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12 Flameless Fragrance Options to Freshen Your Home

Reed diffusers sticking out of a frosted glass bottle on a nightstand.
New Africa/Shutterstock

Want to make your home smell lovely without creating a fire hazard? The items below offer some flameless ways to bring fall fragrances into your home.

Candles are pretty, but there are also plenty of reasons not to use them, like boisterous young children or pets with wagging tails. Luckily, you don’t have to forgo fall scents if you’re trying to avoid candles. You can skip the flames and keep the fragrance with these innovative solutions!

Room Sprays

Today’s room sprays are classy products that use ingredients like natural essential oils to spruce up a room. Just spritz any of the options below whenever you want a hint of fragrance:

  • J.R. Watkins Aloe & Green Tea Room SprayIt’s subtle (almost neutral), but still brings a fresh coziness to your space. The formula is natural and plant-based, with no dyes to mess up your carpets or furniture. You’ll be amazed at how long the conveniently small bottles last!

  • Amika Signature Room Fragrance: The scent of this trendy haircare brand’s signature product became so popular, the company made it into a room spray. With warm, sweet notes of vanilla, citrus, and clover, it’s easy to smell why people love it! It’s the perfect cozy scent for fall and winter.

  • Diptyque Baies Room Spray: Just like perfumes, room sprays come in high-end versions too. If you’re feeling fancy, this spray will elevate any room with the scent of blackcurrant berries, and a hint of rose and greenery. It’s pricey, but the strong, lasting scent means a little goes a long way.

Diffusers

An oil diffuser on a living room table, a fine mist of scent drifting out of it.
New Africa/Shutterstock

From classic reed to electric essential oil diffusers, these products release the scent of your favorite essential oils into the air. They can also double as decor and add a little vibrancy to a windowsill, shelf, or table.

Here are some of our favorites:

  • Chesapeake Bay Peace + Tranquility Reed Diffuser: The scent of cashmere and jasmine are sure to foster a relaxing vibe. It releases the scent for up to three months, and the design mixes neutral glass and natural reeds for a pretty, minimalist look.

  • NEST Fragrances Velvet Pear Reed Diffuser: This upscale reed diffuser features a Velvet Pear scent. It’s beautifully autumnal, with notes of pear, apple, musk, and amber. The geometric glass diffuser and long reeds create a sculptural shape you’ll love displaying.

  • ASAKUKI 300ML Premium Essential Oil Diffuser: As an alternative to reed diffusers, try an essential oil mister, which you can fill with any fragrance blend you’d like. The rounded shape of this one is inspired by nature and looks nice with any decor. You can also set it to run for a specific number of hours, or even to light up in different soothing colors.

Wax Melts

A candle wax warmer, plugged into an outlet.
Candle Warmers ETC

Like scented candles, wax melts are simply scented wax—they just don’t require flames to melt. Instead, you can use electric warmers to release the scent. Although there’s still heat involved, you won’t have to worry about anything catching fire!

Check out the options below:

  • Bobolyn Ceramic Electric Wax Melt Warmer: This pretty warmer doubles as accent lighting, projecting starry spots of light around the room. You can even use it as a night-light! Just plug it in, turn it on, and add your favorite wax melt.

  • Pledge Glade Wax Melts Electric Warmer: If you prefer something that doesn’t light up, try this minimalist electric warmer. Its sleek design will blend in anywhere. Plus, you can conveniently plug it in wherever you want. Use it with Glade’s wax melts in a seasonal scent, like Cozy Cider Sipping.

  • Candle Warmers ETC Pluggable Fragrance Warmer: If you don’t want to take up any counter or table space, these plug right into an outlet and offer a subtle glow that mimics the warmth of candlelight. We love the simple silver mosaic design, but it comes in lots of other styles to match your home. Fill it with autumn spice wax melts for a seasonal experience.

Plug-Ins and Other Air Fresheners

An Air Wick air freshener plugged into an outlet next to a bed.
Air Wick

If you want something even simpler, you can just plug in or set out these air fresheners, for a great-smelling home:

  • Yankee Candle Clean Cotton Fragrance Spheres: This fresh, neutral scent is perfect when you want to keep it light and subtle. The fragrance beads release their scent into the air gradually for up to 30 days. Just shake the container whenever you want to release a little extra scent.

Yankee Candle Fragrance Spheres, Clean Cotton

Smells like clean, fresh laundry.

  • Air Wick Plug-In Pumpkin Scented Oil Starter Kit: This plug-in essential oil mister comes with the ideal fall fragrance, combining vanilla, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Even better, the removable decor clip has a pumpkin motif! You can adjust the settings for more or less fragrance.

  • Botanica by Air Wick Plug-In Scented Oil Starter Kit: If you want something cozy, but less seasonal, you can’t go wrong with this combination of magnolia and vanilla. With two plug-in oil warmers and six refills, this is the perfect kit to keep your home fresh and fragrant through fall and into winter.


Home fragrance does more than just make your space smell nice—it also helps you create the perfect mood. With these flameless fragrance options, you can switch up the scent as often as you like, without lighting a single candle.

Elyse Hauser Elyse Hauser
Elyse Hauser is a freelance and creative writer from the Pacific Northwest, and an MFA student at the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop. She specializes in lifestyle writing and creative nonfiction. Read Full Bio »
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