Home fragrance, and the one decision to make before you buy anything

In short

• Decide first when you want scent: all day, in the evening, or only at moments. That narrows the shelf to two or three forms.
• One scent family per room is enough: fresh where there is water and cooking, warm where you sit, light where you sleep.
• No fragrance fixes a smell with a cause. Bins, damp and pets want ventilation and cleaning first, scent second.

What the term actually covers

Home fragrance means anything bought to scent a room. Each form has its own page on this site, so this is only the short version of which is which.

• A flame: scented candles, and wax melts on a tealight burner.
• Sitting there: reed sticks in a bottle, a sachet, a bowl of dried orange and cloves. Faint and constant.
• On demand: a room spray, or an automatic spray on the wall.
• Plugged in: a plug-in warmer, or an electric diffuser that meters oil at a setting you choose.

The one decision that matters first

Ask yourself when you want the scent. Not which smell, but the hours. Most answers fall into one of three.

Then two checks. Which room, because a room decides how much scent it can take and whether there is a socket. And is a flame allowed, because a tenancy that bans candles, a toddler or a curious cat can each rule a flame out. That leaves reeds, a plug-in or an electric diffuser; the diffusers we set side by side for homes where a flame is out of the question covers the last of those.

One scent family per room, not ten bottles

Three families cover a house, and the room tells you which.

• Fresh where there is water and cooking: lemon, grapefruit, mint, rosemary or eucalyptus.
• Warm where you sit: cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, amber or a little spice, for low light and the evening.
• Light where you sleep: lavender, chamomile or a soft linen-type scent, and less than you think. Many people find lavender calming; a heavy scent in a closed bedroom is another matter.
• The hall: fresh and faint. It is the first thing a visitor smells and the thing you stop smelling soonest.

How strong is strong enough

Weaker than you think. The nose stops registering a constant smell before long, and the person who no longer notices it is the one who tops it up. Your guests notice. In a small flat the kitchen, hall and living room share their air, so one source is usually plenty.

Go out for a while and come back in through the front door. If the scent meets you in the hall, turn it down. If you have to go looking for it, that is right for a bedroom and a touch too little for a living room. Our rundown of electric diffusers with an output you can turn down shows which go low enough for a bedroom.

Layering, one scent, and the switch to autumn

Layering means two faint scents meant to be smelled together, a citrus with a wood, say. It fails when a strong candle meets a strong plug-in and the hall smells like a department store. One scent per room is the safer rule.

Scent has seasons too, and October is the moment to switch. The citrus and mint of summer feel thin once the heating goes on; cinnamon, clove, orange peel and cedar suit dark afternoons. A bowl of dried orange slices on the hall table does it there, and a diffuser takes an autumn oil as readily as a summer one.

What no fragrance can fix

A smell with a cause wants the cause dealt with, not covered. Scent over a bin, a damp wall or a wet dog gives you the bin plus perfume, and the perfume fades first.

• Bins: empty and wash the bin, run the extractor, open a window while you cook.
• Damp: find the leak or the condensation, ventilate, dry the room out.
• Pets: wash the bedding, hoover the sofa, air the room, then a light scent. Never concentrated oils in a room a cat cannot leave; your vet is the one to ask.
• The loo: ventilation first, a spray for the moment.

What it costs to run, in principle

We are not quoting prices; what differs between the forms is the shape of the cost.

• A candle burns away completely, and the scent stops when the wax does.
• Reed sticks and a plug-in refill evaporate, so the running cost is the refills.
• A spray costs per press, and the presses are up to you.
• An electric diffuser is a device plus a consumable: the machine once, then oil or pods and a little electricity, for the hours you set.

Reeds and a plug-in left in the socket cost you for hours nobody is home; a timer or an off switch only scents the hours you choose. the page where we put a monthly scent cost next to each electric diffuser shows how the refills compare.