Home Fragrance – Scented Oils & Warmers

As a business owner in the home fragrance industry, I get a lot of questions about how safe oil heaters are and how to choose the best oils.

I’ll focus on scented oils first (not essential oils, that’s a whole different ball game).

Non-essential oils are made from a combination of natural and synthetic ingredients. They are carefully processed to be suitable and safe for use in the home or bath and body.

So what makes one company’s oils better (stronger, longer lasting) than another’s?

This largely depends on the manufacturer. If a dealer isn’t buying a good quality oil, it doesn’t take long to find out that it’s cheap. Oils can lose fragrance after a short time, or have no fragrance at all when heat is applied!

Depending on the type of fragrance you get, the oils may react differently when used in a particular application.

That is why I have always insisted that people who want to start a home fragrance business always test the oils before buying a large quantity. You’ll know right away if it’s a quality product and okay to use in your application. This will save you a lot of money and keep your customers for the long term.

I have tried many oils from several different manufacturers and only sell the highest quality to my customers (also at the best price). Like essential oils, fragrance oils can also have “calming” or other relaxing effects on your body. I have a client who frequently orders my “Boysenberry” fragrance because she says it relaxes her.

Another tip for buying oils, I suggest you buy your base oils, mix them yourself and try, try, try. It takes a little more time and effort, but if you buy oils in “ready to sell” bottles (which also have their label), you have no idea if the quality is the same bottle for bottle.

Now for the heaters. Two popular forms of oil heaters are tealight and electric. I’ll explain why electric heaters are your safest bet.

First, tealight heaters use a small candle with a flame to heat the oil. All oils have a flash point, which means that if they go above a certain point, the oil is likely to catch fire. Think of this in terms of vegetable oil in a pan on a hot stove. If you leave the stove on high heat, the oil will surely catch fire at some point!

Tealight heaters can be dangerous because you have no control over the heat of the flame, which creates a fire hazard.

You are also wasting your oils!

I have tested my oils in tealight warmers and the oil eventually boiled, sizzled and burned in no time. There was a nice smell at first, but it didn’t last long!

When I poured the oil out it was a dark brown/black color (I used French Vanilla which was clear when I started). The oil was ruined, not to mention ready to burn!

If you prefer to use (or sell) tealight heaters, I’d suggest staying close by while burning in case you need to intercept them. It is recommended that you also share this with your customers.

Most electric heaters use a 35-watt bulb and are equipped with a dimmer switch. This invention is not only ingenious, but much safer to use!

I usually turn my heater on high for about 15 minutes, then turn it down to half. The oil rarely burns (the bulb doesn’t get hot enough), and the scent is constant and fantastic!

You will see “white smoke” coming from the oil, but this is not smoke, it is steam from the oil, which is completely normal. Vapor is the oil that evaporates into the air which, in turn, perfumes the entire house.

Also very nice (unlike candles) there is no black soot associated with burning oils.

Another tip for heating oils, if you get a fragrance that is particularly strong, you can always add water to your warmer and add a few drops of oil until you reach a comfortable level.