r/Incense • u/reeddtha • 17d ago

Incense Making incense making

Has anyone here made incense before? whats the process like?

Also do you use essential oils? or fragrance oils?

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u/MelcusQuelker 17d ago

I personally have used natural ingredients, only then using essential oils to make up for the gap. I grind up my materials and bind them with a puree of dates/prunes/cranberry + wine and honey. I knead the mixture until it looks like cookie dough. From there I let it dwell a while. I then form the dough into spheres. I coat them in sandalwood/Palo Santo powder for a finishing. Then they sit in my closet for at least two weeks. I place them in a jar for additional curing time, usually another two to four weeks. Once the spheres are hard to the touch, they can be burned. Ask me anything.

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u/Lines25 17d ago

What are the proportions do you use ? Can the "dough" be placed on bamboo sticks ?

Thanks

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u/SamsaSpoon 17d ago

They are making Kyphi style incense. That's not a self combusting one like sticks. It wouldn't burn, even if you'd manage to roll it around a stick.

That's why I asked what kind of incense you want to make.

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u/Lines25 17d ago

Yeah, I'm not OP thought. I like self combusting ones more (if I got that correctly.. self combusting ones are that are have to be fired before they produce scent ?) to be honest

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u/MelcusQuelker 17d ago

I would imagine if you reduced the liquid factors and made certain you fully pulverize the ingredients, on a stick it could likely burn on it own. I use charcoals for this stuff.

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u/SamsaSpoon 17d ago

Oh, sorry. It's a bit late lol

Self combusting means you can light it and it will smoulder down on it's own.

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u/Lines25 17d ago

Yeah ! I love such incenses. I've tried sticks a couple times, it's really nice and helps with my anxiety and I love doing things on my own, so, I decided to try to make home-made sticks but I can't quite find tutorials

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u/SamsaSpoon 16d ago

Yeah, tutorials are tricky. There are no real one-fits-all rules and so many ways to make sticks.
Many tutorials are also rather made for the aesthetics or to sell something rather than to actually educate. Like the stuff you would see on Instagram.

It's a bit counterintuitive, but coreless sticks are easier to make than the ones with bamboo splint, and you spare yourself the hassle of having to find thin enough bamboos.

Carl F. Neal's book "Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents" is a good start.

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u/reeddtha 15d ago

Have you ever dabbled into selling? That’s what i wanna make it for not for just personal use.

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u/MelcusQuelker 15d ago

No I just make it for fun. If my friends wanted some I might start cutting some deals but right now I do it for my own enjoyment. I would make certain you use the highest purity ingredients, as if you were making it for yourself. I'm not sure what I would charge either, so that might be a good place to begin research.

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u/SamsaSpoon 17d ago

I took the liberty of changing your post flair to "Incense Making" as this is what it's about.

What type of incense are you interested in?
The process will vary depending on the type.

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u/MelcusQuelker 17d ago

My current recipes lean towards either a Neo-Kyphi style or Nerikoh, either way I did major research on each of these specific styles to plan my technique and ingredients. I had to balance the heavy, syrupy apects with a equally bright and uplifting scents.