How to Make Herbal Incense Sticks at Home

Making your own herbal incense sticks is much cheaper than buying them in a store.

• It also allows you to create new herbal blends and fine-tune the exact aroma you want.
• However, it is also time consuming, labor intensive, and requires practice, patience, and perseverance.
• If you're still interested, this article will explain the art of how to make herbal incense sticks at home.

 

Step One: Research

 

The internet can provide you with dozens of incense recipes.  Choose the incense you want to make, then gather the herbal ingredients.  Many can be found at a health food stores, but the more obscure dried leaves and flowers may need to be ordered online.

 

Step Two: Grind

 

Crush the dried herbs into a powder.

1. It's best to use an old-fashioned mortar & pestle for this.
2. For best results allow the herbal mix to cure by setting it in a dry, cool, dark place for a week, giving the many herbal aromas a chance to blend.

 

Step Three: Saltpeter

 

Potassium nitrate, more commonly known as saltpeter, ensures your incense sticks will burn evenly and well.

• It can be found in nearly any drug store (although you many need to ask the pharmacy technician for potassium nitrate).
• Add one part saltpeter to ten parts of the herbal mixture, or 10%, and mix it in well.

 

Step Four: Gum Tragacanth

 

Gum Tragacanth, made from the dried, powdered sap of the milkvetch plant, is a natural binding agent that allows your herbal powder to bond to the stick.

• It can be purchased from most hobby shops and some health food stores. 
  
• Sir a teaspoon of Gum Tragacanth powder into a tall, thin glass of warm water until it is thoroughly dissolved, then let it sit for a while to thicken into a glue.

 

When the gum is thick enough to stick to the teaspoon, but still runny enough to dip off the spoon, it's ready.  Stir in your herbal powder one teaspoon at a time, mixing thoroughly, until it is roughly the consistency of pudding.  If it is too dry, stir in a little more warm water.  If it is too wet, set it aside for a while.  The gum powder will continue to absorb the water, slowly thickening the solution.

 

Step Five: Incense Dip

 
For your incense sticks, try bamboo cocktail skewers.  Dip the stick into the incense herbal mixture.

1. It should coat the skewer lightly-too much and it will drip off and create a mess.
2. Stand your incense sticks upright but putting the ends into a block of modeling clay or Styrofoam, or perhaps a pot of dirt, salt, or sand.
3. Let it dry for a few minutes, then dip it again.
4. It will take several coats before your incense sticks reach the right thickness.

 

It's most convenient to make incense sticks in large batches.  That way, by the time you're done dipping your twentieth stick, the first one should be dry enough for a second coat.  Making stick incense requires a lot of time and patience, and expect some trial-and-error mistakes at first.

 

Step Six: Incense Dry

 

Once all the sticks are adequately coated with incense to the desired thickness, place them in a cool, dry place for at least five days.  If possible, let them dry standing up in their Styrofoam block or pot of sand-that will ensure even drying and prevent them from sticking together.

 

After all the sticks have dried, store them in an airtight container to preserver their aroma and keep them dry.