My wife an I stumbled onto the greatest air purifier/aromatic thing-a-ma-jig in the world and I just had to tell you all about it. I’m not usually this gung ho about things for the home, but this little bad boy really surprised me at just how good it is.
When Mike Rohde and his wife Gail came to visit back in October, Holly and Gail went shopping in Franklin, TN to a place called The Factory. As they browsed the various boutiques and sundry shops, they entered “Cherie’s Unique Decor” and were immediately taken by the fragrance that wafted through the air. Asking the owner what smelled so wonderful, they were told it was a fragrance called “Red Currant” and when they asked about what was creating the scent, that’s when they were told the whole story.
Fast forward to several hours later when Gail and Holly are trying to describe how this oil lamp worked. Although they tried to explain it, I just couldn’t get my head around how this thing worked exactly. Mike and I both scratched our head a bit and figured we’d go out there ourselves and see them first-hand since Holly was so enamored with them. Lucky for Holly and I, we didn’t have to wait because Mike and Gail bought us one as an early thank you gift!
Now that I had one in hand, I could get a better sense of how this thing worked, but first I had to try it out for my self. We followed the instructions, waited for the wick to get it’s fill of oil and then lit the top of the lamp. After 4 minutes or so, we blew it out and then took a step back as the room began to fill with the most wonder scent. It was heaven.
So What Is An Effusion Lamp?
Effusion lamps were invented over 100 years ago by a gentleman by the name of Maurice Berger in Paris, France. Maurice invented the lamp for hospitals with the intended purpose of purifying the air and making the air smell better as well. Figuring that people could also use these lamps in the home, Maurice Berger patented his invention and created the company Lampe Berger to sell the lamps.
Unfortunately, Lampe Berger lamps are rather expensive, so it wasn’t until the patent ran out in 1998 that other companies were able to create similar products and begin marketing them. This dropped the price down considerably, since Lampe Berger lamps started at around $100 a piece. Now days, you can get effusion lamps for as little as $25, so their popularity has grown since more people can afford it.
So How Does It Work
For starters, effusion lamps use a high-grade alcohol based fuel that contains a fragrance. It’s not an oil based fuel, so it burns cleanly and supposedly destroys odors and purifies the air.
The second piece to this unique lamp is the “catalytic wick stone” that tops the lamp. You light the lamp to heat the stone for a few minutes and then when you blow it out – that’s when it begins to work. There’s a great image that illustrates the whole process at this link.
The end result is that you can scent an entire room in about 30 minutes. Odors will disappear, the air will smell cleaner and have a fantastic scent to boot!
Where Do You Get Them?
As you might imagine, there’s a whole world of lamps and fragrances to choose from. On one web site alone I found over 150 scents to choose from. Our favorites right now are “Red Currant” (also sold as “Something In Red” by La-Tee-Da!), Ocean Breeze
As for the lamps themselves, Courtney’s Candles & Creations carries a wide selection of La-Tee-Da! lamps, as well as others. The lamps that we own are made by Aromalytic and can good deals can be found at Creeds Online.
Please bear in mind that I can’t vouch for any of the companies I’ve listed. Both of our lamps have come from “Cherie’s Unique Decor” at The Factory.
Both? You Mean You Have More Than One?
Caught that reference did you? Well, it’s true! After using the one that Mike and Gail got us so much, I decided I could use one just for my office. I ended up getting the Classic Glazed Cobalt on Saturday. Think that’s bad? Well, Holly has her eye on a Vogue Confetti model in purple for our bedroom.
Give one of these effusion lamps a try in your home and you too will see just how hooked you can get. You’ll swear off other air fresheners, Febreze, and plug-ins all together. These things are THAT good. 🙂
Which site did you find that had over 150 scents to choose from?
we always use air purifiers at home since we live in a polluted place :
@Don – I don’t remember the site, but Courtney’s is a great place to find fragrances.
@Sara – I’m so sorry to hear that you live in a polluted place 🙁