How to Make a Turmeric Oil Inhaler at Home
A personal inhaler is a small sealed tube with a cotton wick, scented with a few drops of oil and opened for a sniff or two. It is about as simple as aroma gets, and turmeric oil, with its warm, earthy, gingery scent, can go into one. The trick is restraint: a heavy spicy note is easy to overdo, so the whole recipe comes down to how little you use.
Turmeric Essential Oil
Our own Turmeric Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $12.99
Shop Now →Choose the tube first
We do not sell inhaler tubes, wicks or carrier oils, so this is a trip to a craft or aroma supply shop. Ask for a tube with a snug cap and a cotton wick. We would look for glass or aluminium rather than plastic, and that is our reasoning rather than a tested rule: a wick holds the oil neat, with nothing diluting it, and a strong oil sitting against a plastic wall for weeks is a combination we would simply rather avoid.
How many drops
We found no authoritative drop count for a turmeric inhaler, so the figure here is our own cautious suggestion. Start with 3 drops on one wick, and do not go above 6. If you want more scent, add one drop and give it a day before you judge, not a minute.
| Drops | Volume at about 20 drops per ml |
|---|---|
| 3 | about 0.15 ml |
| 6 | about 0.3 ml |
Drop size varies with the dropper and the oil, so treat those as rough. For a first tube, two arrangements are worth trying, both as suggestions rather than tested blends. Turmeric on its own, 3 drops, tells you quickly whether you like it. For a softer, brighter result, try 2 drops of turmeric with 4 drops of sweet orange, sweet orange is among the oils that blend well with turmeric, and you would buy it elsewhere, since we sell turmeric only.
Before you start, open the bottle and smell it once. Turmeric oil has a warm, earthy, gingery scent with a woody-spicy edge, and it is stronger than many people expect. Knowing that in advance is the best argument for starting with the lowest number of drops.
Assembly
- Wash and dry your hands. Our oil is sold neat, and we advise diluting it before it touches skin, so use tweezers to handle the wick.
- Lift the wick out of the tube and set it on a clean glass dish or a piece of foil.
- Add the drops one at a time to the wick, letting each soak in for a few seconds.
- Return the wick to the tube with the tweezers, seat the inner plug if there is one, and cap it firmly.
- Label the tube with the oil and the date, and wash your tweezers and dish with soap and water. A drop of any essential oil can mark fabric, so work on a surface you do not mind.
Small tips for a tidy tube
- Work on a clean plate or a sheet of foil, so a stray drop does not land on a favorite surface.
- Let the wick sit a few minutes after adding the oil before you close the tube.
- Write the oil name and date on the tube in a marker that will not smudge.
- Keep one tube per scent, so the smells do not mix on the wick.
Using it, and what it is not
Hold the open tube a few centimetres from your nose, take a breath or two, and cap it again. Keep it away from your eyes and mouth and do not leave it uncapped on a desk. Short, occasional sniffs suit a strong spicy oil better than carrying a tube around all day.
An inhaler is a scent holder. The FDA regulates aromatherapy products by their intended use and counts claims such as easing pain or helping you sleep as drug claims, which is why we say nothing about what the aroma does to breathing, mood or sleep. The NCCIH aromatherapy page says much the same thing about the research: for insomnia, it is not known whether aromatherapy helps, because little rigorous research has been done. Nothing we found tests a turmeric inhaler, so we offer it as a pleasant way to enjoy the scent and nothing more.
Who should skip it
A small tube that smells good is exactly what a toddler will open, so this is for adults, and it needs a spot out of reach. Poison Control advises that essential oils be locked up, out of the sight and reach of children and pets, and it notes that if someone swallows one they should call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222. If you share a home with a pet, ask your veterinarian before using any oil in the air. If you are pregnant, nursing or have a respiratory or other medical condition, consult your physician first, as our disclaimer says. If you get a headache, cough, chest tightness or itchy eyes, stop and get fresh air; trouble breathing is an emergency.
If what you really want is a warm spicy scent for a room, our evening diffuser article and turmeric and sweet orange blend are the better place to start, and the safety overview explains who should skip the oil altogether. Our look at what the stress and mood studies covered is worth reading before you expect anything from a scent.
If you want to refresh the tube after a few weeks, use a new wick rather than adding more oil to an old one. A fresh wick keeps the smell clean, and it costs very little at a craft or aroma supply shop.
Three drops, a snug cap and a high shelf: that is the whole plan.
Turmeric Essential Oil
Turmeric Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $12.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- Essential oils: Poisonous when misused, Poison Control.
- Aromatherapy, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Aromatherapy, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, updated January 2020.
