A room diffuser that will work in a classroom?

[Mushroomwithaview]

I'm looking for a room diffuser or some sort of room fragrance gizmo that is going to make my whole classroom smell nice.

Have decided that the answer is to buy a fancy expensive diffuser from a posh shop. I'm okay with that if it will work.

Before I do that - has anyone got any better ideas?

(no naked flames)

We aren’t allowed plug ins at school because of fire risk (electricians refuse to PAT test them).

I would imagine you’d actually get more complaints about a smell - even a lovely one - than compliments. Kids tend not to like them.

A while ago a child brought kedgeree into my classroom. It was rancid. I had to wipe down all the tables, empty the bins, throw the windows open and spray body spray everywhere before my class arrived and started to complain. It wasn’t an ideal solution but I wasn’t prepared for a child coming in with a particularly pungent lunch.

Mushroom : open a window.

Myrtle: regularly open the windows and keep it clean.

Or just a culture where allergies and asthma are taken seriously 🤔

Another person here whose asthma is triggered by diffusers , scented candles, and the worst ; plug ins.

I would recommend pot plants , many plants clean the air for example snake plants and aloe vera . Another alternative would be a plug in air filter/purifier.

You would have to be very careful due to asthma, I am asthmatic and struggle with most diffusers. Aside from that pupils with sensory processing differences and autism could find a strong artificial smell difficult to tolerate. I have a class of boys, I find it best to air the room out often with the door open (it opens outside) or a window as much as possible.

I have to disagree with you there. The worst are those ones occasionally mounted near the ceiling in toilet cubicles, which automatically squirt a blast of air freshener directly down at your face when you open the door.

What a strange thing to do. I can't believe a teacher doesn't know how rubbish these things are for lung health. Definitely triggering for some asthmatics, cause headaches and migraines for some people and has the potential to be carcinogenic. They also usually smell pretty sickly.
This is from the (American) Lung Association https://www.lung.org/blog/essential-oils-harmful-or-helpful#:~:text=Potential%20risks%3A,coughing%2C%20or%20shortness%20of%20breath.

I hate the smell of kedgeree but mixed with body spray 🤢

My teachers Chanel 5 made me gag. IKEA is just weird now with all the fake smells going around it.

If you want your area to smell better put a bit of essential oil on your chair or a handkerchief and keep it in your area of the classroom.

Blimey - also surprised by the responses. I've always used one in my secondary classroom for years (UK) and only ever get comments from the kids that they really like it. I put it up high so no chance of spillage and its a large room so not overpowering. I use the ones from the Gift Company. They are about £7-8 and actually smell of something. I find really cheap ones from ALdi etc just don't.

Yes. If I had this in a room I would find breathing difficult. Please don't do this.

Had to google ''Kedgeree''

Haddock and eggs in rice.. A potential for reek there even if very fresh.

Urgh, that must have been so 'Off'..I hope the poor child didn't eat it.

I think the issue in the UK is perhaps that when it is cold/wet/rainy the windows are likely to be shut so there is no escape. It would make me sneeze constantly. OP perhaps you are in a country where it is more feasible to have better ventilation so it doesn't affect your pupils as much or maybe they are less likely than UK pupils to complain.

To be honest any smells can trigger sneezing in me, even flowers, and it won't stop until I leave the place so no there isn't a 'safe' alternative for me.

Open the windows?

Essential oils can be toxic, can trigger asthma/allergy/migraine reactions.

I got a diffuser for our small toilet at work. Only a dozen women work there. It was removed within 4 hours because one of them has an allergy to some fragrance oils (I think orange was one of them). Have you tried an electric air purifier?

I used to work with sonogram for whom orange was a massive trigger for really quite debilitating migraines.

It's not that simple, due to asthma and allergies. Plus, I believe you'd need the COSHH documentation, for health and safety reasons, which the school would need a copy of in their compliance records.

Also surprised by these responses. I’ve never heard of essential oil diffusers causing asthma attacks, lung damage and headaches like is being described on here.

the cheap plug ins and air fresheners yes.

i habe two nebulising diffusers in the house, they use a diluted scenting oil which is essential oil and alcohol basically, i have reed diffusers in the bathrooms. I use the Yankee candle dry ones, my husband has asthma and no impact from any and I get headaches from the plugins et and essential oils has no impact on me or anyone who comes to my home.

"OP perhaps you are in a country where it is more feasible to have better ventilation so it doesn't affect your pupils as much or maybe they are less likely than UK pupils to complain."

Yes, windows open all year round. Classrooms are open, and students are outside walking between classrooms.

Haha - very welcome and confident about complaining though!

How about using some genuinely natural fragrance, rather than a chemically concocted and concentrated one?

• Cinnamon sticks or vanilla pods, or both, in a jar
• make a clove orange
• a pot of growing herbs, eg basil, rosemary, thyme, verbena

It's not just about noticeable reactions like asthma and migraines, these things are potentially toxic to everyone and can silently be impacting on those around them that you wouldn't even be aware of like causing fertility issues.

I have an autistic child (in mainstream school, doing well) who is extremely sensitive to smell and finds these artificial scents very distressing. Please don’t do this.

People keep distinguishing between artificial scents, and nice, natural things like essential oils.

Natural things can be just as toxic, irritant, or dangerous as artificial ones. The "essential" in essential oils sounds very nice, but all it means is that it's the "essence" of a plant in some way — it's still volatile (i.e. easily-evaporating) chemicals spreading through the air in concentrations high enough to have a noticeable odour.

Edit: and the delivery method — e.g. aerosol spray vs reed diffuser — doesn't make as much difference as I'd hoped it would, either. The reason I went for a reed diffuser is that, although I generally thought of my asthma as a thing of the past, I knew I still wheezed with squirty air fresheners, and got migraine from some of them. But somehow I thought reed diffusers would be okay, and I had actually been okay with a previous one. Then I got the reed diffuser that tried to murder me 🤣

What everyone else said.

I wouldn't have these things in my own home so I wouldn't consider having them in my classroom.

It's just releasing unnecessary, potentially toxic chemicals into their airspace.