Cleaning your aromatherapy diffuser is important to keep it outputting the aromatic mist at full volume. Without regular cleaning, the output will reduce, and possibly even stop! But how exactly should you clean your aromatherapy diffuser?
We will look at exactly how you should clean your essential oil diffuser, but first, lets understand what type of diffuser we have. In a previous blog post, called Essential Oil Diffuser Review, we explain the different types of diffusers including an atomizer, nebulizer and ultrasonic.
The most common type of aromatherapy diffuser is the ultrasonic diffuser, so that is the type we will focus on in this article.
An ultrasonic diffuser mixes water with an essential oil. This mixture is then vaporised into the air as a micro fine mist by an ultrasonic disc. The disc vibrates at many thousands of times per second - breaking up the water and oil mixture into the fine mist that you see escaping out.
In the picture to the right, you can see a finger pointing to the ultrasonic disc.
Over time, the ultrasonic disc in the aromatherapy diffuser will acquire a build up of scale that comes from the water. The "harder" your water (ie the more minerals it has in it), the faster this scale will build up.
Most people are familiar with this scale, as they see it build up in their kettle (often referred to as lime scale). This is the same thing that will occur on the ultrasonic disc.
Often you will see that distilled water is suggested to be used in an ultrasonic diffuser. Distilled water contains no minerals, therefore there would be very little or no build up of scale on the ultrasonic disc, and therefore less maintenance.
On the right you can see a picture of an Aria ultrasonic diffuser with its lid off, allowing you to see the ultrasonic disc.
We suggest you use the Thieves spray and a paper towel to clean your diffuser.
You can use this to clean the outside, inside and the ultrasonic disc of the diffuser. Spray the ultrasonic disc with a single spray of the Thieves spray then use a cotton bud to remove the scale build up. Finally, wipe it all off with the paper towel.
The Thieves spray can be used to also clean all of the inside and outside of the diffuser as well - simply give it a spray and then wipe it down.
How often you will need to clean will depend on if you are using distilled water or normal tap water. Distilled water does not contain the minerals, therefore, requires cleaning less often.
You should look at cleaning your diffuser at least once a month, or, when you notice the mist output drop.
We hope that you found this information on cleaning your aromatherapy diffuser useful! If you would like to see the diffusers that we use, please refer to the Essential Oil Diffusers page in our shop.