedar oil: Although technically a juniper, this is dry cedar of your memory. As with the fir oil, cedar is frequently used for cleansing
0.5 ml (10 drops) sage essential oil:
0.25 ml (5 drops) Helichrysum Essential Oil:
0.5 ml (10 drops) lavender essential oil:
7) Carefree Days
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
1 ml (20 drops) pink grapefruit essential oil:
0.5 ml (10 drops) ginger essential oil:
0.5 ml (10 drops) ylang ylang extra essential oil:
0.25 ml (5 drops) benzoin extract
0.1 ml (2 drops) cilantro essential oil: Cilantro essential oil has extremely high levels of aldehydes that can provide lift in natural perfume and aromatherapy applications without impacting the overall scent if dosed properly.
8) Cookies in the Oven
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.75 ml (15 drops) benzoin extract
0.25 ml (5 drops) cinnamon bark essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) cocoa absolute
0.25 ml (5 drops) nutmeg essential oil
0.1 ml (2 drops) butter C02
9) Cinque Terre
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.75 ml (15 drops) lemon essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) basil essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) rosemary essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) petitgrain bigarade
0.5 ml (10 drops) lavender essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) Helichrysum Essential Oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) cistus essential oil
10) Spa Day
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.10 mil (2 drops) basil essential oil
0.10 ml (2 drops) Roman chamomile essential oil: Check out our Top 10 Chamomile Perfume reviews.
0.10 ml (2 drops) Russian clary sage essential oil
0.10 ml (2 drops) hyssop decumbens (Hyssopus officinalis var. decumbens) essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) lemon eucalyptus essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) fresh ginger essential oil
1 ml (20 drops) wild palmarosa essential oil
11) Quiet Afternoon
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.25 ml (5 drops) black pepper essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) Russian clary sage essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) coriander C02 extract
0.5 ml (10 drops) ginger C02 extract
0.5 ml (10 drops) helichrysum essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) benzoin
1 ml (20 drops) vetiver essential oil
12) Fall Reminiscence
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.25 ml (5 drops) hay absolute
0.25 ml (5 drops) tonka bean absolute
0.25 ml (5 drops) galbanum essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) basil essential oil
1 ml (20 drops) linden blossom CO2
13) Spring Fever
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.5 ml (10 drops) Virginia cedar
0.5 ml (10 drops) rosemary essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) Scotch pine essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) ambrette seed CO2: An extract of the hibiscus seeds, this is one of the most wonderful natural musk materials available. It is animalic, leathery, floral, sweet cognac. It is regarded as an aphrodisiac by many
14) Welcome Home
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.5 ml (10 drops) bergamot essential oil
0.25 ml (5 drops) tonka bean absolute
0.5 ml (10 drops) Virginia cedar essential oil
1 ml (20 drops) lavender maillette essential oil
15) Goodnight Moon
97 ml perfumers alcohol or 190 proof grain alcohol
0.5 ml (10 drops) bergamot essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) sweet marjoram essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) lavender maillette essential oil
0.5 ml (10 drops) vetiver essential oil
If you find the composition of these recipes interesting beyond just their use, check out our Complete Guide on How to Make Your Own Perfume.
The combinations for room sprays with just a few high quality essential oils is nearly limitless. We found some great recipes at AromatherapyPress, including Garden Party, which is a nice mix of lavender, chamomile, geranium, and sage. Have fun becoming a scent maker!