How to Refill Perfume Bottle at Home? [Complete Guide!]

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money buying brand new bottles of perfume but at the same time want to smell great, buying fragrance in bulk can be a great practical option. But you don’t want to carry around a gallon of perfume, which is why you want to learn how to refill a smaller bottle at home.

To refill a perfume bottle, you need to remove its lid, spray pump cap, and base sale before taking out the nozzle completely. Then you must add perfume to the empty bottle using a dropper or a funnel and put everything back in place with the seal being last and optional.

In this article, you will learn about the nuances of each step, so you don’t end up breaking the bottle or refilling one only to find it leaking in your bag. Read through to learn how to:

• Open the bottle without breaking the neck
  
• Remove the base seal
   
• Fill the bottle without spilling perfume
   
• Put everything back as tightly as possible

Can You Refill an Empty Perfume Bottle?

There are many refillable perfume bottles like the Skogfe Atomizer and Hydior Frosted Glass Perfume Bottle. But sometimes, you don’t want to wait for the shipping and handling clearance to receive your bottle. That’s when you think about the bottle you already have: is it possible to use it as a container for another perfume?

You can refill an empty perfume bottle as long as you open it carefully and avoid breaking the bottle in the process. If the perfume bottle you’re attempting to refill has a screw-on lid, it is even easier. Some travel bottles come with a pump inlet that allows you to refill them like atomizers.

Knowing what kind of perfume bottle you’re dealing with is the first step in refilling it the right way. First, you have to see if the bottle can be opened without tools. Most perfume bottles are positively sealed to prevent reuse. That’s not because reusing a bottle is wrong; it is just to keep sellers from tampering with the product before selling it.

When you buy an expensive perfume, you feel confident in your purchase because of the fact that the bottle is sealed in a way that makes replacing its contents seem impossible. But notice that I say “seem” and not “is” impossible. That’s because you can actually open pretty much any perfume bottle.

What You’ll Need to Refill a Perfume Bottle?

Before we begin with the process, here are all the things that you would need to carry out this process correctly –

• Empty perfume bottle (if you don’t have one already, check out these useful inexpensive options on Amazon below)
  • Stylish Bottle Option
  • Practical Bottle Option 1
  • Practical Bottle Option 2
• Nose Pliers (to open the head without breaking the bottle)
• Dropper or Syringe (to pour perfume without spilling)
• Mini Refillable Glass Spray Bottles (Optional – for leftover perfume in the bottle)
• Bottle Sealing Crimper (only for metal crimps, check for size 13 mm or 15 mm bottle top)
• Bottle Labels (Optional)

How to Open a Perfume Bottle to Refill Without Breaking It?

Opening a perfume bottle is easy. But to replace a perfume, you must open it in a way that no part of the perfume bottle is compromised.

When you open one without knowing what you’re doing, you might either end up having a harder time closing it. In the worst-case scenario, you might actually break the bottle. So how do you avoid this?

To open a perfume bottle to refill without breaking it, you must use pry open the seal that clamps the pump lid against the glass neck of the bottle. Using a pocket knife or pliers, you can reach underneath the base seal and gently loosen the clamp’s hold around the glass neck.

One thing to remember is that not all bottles can be reused once opened. The perfume bottles that contain a metal-crimped top underneath the metal clamp (the tight ring on the top) are likely to get damaged in the process of opening the bottle. It is very hard to open such clamps without damaging the bottle or the spray head and thus often renders it difficult to use again.

However, if you see a plastic-crimped top underneath the metal clamp, you will definitely be able to put the head back on once you’ve refilled the bottle! Even so, you have to be careful while opening the bottle such that you don’t damage it.

You must consider the following best practices when attempting to open up a perfume bottle with a metal holder.

• Do not attempt to jack the metal clamp – The tight ring that holds together the pump lid and the glass bottle is malleable and can be loosened by sneaking a mental blade between the clamp and the glass. However, if you try to leverage the blade and flip the bottle open, the metal seal will bite into the glass and break.
   
• Be patient and loosen one area at a time – Don’t see opening the bottle as the end goal. Focus on loosening the metal clamp in one area at a time. You’ll have a much easier time being patient instead of getting restless and putting the bottle at risk.
   
• Use the thinnest, straightest metal strip – From pliers to a knife to a scissor blade; you can use many metal blades to loosen the metal seal. The best one is the thinnest blade that won’t budge when you use it to leverage open the seal.

How to Refill a Perfume Bottle? Step by Step Process

Refilling a perfume bottle that comes as a one-and-done purchase can be tough. But if you know how to open the bottle, all you need is a clear step-by-step tutorial on how to refill and seal it, so it doesn’t leak.

Follow the steps below, and you’ll have a refilled bottle that will look like you just got it from the store.

Step One – Open the Bottle

This step is the hardest one of all in this process but is relatively easy if the perfume bottle you’re working with is a refillable one. Most perfume bottles, however, are sealed, and if the container itself is made of plastic, you’ll have a tough time removing the seal at the base without breaking the glass. Remove the pump top and any components up to the base that can be removed easily. 

Once the base clamp is all that’s left between the top cover and the bottle itself, you must consider whether it is made of plastic or metal. If it is a plastic one, use a slim knife to break the seal.

If it is made of metal, you’ll need to use pliers or a slimmer knife to patiently loosen it by pulling it away from glass, one area at a time.

The video below illustrates the process very nicely. So, make sure you check it out and continue with the process

Step Two – Clean the Perfume Bottle

Before you are ready to put the new perfume in your bottle, you need to get rid of the smell of the previous perfume that occupied the bottle.

If you have any leftover perfume in the bottle, take it out into mini glass spray bottles (on Amazon). Make sure that you go with glass bottles even for your leftover perfume as they are better for your perfume than plastic ones.

Once the perfume has been extracted, wash and clean the bottles thoroughly. Once you rinse the bottle, it is recommended to put the empty bottle in boiling water so that all the extracts of perfume can be removed thoroughly. Since perfume contains oils, extracts of perfume tend to stick to the container surface even after cleaning it with normal water.

Put the bottle completely submerged in water in a utensil and heat it to a boil. Depending on the amount of water, it may take 10-15 minutes to reach boiling point. You can turn off the gas once you see a lot of bubbles in the boiling water.

Then, carefully remove the hot boiling water from the utensil without dropping the bottle. Let the bottle cool down a bit before you handle it. Then, clean and dry the bottle using cotton swabs or a tissue.

Step Three – Fill the Bottle With the Perfume You Want

This is a crucial step but is quite easy because the worst thing that can happen is that you might spill some perfume. Depending on how expensive the fragrance is, this too can be risky.

You can use a dropper like Ezy Dose Dropper or a syringe/pump to avoid spilling perfume during the process. But ultimately, once the seal is off and you can remove the nozzle and the spray, leaving behind the bottle, you just need to fill it as you would any other container.

Step Four – Shut the Bottle by Screwing on the Nozzle and Cap

The final step features shutting the bottle by putting back everything the best you can. Here, chances are, you might face some trouble putting back the seal. That’s understandable because bottle seals are made so that they can’t be tampered with without being obvious. 

Plastic seals aren’t flexible and are broken in step one, which means you can only put back the nozzle and the pump cap. That’s fine because the perfume doesn’t spill in the absence of its seal; it just can’t be sold. If your perfume has a metal base seal, you might be able to put it back on more easily with tick pliers and gentle pressure if you’ve managed to get it out of the bottle!

Again, make sure you don’t go overboard and break the bottle.

Can You Recycle a Perfume Bottle?

You can recycle a perfume bottle by removing its seal so it can be opened easily to be refilled. However, not all perfume bottles can be recycled. I’ve covered this topic in great detail in another article. In the article, I’ve shared what type of bottles can’t be recycled. Plus, I’ve also shared tips on what you can do in case you can’t recycle your perfume bottle!

So, make sure you check out the other article on How to Recycle Perfume Bottle?

In case you plan to stick with your existing bottle, one of the best uses of turning your perfume bottle into a refillable one is that you can dilute the new batch of fragrance with a DPG diluent so that it is more work-friendly.

Refillable Perfume Bottles – What are they?

There are two types of refillable perfume bottles. The first ones are bottles with a spray pump that can be screwed open at the top and can be filled with a dropper.

Far more popular is the second variety, called atomizers, which can be refilled more easily with an exposed perfume nozzle. Read more about atomizers to understand how one can be used as a refillable perfume bottle.