Good 'til the last drop—How to Upcycle Your Empty Essential Oil Bottles

Good ’til the last drop. We’re all about striving for that zero waste lifestyle every chance we get. So, what to do with those high quality amber bottles after you’ve squeezed every last drop of precious essential oil out of them? Here’s our favorite ways to upcycle our empties and get even more oily goodness out of those bottles!

Make Oil-Infused Bath Salts

Fill a mason jar with epsom salts and add your empty essential oil bottles. Keep a separate mason jar for each need/oil pairing. We love Lavender and Cedarwood for a sleepy nighttime bath, Stress Away or Peace & Calming for a calming bath after a long day, and Panaway with Frankincense for a soothing bath after a hard workout or to ease aches and pains. This is literally the easiest DIY ever!

Oil-infused Bath Salts

8 oz mason jar with lid
6-8 oz Epsom Salts
Empty (or almost empty essential oil bottles)—when the oil bottle is almost empty, pop the top off the bottle and stick the bottle in the Epsom salts. Close jar tightly and allow to sit for a few days.
To use: add salts to warm bath, soak, & enjoy!

Make a Mini Spray

Easily turn your empty 5ml and 15 ml bottles into mini spray bottles with these spray tops! Whip up your own custom ‘poo-pouri,’ linen spray, mask freshener, breath spray, and even a thieves-infused throat spray. The possibilities are endless, here’s some of our favorites.

‘Poo-pouri’ Bathroom Spray

Keep this spray in your bathroom and spray before you go. Or throw one in your purse for a fresh bathroom experience everywhere you go!

15 ml bottle with spray top
1 tsp. witch hazel (or vodka)
5 drops Lemongrass essential oil
5 drops Bergamot essential oil
5 drops Lemon essential oil
Top with distilled water

Sleepytime Linen Spray

Perfect spray for the pillow before you settle in for the night or on the bed when you’re traveling!

15 ml bottle with spray top
1 tsp. witch hazel (or vodka)
5 drops Cedarwood essential oil
5 drops Lavender essential oil
5 drops Stress Away essential oil blend
Top with distilled water

Mask Spray

Turn your mask into a walking diffuser! If you gotta wear one, it mine as well smell like your favorite oil blend.

15 ml bottle with spray top
1 tsp. witch hazel (or vodka)
5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil (we love Stress Away, Peace & Calming, or Thieves!)
Top with distilled water

Breath Freshening Spray

Freshen your breath with the power of Thieves mouthwash and pure essential oils. This breath spray travels well and also helps maintain healthy teeth and gums.

15 ml bottle with spray top
Young Living Thieves Fresh Essence Mouthwash
1-2 drops Peppermint Vitality or Spearmint Vitality

Throat Spray

That tickle in your throat’s got nothing on this powerhouse throat spray.

15 ml bottle with spray top
1 tsp. vodka
5 drops Thieves Vitality
2 drops Lemon Vitality
2 drops Peppermint Vitality
Top with distilled water

Make Custom Diffuser ‘Bombs’

Have a favorite diffuser blend combo, but tired of tracking down each oil every time you want to load your diffuser with it? Make yourself a ‘diffuser bomb’ — a custom blend of oils premixed in a bottle so you can easily put that luscious seasonal blend in your diffuser whenever the mood strikes. Making your own diffuser bomb is super simple, just multiply your favorite diffuser recipe to fill your bottle then top it with a dropper top and keep it next to your diffuser for easy diffusing. (Tip: 5 ml bottles hold about 90-100 drops, 15 ml bottles hold about 290-300 drops)

Bonus—add a dropper top to thick essential oils like Vetiver and Myrhh for easy usage.

Custom Diffuser Bomb

5 ml or 15 ml bottle with dropper top
Essential oils of choice
Fill bottle with diffuser recipe of choice until full. Cap with dropper top.
Add a dropper full or recommended drops of blend to your diffuser as directed. Enjoy!

Make a Roller

Did you know that Young Living has amazingly high quality roller tops that fit perfectly on their essential oil bottles? Grab a set of AromaGlide Roller Fitments in your next order and easily whip up rollers for anyone and everywhere in your home. These roller tops stand the test of time, don’t leak, and give a great, even roll.

How to Make a Roller

5 ml or 15 ml bottle with roller fitment
Essential oils of choice
Carrier oil of choice (we love V-6, fractionated coconut, or grapeseed oil)
Add essential oils of choice to roller bottle. Top with carrier oil. Roll on as needed!

Oil-infused Wool Dryer Balls

If you’re on the non-toxic lifestyle/zero waste journey you probably already have a set of wool dryer balls in your laundry room, right? We LOVE the sweet scent our laundry takes on when adding oils to them—you can up the ante by storing your dryer balls in a glass jar (with a lid—like this one) and adding your empty essential oil bottles! The remaining oil scent from the bottle will infuse the dryer balls and give your laundry that extra scent boost!