Two Minute Homemade Air Freshener
This homemade rice and essential oils air freshener is a really quick and affordable way to get some scent into the air making your home smell nice and fancy with virtually no work!
Not to mention, if you don’t have a diffuser on hand this is a great way to diffuse essential oils without a diffuser, either reed or electric.
That’s something I can totally get on board with. Best of all it only takes a couple minutes to make, so if you’ve got company dropping in unexpectedly or just want to brighten the mood with a great scent there’s always time for this diy diffuser recipe!
Time: 2 minutes
For more diy diffuser recipes see my post: Eight Homemade Essential Oil Diffusers.
Rice Diffuser Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make your rice homemade air freshener (links below are for Amazon products):
- Jasmine Rice, Black Rice, or any other rice you have on hand
- Pine, Peppermint, or your favorite scent (try an Essential Oil Starter Set if you don’t know where to start)
- a small dish or container
That’s it, let’s make it:
Add 1/2 cup Rice
Take out your rice and either pour it into the container you will be using, or (if it’s too small) into a larger container you can mix your ingredient in.
For my diffuser I am using about 1/2 cup of rice. I find that this is just the right amount for small container perfect for one room.
I like to use jasmine rice (amazon link) because it has a somewhat sweet smell already of its own which goes well with essential oils.
The rice is important in this homemade air freshener recipe because it’s what holds in the essential oils and slowly disperses them into the air.
This recipe is very similar to my homemade air freshener with baking soda post, only instead of rice that recipe uses baking soda.
Add 15 – 20 drops Essential Oil
Next, add in 15 – 20 drops of essential oil. For my homemade rice air freshener I used both pine and peppermint essential oils.
I put in 18 drops of the pine essential oil, and since the peppermint is so much stronger than pine I’m only using two drops of the peppermint essential oil.
Other scents that work well for this air freshener are lavender, lemon, or whatever you like best, it really doesn’t matter so long as it’s something you like.
Depending on what oils you’re using and your personal preferences you may need to add in a little more or less, just make it your own!
Amazon is a good place to shop for essential oils with a ton of different options to get you started. I always recommend a good essential oils starter set. Be sure to look for 100% pure essential oils so you know you are getting the highest quality product possible.
Mix Diffuser Ingredients Together
Then just mix it all up. Stir or shake the mixture.
Try to disperse the essential oils as evenly as you can throughout the rice make sure that the essential oil is evenly distributed throughout the rice.
The more evenly the essential oil is spread, the more surface area there will be for the essential oil to diffuse into the air.
Use it!
Well, that’s it, just put your new homemade air freshener into some sort of tray or dish. Then place it somewhere you want to smell awesome, and enjoy.
Black Rice Version
Here is what using black rice looks like as well! I really like how black rice looks with in this simple diffuser. I think it looks a little fancier!
If you have pets or children that might try to eat the rice, make sure you put it out of their reach to be safe.
When the air freshener begins to loose its scent just add in a few more drops of essential oil, give it a quick shake, and you are go to go again.
How Well Does This Diffuser Work?
I really like this homemade air freshener. I have tried another the homemade air freshener with baking soda previously which I did like.
However, I think that this one is more my style. I love that this one uses rice, and in my opinion it better diffuses the scent into the air than the baking soda one. It doesn’t get the scent into the air nearly as well as with my homemade essential oil diffuser in a cup.
I also really like how this air freshener looks compared to the baking soda one, the rice has a nice visual texture and better release the scent into the air.
This will definitely be my homemade air freshener of choice when I want something to just put out a nice mild scent into the air.
Let me know how this works out for you in the comments, and share the post if you found it helpful!
– Lance
Easy Rice & Essential Oil Air Freshener Diffuser Recipe
This rice essential oil diffuser recipe is a super easy and affordable air freshener that you can make without a traditional reed diffuser.
Materials
- 1/2 cup Uncooked Rice
- 15-20 drops Essential Oils
Tools
- Small Dish/Container
- Mixing Bowl (optional)
- Spoon
Instructions
Last update on 2020-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Thanks! I think I might try this one. The real diffusers are so expensive!
Real diffusers really are expensive. This one gets the scent into the air without being overpowering for a fraction of the price, can’t beat that! Thanks for commenting Luke!
Just made the Rice bowl, Brown rice; only one I use, cool?
Brown rice should work no problem! I just like jasmine rice because it has a really nice scent of its own to begin with!
I just made some in one of those see-through jewelry bag and put it in my car. We’ll see if it works.
That’s awesome Vanessa! How did it work?
I’ve done this for years, but I never thought to just set it out in decorative bowls for an air freshener. I think I might replace the sand in one of my zen sand rake gardens with this rice. My clients and I will still be able to rake, but now it will freshen the air at the same time.
The way I usually use it is in back, neck, and foot warmers. I use towels that I sew together in specific patterns. I keep them in my towel cabana to keep them warm, and then place them over the sheet, on a client’s back, neck, or feet while they are on my treatment table. I make scented, and unscented. I even do custom orders for clients to use at home. Sometimes I’ll use essential oils, sometimes I’ll use whole, dried herbs, or even a combination of the two. :)
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and comment! What a neat idea, to use it in a zen garden :)
Hi I used the baking soda it wasn’t so successful! So i am definitely going to try this one. Thanks you.
Thank you for commenting! Did you try it out?
This is great for children’s rooms. Thanks
This worked beautiful. Quick, cheap and effective. Thank you for the post.
Glad to hear it Rania! Thank you for the comment!
Thank you for reading and commenting Ann!
I just made a handful of these for two reasons. #1 Citrus scents scare away these Asian beetles that like to invade every fall. #2 My dogs sleep inside at night and the Oder from them can be a little strong sometimes. This works great. Just make sure you use a thick plastic or glass. I cut down some styrofoam cups and it ate right threw them.
Thank you for the suggestion about using plastic or glass for the container! I didn’t know about citrus scents scaring away Asian beetles, that’s crazy!
Hi Lance, I just made a small bowl of scented rice and put it in my living room and it is working wonderfully. This is so much easier than using my diffuser because with that I have to fill it with water first and then try to carry it back to the room I’m using it in without spilling it! LOL Bye bye diffuser, hello rice! Thanks for sharing all your homemade experiments, I love your site and will be trying more of your experiments :-)
I have used essential oils off and on for the last couple of years but recently had a friend mention that they could help with my seasonal allergies. Like you, I didn’t want to buy some electronic device, so thanks for highlighting a few homemade diffusers. I’m excited to try this out!
Glad to share different ways to use essential oils! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment Heather :) Hope it has helped your allergies!
Hi! I have just emptied the Christmas candle wax out of some very small (6 oz) mason jars and cleaned them up. They have metal screw on lids that I can cover & close off the scent whenever I want. I have a very tiny apartment so this size might prove to be very nice here. These might also be nice for a small birthday gift. I am going to try it right NOW! Thanks very much.
That sounds great Jacquelyn! How did it work out for you?