Essential oil diffusers break down the essential oils so that the aroma can be dispersed throughout the whole room. It’s a great way to use essential oils since this brings a soothing and relaxing atmosphere that you can enjoy.
However, it’s troublesome when the diffuser starts functioning improperly or even breaks. At times, all it needs is a good clean-up, but it may also need some other tune-ups for it to get fixed if you experience some issues.
Below, I’ve outlined the most common reasons for problems, and how to easily fix your essential oil diffuser at home.
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If your essential oil diffuser is experiencing some hiccups, give these tips a try, and also don’t be shy to share your own experience in the comments.
Make Sure You Clean Your Essential Oil Diffuser
It is vitally important that you clean your diffuser properly on a regular basis. While it can be a challenge at first, you’ll slowly get used to the process of cleaning the diffuser and you’ll be maintaining it yourself instead of paying someone to do it for you, or waiting for the diffuser to break down and having to expense the replacement cost. It’s an incredible hassle to bring in or send back a diffuser just for cleaning, and it becomes of an even bigger problem if the diffuser gets broken because you didn’t clean it properly.
Essential oil diffusers come in many types and shapes. This one here is the Young Living Aria Diffuser. It’s beautiful, but also quite expensive.
Exact cleaning recommendations and steps will vary depending on which diffuser you use. PLEASE give your diffuser manual a quick read before you start its operation, just so that you know what you need to do to maintain it’s best functionality and most effective diffusing of aromatherapy.
To be used only as a general rule of thumb, here’s a list of steps you can follow to clean your essential oil diffuser:
8 Simple Steps To Clean Your Essential Oil Diffuser
*** ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR DIFFUSER IS UNPLUGGED FROM ITS POWER OUTLET BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN IT ***
- Fill your diffuser about half way with clean water. Make sure you stop well below the max line.
- Add up to 10 drops of pure white vinegar. This will help in removing the oils that are stuck inside the diffuser and on the glass or plastic pieces.
- Let the diffuser run for about 3-5 minutes to allow the water-vinegar mixture to disperse throughout the unit and clean it.
- Drain the diffuser completely.
- Using a cotton swab dipped in vinegar, clean the tight spots and corners of the diffuser to make sure that no spots are left dirty.
- Rinse with clean water.
- Empty again and you’re good to go.
- Use a dry cloth, or more cotton swabs or cotton balls to wipe the diffuser and dry it thoroughly.
Please note, some people have told me that cleaning your diffuser with vinegar voided their diffuser warranty – specifically on Young Living diffusers. If your unit is still under warranty, it would be best to call customer service of your diffuser brand or product seller first before you attempt any home remedies to clean your unit.
Some diffusers also give you specific cleaning instructions in their diffuser manuals. Please always consult these avenues first before proceeding with my general cleaning tips.
After Each Use
Most manufacturer instructions will tell you to clean out your diffuser after each use, which at first may seem a bit excessive. While I owned my first diffuser unit, I didn’t do it properly each time. I’d leave water plus essential oil mixture in the diffuser, thinking “oh I’ll just run this again tomorrow”.
Please DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE. The oils used in your essential oil diffuser can be very corrosive and you really do have to clean it out after each use for best longevity and performance of the unit. Further, the smells and leftovers of one oil can severely effect the experience you have when you put another scent or oil in your diffuser.
So, after each use, please fully empty your essential oil diffuser of all water and oils, and give it at least a quick wipe with a damp cloth, Kleenex, or Q-tip.
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Troubleshooting Your Diffuser
If you’re using your essential oil diffuser on a regular basis, it can from time to time come up with some troubles or hiccups. But do not panic! Most common problems can easily be solved with the following few simple tricks.
Ways to troubleshoot these problems
Diffuser Doesn’t Have Power
- Check if the power plug is securely plugged to the electrical outlet
- Make sure that the bowl contains water and the levels are correct
- Check if you’re using the right power adapter
- Check if the power supply socket is plugged into the diffuser
- Empty the diffuser, wait for a few days to dry it out and try plugging it in again
Very Little Diffusion
- Check if the water levels are correct/high enough
- Make sure that the fan inlet is not blocked by dried up oil essential oil > give your diffuser a clean-up if you can see left over dirt
- Re-check the mist settings of the diffuser and ensure you didn’t turn it down
Water in the diffuser is hot, level is high
- This means that the diffuser has been overfilled with water
- Turn off and unplug the diffuser from the power supply
- Empty the diffuser and let it cool down a bit
- Refill the diffuser at the right water level and restart
- If the diffuser doesn’t start up, that means it has been damaged by overfilling and will need proper repair
Water in the diffuser is hot, level is normal
- The fan intake may be obstructed
- Remove any towel or cloth that may have been placed below the diffuser
- Check to see if there are hairs or fur pieces stuck in the fan blades and remove
- Turn off and unplug the diffuser, letting it cool down for a while
- Refill the diffuser at the right level and restart
- If the diffuser doesn’t start up, that means it has been damaged and will need proper repair
Light indicators flash but diffuser doesn’t start
- The diffuser may have malfunctioned or there has been a detected fault
- Turn off the diffuser and unplug from the power source
- Empty the diffuser and allow to cool down for a bit
- Refill the diffuser at the correct water level
- Reconnect and restart the diffuser
- If the diffuser doesn’t start up, it may need to be checked by a professional for assessment or repair
Using a diffuser to use essential oils is very convenient. However, you also need to remember that you need to clean and maintain it regularly to ensure that it doesn’t get damaged. Read your particular diffuser’s manual to learn how to effectively clean your unit yourself and also know the proper way how to use it to prevent damage from occurring in the first place.
Emma A.
A friend of mine gave me her diffuser because she no longer used it but she must have used the same oil all the time and alot of it because the diffuser has that scent embedded into it and unfortunately it is too strong of a smell for me. Do you have any suggestions of how to remove the scent?
Robin
Goodness, I’m asking the same! How to remove permeated scents!???
Emma
Hi Emma A. and Robin – Try the mixture with water and vinegar outlined above in the “8 Simple Steps To Clean Your Essential Oil Diffuser”. Citrus scents may be stronger and more stuck in your diffuser, especially plastic diffusers. Citrus oils have properties that corrode their plastic surroundings and if you or the previous owner ran a lot of Lemon oil in it for example, your unit might be permanently “citrus use only” because the oils would have started to attack the plastics and the scents stuck in there forever. I’m writing a full article on this right now and will update again when it’s ready – the whole citrus oils thing is a very common question so thanks for submitting your comments!
Shannon
Hello! Did you happen to complete the article about citrus oils? I think that my Ellia diffuser is ruined.
Bryon
I have a purple rose diffuser, all of a sudden it started spitting out water and mist. Theres water everywhere. Ive emptied it and tried different levels of water but it still seems to spit out like the fan is too strong. Any suggestions?
Alexa
Mine started spitting water as well. I have the Doterra Petal Diffuser. I didn’t know about cleaning it daily, so after a few weeks it began forming a water seal at the stop, and spewing water and mist. I saw another comment with the same water seal problem. Any suggestions? Is it broken or does it need a Cleaning?
Laurel Davis
Thanks for the great info!Do you know where can you purchase power supply cords? I have a SpaVapor+ that has a bad power supply.
Minton
Thanks for this guide, Emma, I have bought a new oil diffuser and I appreciate your cleaning steps in this post, liked and pinned
Emma
Amazing! Glad to hear it, thanks!!
Jessica
Ugh…I meant mist…
Emma
Hey Jessica, please check that you haven’t over-filled your diffuser. Sometimes when I’ve put too much water in mine, it would run but no mist would come out.
Jessica
What if there is a ton of most but it just won’t come out? I’ve cleaned it with vinegar and alcohol.
Winki
Will the function be affected if the diffuser outer shell is broken ?
Dianne Shaw
Young Living suggested a q-tip with alcohol to run around the metal part in center. They also suggested with the Dewdrop to NOT align the holes in the base with the inner cone. That does help. Sometimes, the cord needs to be replaced. If you have two of the same diffuser, switch those out. If starts working, and still under warranty, YL will replace. CLEANING daily is the key. If liquid is left in the diffuser, don’t pitch it. Put it in a glass spray bottle for a room spray or in an amber bottle, then put some on acotton ball, and put by a vent to circulate throughout the house.
Sharroan coakieanos
I have the home rose diffurser. Turned it on after a year because I moved across country.no steam at all, what is going on.
Holly
Hello, my diffuser is working, but at the top a water seal keeps firming and stops the steam from being released. If I remove the top the water seal is broken, and it will then release the steam…what should I do?
cindy
i have the dotterra diffuser and the light goes off and on and it seems to spit out more water than mist i have cleaned it but nothing has helped? any ideas?
Eunyoung
My diffuser will run for a VERY long time where I just shut it off. The last time I think I let it run for over 30 hours and it was still blowing out a small stream of mist. When I shut it off and peeked in to see how much liquid was still left, I was shocked to see it was over half full! And obviously the scent is almost non existent at this point. Any ideas what is going on? Thanks so much for any help or advise!!
Emma
Hi, thanks for writing. Sounds to me like your diffuser is broken. I’ve never heard of a diffuser running time of 20 hours for regular operations. Most diffusers will run for 3-4 hours typically, some run for up to 8-10 hours if they have a larger water tank. It sounds like yours is not diffusing properly as it seems to hardly use any water in the amount of time you said. I’d recommend to talk to the store or supplier where you bought your unit from and get a replacement.
Jane
Is pure vinegar the same as distilled white vinegar?
Ctgreen
No you need to use white vinegar
Debbie
I have the Aria diffuser and dropped the glass top. Anyone know where I can hopefully replace this? HELP!
Emma
Hey Debbie, oh that’s unfortunate it broke, sorry to hear. Maybe contact a Young Living rep in your area? Look in Google for “Young Living Rep” or “Young Living Distributor” plus add your local town or city name as I’d assume the only replacement parts for the YL Aria would come from YL directly.
Terri
Debbie, you can order the Aria glass dome from an YL distributor. The cost of the glass dome is $32.24 retail, but the distributor can get it for a little less, using their wholesale price advantage.
Terri
Debbie, you can order direct from YL and get a replacement top. You can also contact a YL distributor for help. I love my Aria!!
Toni
Mine is doing the same thing. Just flickers when I try to turn it on. Did you get it fixed? I went on Live Chat with Young Living. He told me to put in alcohol and let sit for 2 hours.
Appreciated any comment you might have!
Thanks,
Toni
Sara
Mine is doing the same thing! Did your alcohol work?
Tracy
I am having the same problem. I will push the switch for mist and it will light up for a split second, spit water out of the bottom, then turn off.
Ashlee
Same issue here as well as many others who use the home diffuser. I chatted with YL and he had me clean it with rubbing alcohol. It didn’t help. I’m just praying it will miraculously start working.
Emma
Toni, Sara, Tracy & Ashlee, please try the folks at DiffuserDoc.com :) They specialize in Young Living diffuser repairs.
Jennie
My diffuser did the same thing and I ordered the disc replacement from diffuserdoc.com. It works perfectly and it only took 5 minutes to fix.
Marilynn Olson
Go to the Young Living website and you can order a replacement dome directly from them.
Jen Norton
I used my brand new doterra diffuser for the second time today but it has stopped working? When i press the mist function button there is a flash of light but nothing else happens. Has anyone got any advice as I am gutted?!!! I emptied the unit out after use yesterday, then today filled it up to the correct red level marker. Did I do something wrong? Thanks :-)
Pat paul
Mine is doing the same thing.please help!
Alessia
My mother in law has the same problem with her diffuser.
Emma
Jen, Pat, Alessia and Christina, have you tried the folks at DiffuserDoc.com? They have diffuser fix kits for doTerra and Young Living!
photojenny
I have a different brand (SpaRoom) which I have had for a little less than a month. Everything was working great until today, no mist. Cleaned it with alcohol and then vinegar, neither helped. I could hear something kick on, then shortly after it would turn off. Opened up the unit and one of the solders on the disc had come loose. Apparently I like to keep my hubby doing fiddly little fix it jobs, but 10 minutes in the garage with him and my diffuser is purring like a kitten.
Jdee
Your diffuser has a failsafe. Sounds like your ultrasonic ceramic disk has failed and requires replacement. Very simple procedure. If your unit fails to work after replacing the ceramic disk, the power supply has failed.
Christina
I have the YL Rose Hime Diffuser and it has started to whine when I first turn on. Any suggestiins? I’ve cleaned it only for it to do same thing.
Jdee
You have mineral deposits on your ultrasonic ceramic disk.
Alex
My diffuser isn’t diffusing the smoke as much as it did yesterday, what could be wrong?
Emma
Hi Alex, sorry to hear about your diffuser. I have found in my own use of diffusers that sometimes overfilling the water past the “Max” line will make the diffuser put out less steam because it can’t work properly because it’s too full… But that’s my diffuser unit; I’m not sure which model you own so your best bet is to contact the supplier or manufacturer of your diffuser directly as they will have more experience with their exact product and troubleshooting it for you specifically.
David
Not sure which diffuser you have Alex, but the Aria has a small circular filter than could require some cleaning. If that’s the case consider cleaning the air filter underneath with white vingear. After using this daily for a year and having pets, it can get clogged up just like the filter for an air conditioning unit which will ultimately reduce the airflow and overall diffusion rate. Twist, remove, clean, allow to completely dry then replace.
Michelle
Hi I have a bamboo young living dispenser. One important note to consider when trouble shooting your diffuser is what type of water do you have? Hard water contains a lot of calcium and magnesium and can cause white deposits on dishes and possibly your diffuser. Soft water comes from rain then seeps into rocks containing lime. To purify soft water cities use sodium, not that good for drinking. I cleaned my diffuser by doing all the steps listed. I also put a blow dryer to the bottom vents to make sure that was not the problem. Solution by trial and error, I have very soft water so I had to use the small water container they provide, added 2 teaspoons of salt, mixed good and bingo! Unit is working like it did when I first got it! The sodium displaces the hydrogen molecules from the oxygen molecules so the ultrasonic element can better produce steam
Michelle
Hi this is Michelle, review my note! Also know what type of water you have? Hard or soft, it makes a huge difference!
Emily
I’m an YL oil addict, and received the aria diffuser for Christmas!! Used it once, and it stopped working. I put a little water in it because I didn’t want to run it long. The lights and music came on, but no diffusing. I hopped on live chat, and started reading your article while waiting. I came across the part where you said to make sure you have enough water in it. I added more water, and it worked!!! Thanks so much!!
Emma
Hi Emily, that’s AMAZING, thanks so much for sharing this story with us here!!! :)
Vccb
Emily,
Absolutely incredible. Thanks so much for the story! And what a fix!
Sarah
Thanks for the information- it looks like a very simple process. Does it have to be pure white vinegar? Or could I use apple cider vinegar or another type of vinegar?
Thank you!
Emma
Hi Sarah. Please only use white vinegar as Cider or other tinted/brown vinegars may leave behind unwanted stains and such. There are a few vinegars labelled “Extra Strength Cleaning Vinegar”, but I haven’t bothered with that yet. I always just use the Heinz white vinegar from the grocery store isle that I can also use for my other regular cooking in the kitchen.
Stephanie
FYI…if you have a Young Living diffuser and you use ANYTHING other than distilled water in your diffuser and/or rubbing alcohol to wipe out (NOT diffuse) your diffuser, you will void your warranty and they will not replace your diffuser! I followed the directions above and used white vinegar, and when that didn’t help mine and I called customer service they couldn’t help me replace it because I had used something they don’t tell you to! Don’t want this to happen to anyone else!
David
Sorry to learn about your warranty! Here’s a PDF from Young Living you might find interesting, https://static.youngliving.com/en-US/PDFS/PIP_Aria.pdf. This PDF indicates the only appropriate cleaner is Thieves. A couple additional considerations: use distilled water only and consider cleaning the small circular air filter underneath with white vingear. After using this daily for a year and having pets, it can get clogged up just like the filter for an air conditioning unit which will ultimately reduce the airflow and overall diffusion rate. Twist, remove, clean, allow to completely dry then replace.
Steve
I need a fan for my light doterra defuser. Please help
Daniel
Mine also. When I turn it on. It whines very loud. The motor has gone bad.
Vern
Mine was making noise also I just put about 15 drops of vinegar and filled half way with water ran it for about 3 mins and it stopped making noise
Rick Harbaugh
I used distilled white vinegar and mine instantly started to run better. It sounded like the fan was all bogged down. I also will spray compressed air through the fan holes to get rid of any dust or dirt in my unit. It runs like a dream.
Marie
I just followed directions for cleaning my Aria diffuser. It does fill up with steam, however the steam will not flow out through the mist spout. I have turned the glass dome in various positions with no success. Any ideas?
Marie
Monica
I have the same problem
Rosemary
Me too
Abbey
Me too
Emma Carter
You guys might benefit from contacting my friends at “Diffuser Doc”. They specialize in Young Living diffuser repair kits and have vent kits and such specifically for the Aria. It sounds like maybe it’s a simple part like that that’ll help your diffusers get back on track? Check them out here: https://www.diffuserdoc.com/young-living-diffuser-repair-kits/yl-aria.html
Sondra
Mine is brand new. And no mist coming out
Tessa
Mine is brand new as well, mist isn’t coming out and I got it for Christmas. So sad idk what the problem is.
Michelle
That is exactly what happened to my diffuser so I filled it with purified water and added about 10 drops of white vinegar and I just let it go through a cycle and in about 10 minutes it started producing steam through the top like a champ and now works fine :-)!
Angel
So that’s what’s wrong? Mine makes a noise just when I turn it on and it seems to work itself out after running a couple of minutes.. confusing
Emma
Steve and Daniel, have you tried the folks at DiffuserDoc.com? I believe they have kits for doTerra and Young Living!