There’s nothing like being greeted by a welcoming scent as you enter a room. Inhaling the bright, cleansing fragrance of eucalyptus at the doctor’s office helps set the tone for an appointment. The aromas of jasmine and linen wafting through a hotel lobby draw guests in, subconsciously preparing them for a vacation full of romance and relaxation. The bottom line is that people appreciate a location that smells nice.
If you are a business owner or homeowner looking to spice things up for your customers or guests with a little scent marketing, you must decide on a delivery method. There is a surprisingly large array of options, but comparing two popular options—candles and scent diffusers—is a good place to start.
Candle Safety Concerns
Around 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians created the first “candle,” a kind of torch called a rushlight. But it was the Romans, a few thousand years later, who invented the wicked candle, which is still popular today. As a portable vessel for life-giving light, warmth, and scent, candles helped lead humanity out of its darkest ages.
Yet, the same thing that made candles so magical also made them dangerous—open flame. Though lit candles are beautiful and inviting, they also come with concerns for homeowners and business owners. Candles with open flames:
- Can quickly and easily start a fire
- Cannot be left unattended for long
- Attract children and pets, who may not understand the danger
- Create hot wax that may burn skin or stain surfaces
Scent diffusers, on the other hand, don’t have a flame. With no flickering flame to monitor and no hot wax to contain, they’re a safer choice for filling a space with pleasant smells. That’s especially true if your home or business sees regular visits from kids and pets, whose boundless energy might cause an accident.
Candle Health Concerns
Early wicked candles made from tallow (animal fat) produced a reliable flame, but also lots of smoke. In the Middle Ages, beeswax candles proved a popular alternative because they burned brighter and cleaner, with no smoky flame. Today, most candles are made from paraffin or stearic wax.
Even though they burn cleaner than their predecessors, today’s candles still produce soot when lit. Chemicals may also be released into the air if they’re infused with poor quality synthetic scents or dyes. Studies show that these chemicals and pollutants can cause respiratory problems and contribute to other health issues [SOURCE].
By contrast, scent diffusers disperse blends of pure essential oils and safe synthetic fragrances into the air. Since they do not need heat to spread their scent, their therapeutic benefits are preserved while indoor pollution is avoided.
Each Aire-Master fragrance is a proprietary blend of natural essential oils and synthetic aroma molecules, developed under the strict safety guidelines of the International Fragrance Association (IFRA).
Candle Aesthetics
After the light bulb’s invention in 1879, candle use fell off. However, despite their safety and health concerns, candles continued to be used, especially for holidays and religious ceremonies. During the first half of the twentieth century, candle use grew steadily, fueled by the byproducts of the meatpacking industry. Then, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, candles skyrocketed in popularity [SOURCE].
Today, candles are more popular than ever, with a fantastic array of sizes, shapes, colors, and scents. The rise of scent marketing is partially responsible. But another reason is because, when it comes to aesthetics, candles have advantages that fragrance dispensers don’t:
Warmth, Light, and Glow — Lighting a candle feels like a sacred act, even when it’s not for a spiritual purpose. Sparking a candle wick and then watching the flame dance…there’s a primal connection. Candles help set the scene with light, life, and warmth.
A Spa-Like Experience — Run a bath, turn out the lights, and light a few candles. It’s incredible how those activities—along with the flickering light and scented warmth the candles give off—can transform a typical bathroom into a spa-like setting reminiscent of the feel and smell of your favorite hotel.
Ceremonial and Spiritual Feeling — Lighting a candle embodies our quest for enlightenment. In its simplest meaning (lighting a dark path) and those more layered (lighting the dark corners of our minds), the act of lighting a candle wick infuses us with a sense of connection to all those who came before and did the same.
Candles remain popular and useful. Still, the potential risks can’t be ignored. Business owners and homeowners should carefully consider scent dispensers as a safer option.
Performance Benefits of Scent Dispensers
Scent dispensers, also called scent diffusers, release fragrant oils into the air as minuscule particles. These fragrance dispensers disperse fragrance oils at regular intervals, infusing your home or business with just the right amount of ambient scent.
Unlike candles, which need to be heated up to diffuse their fragrances, scent dispensers don’t rely exclusively on heat. They can turn oil into vapor in a few different ways.
- Nebulizing diffusers “puff out” pressurized, aromatic air
- Ultrasonic diffusers use vibrations and water to release vapor
- Evaporative diffusers blow air through a porous pad or reed soaked with oils
- Heat diffusers warm oils to release scent
Whatever the method, air diffusers disperse the aromatic compounds in fragrance oils, filling indoor spaces large and small with their fragrance. Fragrance oil diffusers are a safe, convenient option for scent marketing, and they come with other advantages, too.
Just the Right Amount of Scent: Scent dispensers specialize in delivering continuous scent. Just set it to your desired strength/frequency, and let them do their work.
Discrete: Sized to fit almost anywhere and designed to blend in, modern fragrance dispensers are designed so you can set ‘em and forget ‘em.
Adjustability and Flexibility: From small homes to large commercial spaces, scent dispensers can be adjusted to freshen whatever space you’re working with. Today, instead of buying hundreds of candles, business owners and homeowners can purchase or rent a dispenser made for a larger space.
Cost-Effective: Initially, buying a scent dispenser and oils may cost more. But if you’re committed to scent marketing, filling your home or business with the scents produced by fragrance oils is more cost-effective because they’re concentrated to last longer.
Aire-Master offers scent dispensers to fit any size space. We even have a portable odor control service called Fresh Turn. Check out the options and let us help you find the optimum scent level for your home or business.