A diffuser is a device which allows you to infuse your surrounding atmosphere with the healing properties of essential oils. For more than 5,000 years the natural oils taken from plant parts like flowers and leaves, stems and roots has been used for medicinal purposes. Many of these essential oils can be used in the garden to protect your precious plants from bothersome bugs, and used on you and your pets as pest-repellents.
Some essential oils work very well when combined with other oils and water as incredible household cleaners in every room of your home. There are essential oils that effectively boost heart health and fight cancer, make your skin and hair look and feel healthy, strong and vibrant, those that deliver antiaging properties and still others that can make you smarter and boost your memory.
Some oils can be applied topically to your skin or scalp, while others have been safely added to food and beverages for centuries.
One of the most common ways to benefit from aromatic essential oils is to mist those oils into the air, and then breathe in the fragrance. One simple way to do this is to employ a diffuser. These devices come in literally thousands of shapes and sizes, with simple or complex features, they are inexpensive and costly, so you may not know which one to buy.
You are going to have to test different kinds for yourself, and make a personal preference judgment. To help educate you before you buy an essential oil diffuser, let’s take a look at the 4 most common types.
Humidifying Diffuser (Also Called Ultrasonic)
Ultrasonic diffusers create a fine mist that mixes with the air in your immediate environment. What a humidifying diffuser does is use electronic frequencies to vibrate a small disc or platform which is submerged in some liquid. Usually water is used. The vibrations occur at a very high rate, and when you add essential oils to the diluting liquid, those oils are broken down into microscopic particles.
This is done to allow your lungs to effectively absorb the natural healing properties of essential oils. You also benefit by the fact that an ultrasonic diffuser humidifies your air, which is beneficial if you find yourself in an arid, dry environment.
Nebulizer Diffuser
Have you ever used or seen a perfume atomizer? An atomizer works by directing a small but powerful air current across the top of a liquid which contains some type of aromatic perfume. In this way, the atomizer creates a very fine spray.
A nebulizer diffuser works the same way, and since this method is effective for placing all of the oil into the air, it is often times regarded as the most effective and efficient type of diffuser for receiving all of the possible health benefits from your oils.
Evaporative Diffuser
This type of diffusing device operates at a very basic level. A fan is used to blow air across a filter, stone or pad upon which a few drops of essential oil is placed. This does a really good job in immediately sending essential oil into the air in your room or nearby environment. However, this process makes some of the tenderer and volatile parts of the oil evaporate, which is why some believe this may diminish the therapeutic properties of your oil to some degree.
Heat Diffuser
Like the aforementioned evaporative diffuser, this process causes essential oils to evaporate at a higher rate than other diffusing methods. However, heat diffusers are budget-friendly and totally silent. If you go this route, choose a heat-based diffuser that uses lower rather than higher levels of heat. The less heat used, the more therapeutic and healing properties you will get from your oil.
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