Make a Fir Room Spray That Stays Mixed
Make a fir room spray the easy way and you will meet the same surprise every time: the first sprays are mostly water, and the last are mostly oil on your sofa. Oil and water do not stay together. The fix is not more scent, it is something to hold the oil in the water, and that is what this recipe is built around.
Fir Needle Essential Oil
Our own Fir Needle Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $10.99
Shop Now →Three ways to keep the oil in the water
The Certificate of Analysis we publish for one batch gives a relative density of 0.924, so our oil sits on top of water, and shaking only separates it into droplets for a few seconds. Suppliers handle that in a few ways.
- Witch hazel or rubbing alcohol. The Flaming Candle suggests half a bottle of distilled water with 1 to 2 tablespoons of witch hazel or rubbing alcohol and 20 to 30 drops of oil, shaken before each use (How to Make a Room/Linen Spray). Simple, but it is a shake-first spray.
- A solubilizer. Aussie Soap Supplies uses 270 g of water warmed to about 40 C, 15 g of fragrance and 15 g of polysorbate, and notes the result usually looks milky (Room Spray Recipe). Lotioncrafter describes polysorbate 20 as an essential oil solubilizer for linen and room sprays (Polysorbate 20 | Essential Oil Solubilizer & Emulsifier).
- A solubilizer plus a preservative. The Aussie page suggests 0.3 percent Liquid Germall Plus if the spray is going to sit for a while.
Our recommendation follows from that. If you want a spray that stays mixed and lasts for weeks, use a solubilizer and a preservative. If you will use it up within days, the witch hazel version is fine, as long as you shake it every time.
How much fir
The Tisserand Institute's dilution page covers skin products and has no range for room sprays. But a spray lands on cushions and curtains, and on whoever is spraying, so we borrow the careful end of the skin ranges: 0.5 to 1.2 percent for facial products and 1 to 3 percent for body products (Recommended dilutions). We suggest 1 percent fir oil by weight, which sits inside our own 0.5 to 2 percent skin guidance and well below the 5 percent in the solubilizer recipe above. The supplier drop counts agree: 20 to 30 drops is about 1 to 1.5 ml, roughly 0.9 to 1.4 g at our density, so about 1 to 1.4 percent in a 100 ml bottle.
A 100 g batch
| Ingredient | Grams | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fir needle oil (about 22 drops) | 1.00 | 1.0% |
| Polysorbate 20 | 1.00 | 1.0% |
| Liquid Germall Plus, or another preservative | 0.30 | 0.3% |
| Distilled water | 97.70 | 97.7% |
Weigh the oil and polysorbate into one cup and stir them together first, so the solubilizer meets the oil before the water arrives. Warm the water to about 40 C and stir it in slowly. A slightly milky look is normal. Add the preservative last, following its own data sheet, bottle it in glass or PET, label it with the date and keep it out of sun. For the witch hazel version, swap the polysorbate and preservative for a tablespoon or two of witch hazel, make a smaller batch and use it within a week or two.
Test before you mist
Both supplier pages say to test first, and we agree. Spray a hidden corner of the actual item, wait until it dries and look for a ring. Silk, untreated leather and polished wood are the usual trouble spots. Hold the bottle at arm's length and mist the air of the room instead of soaking a cushion.
Pets, birds and children
A spray puts droplets in the air, which makes it closer to an active diffuser than a reed. Pet Poison Helpline says active diffusers release microdroplets that can settle on fur and be swallowed during grooming, with extra risk for cats (Updates on Essential Oils). The ASPCA says short diffuser use in a space a pet cannot enter is unlikely to be an issue, and that it is best to avoid diffusers around birds (The Essentials of Essential Oils Around Pets). Neither is about sprays, and neither names fir, so treat it as a cue for caution. If you have a cat, a bird or a pet with breathing trouble, ask your veterinarian first, and keep a freshly sprayed room closed to pets until it is dry and aired. Keep the oil and the spray away from children, too.
Label it for what it is
If you are tempted to write "bug repellent" or "germ killer" on the bottle, do not. The EPA's minimum risk rule says such products must not claim to control or mitigate microorganisms that threaten human health (40 CFR 152.25 - Exemptions for pesticides of a character not requiring FIFRA regulation). A room fragrance is a room fragrance. The cleaner post goes through the rule, and if you plan to sell a spray, our labelling guide is the place to start.
If a spray is not right for the space, a reed diffuser may suit better. A half-ounce bottle makes many batches of this size, and with a small batch you will use the oil while it is fresh.
Fir Needle Essential Oil
Fir Needle Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $10.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- Room Spray Recipe (Aussie Soap Supplies)
- How to Make a Room/Linen Spray (The Flaming Candle)
- Polysorbate 20 | Essential Oil Solubilizer & Emulsifier (Lotioncrafter)
- Recommended dilutions (Tisserand Institute)
- Updates on Essential Oils (Pet Poison Helpline)
- The Essentials of Essential Oils Around Pets (ASPCA)
- 40 CFR 152.25 - Exemptions for pesticides of a character not requiring FIFRA regulation (Cornell LII)