dustinryan2010 Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 (edited) I haven’t seen this discussed here much but lately I’ve been VERY curious and determined to make my own refill solution. I recently noticed a company online called scentfill.com that sells airwick bottles refilled so I know it can be done, just gotta figure out a good base solution. The little plastic lids are pretty easy to pry off and I found some replacement PET fiber wicks off amazon. I tried using some cheap fragrance oil from Walmart that was made for reed diffusers, thinking it would have solvents to make the solution thinner, thus wicking up the fiberglass wicks easily, which in theory worked. The fragrance soaked the wick nicely but it gave off virtually no smell once plugged in unless I put my nose right up to it, BUT the oil straight from the bottle didn’t smell that strong either. Scouring the internet I’ve found multiple ingredient lists for different oil refills which seem to mainly consist of fragrance, and a long list of solvents, DPG being one. I know DPG is in many room spray bases so it got me to thinking, do you guys think I could potentially use room spray base as a base for these oil refills? Thinking about TFC’s room base which consists of water, DPG, alcohol and surfactants. Any feed back would be appreciated! to add to this, this will 100% be for personal use definitely not going to be selling these lol. Edited September 13, 2021 by dustinryan2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErronB Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I've been curious about this too, although the biggest problem is getting the empty refill thingys in the first place, I couldn't find anywhere that would sell them unfilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinryan2010 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 1 minute ago, ErronB said: I've been curious about this too, although the biggest problem is getting the empty refill thingys in the first place, I couldn't find anywhere that would sell them unfilled. Oh yeah for sure I haven’t been able to find them either. I have a TON though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 The solvent in those is made by Dowanol. Dow makes both glycol and methyl ether (and combos) under the Dowanol name. It is Not easily obtained by non-lab customers. There are several dowanol products made for different purposes with different flash points. You’d need to research the safety margins, etc. to replicate them. I had thought about refilling them, until the Firefighter in the family shared that they are a common enough cause of home fires to make me think otherwise. Candles are dangerous enough, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Years ago I tried refilling those using a variety of carrier oils as well as DPG, PG, room spray base and I don't remember what else. Nothing worked. I, too, abandoned the whole idea when I heard the dangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 1 hour ago, bfroberts said: Years ago I tried refilling those using a variety of carrier oils as well as DPG, PG, room spray base and I don't remember what else. Nothing worked. I, too, abandoned the whole idea when I heard the dangers. Plus, (general we) don’t use the same source type of fragrance compounds that the main manufacturer uses. They design their own aroma chemical blends with the ether compound diluents from the get go, bypassing the other random diluents used by our Common FO resellers. Our retail available FO aromachemicals are diluted for use in soap, candles, etc with one of many oil based solvents from DPG, soybean oil, mineral oil, dioctyl Adipate, isopropyl Myristate, diethyl phthalate, etc. to make them safe for shipping, handling and use by their customer pool of crafters. The lowered concentration and diluent fluid lowers our chances of success to replicate their product performance from the get go. Using those in the wall flower, etc, is not how they were designed at all. The molecular weights alone are not what the wall plug in units were designed for. I learned the hard way to not try to compete with the big manufacturer for refills when I could stay in my own lane with original offerings. Customers for BBW and glade typically are not the same pool of customers that prefer my product offerings. 🤷🏻♀️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 2 hours ago, TallTayl said: I learned the hard way to not try to compete with the big manufacturer for refills when I could stay in my own lane with original offerings. Customers for BBW and glade typically are not the same pool of customers that prefer my product offerings. 🤷🏻♀️ Great point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinryan2010 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 10 hours ago, TallTayl said: The solvent in those is made by Dowanol. Dow makes both glycol and methyl ether (and combos) under the Dowanol name. It is Not easily obtained by non-lab customers. There are several dowanol products made for different purposes with different flash points. You’d need to research the safety margins, etc. to replicate them. I had thought about refilling them, until the Firefighter in the family shared that they are a common enough cause of home fires to make me think otherwise. Candles are dangerous enough, lol. Yeah it’s unfortunate these wall plugs have a bad reputation regarding house fires, but just like candle fires, most seem to be user error, such as letting the bottles run completely dry and causing the device to overheat and sometimes short. I’ve got mine on smart plugs that turn off as I leave to give me a little peace of mind. I just love their ease of use and how long they last, got tired of cleaning up wax and changing it every day to keep some fragrance lingering. That scentfill company has an “all natural” line of oil refills that they claim are 100% plant based and free of any synthetics. I wish I knew how in the hell they’re doing it 🤔 this isn’t a little home based business either, they seem to have chemistry labs and warehouses, some Targets even carry their oil refills! Cost way too damn much though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinryan2010 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, bfroberts said: Great point! Certainly had no intention on bringing any sort of competition their way lol.. just trying to save some money on costly refills, adds up when you’ve got 6 plug-ins throughout the house 😬 wouldn’t dream of selling something like this Edited September 13, 2021 by dustinryan2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 To get an idea of what is in commercial products, check the published Safety Data Sheets which list the CAS# of key components. @BusyBee is a master of that art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Basically the product is a diffuser. look at diffuser bases, there are many. You’ll need to experiment with the right VOC balance to get throw. the wallflower SDS tells you exactly what components are in it. up to 60% of it is dowanol Dpma. This is one of the very few places I have found available to us non-lab non-industrial types to buy it. https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-9012-dowanol-dpma.aspx the SDS is readily available: https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/msds/9012.pdf Be wary of flash points. if the warmer gets to the mark on purpose or accidentally the fumes will likely ignite. Flash point will be altered up/down by your fragrances and other additives. Note the flash point of ALL items added to this refill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinryan2010 Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 9/14/2021 at 7:26 AM, TallTayl said: Basically the product is a diffuser. look at diffuser bases, there are many. You’ll need to experiment with the right VOC balance to get throw. the wallflower SDS tells you exactly what components are in it. up to 60% of it is dowanol Dpma. This is one of the very few places I have found available to us non-lab non-industrial types to buy it. https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-9012-dowanol-dpma.aspx the SDS is readily available: https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/msds/9012.pdf Be wary of flash points. if the warmer gets to the mark on purpose or accidentally the fumes will likely ignite. Flash point will be altered up/down by your fragrances and other additives. Note the flash point of ALL items added to this refill. Thanks so much for your helpful research on this! I may tinker around a little and see what I can come up with. I think from research I’ve found, the devices are SUPPOSED to run at consistent 150°, Glade in particular. Going to make sure any fragrance or other component I use has a FP well above that. Certainly not expecting the same throw as the originals though, I’d be pleasantly surprised if it produced any throw at all. I’ve seen so many people using household cleaners to refill theirs..and I thought I was brave! How they’re getting any fragrance out of them is beyond me! And to think what they could potentially be inhaling 😳 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Unicorn Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Does glade plug-in oil fragrance work well in candle wax? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 On 3/18/2024 at 3:46 PM, Ms. Unicorn said: Does glade plug-in oil fragrance work well in candle wax? I was curious about what they used in the pretty little bottles when they came out. After reading the patents, ingredients and SDS documents, I wouldn’t recommend trying any of them in candles or melts. Those types of units use various volatile compounds to lift the aromatics into the air. Some contain hydrous compounds, polymers, etc. which would not play well with waxes. example:https://www.scjp.com/sites/default/files/2020-10/35-17092.pdf eta: my coffee cup is full, and it’s cold outside, so I found a comfy rabbit hole… Based on the CAS number, here’s the solvent they use in the one above: https://www.aladdinsci.com/d102242.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwte-vBhBFEiwAQSv_xakzneyIW7NWw97TLryWBaWNjRw73OBPSHwELo-L3Iecdiufxe-BwBoCOqEQAvD_BwE And the safety warnings for that solvent: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ghs/#_pict seems like it might be a great one for reed diffusers, but not candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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