Make Your Own Incense

by Lisa
(Hants)

One of the things I enjoy making is homemade incense. There is no better smell when you walk into a room and the aroma of your incense fills the air, especially when the incense you are burning was made by your hands.

Making your own incense is not difficult and can be relatively cheap. Best of all, you can control the strength and potency of the smells you achieve.


For basic incense aroma you will need:

- Lavender, jasmine, or other fragrances
- Sandalwood
- Charcoal briquettes
- Sand
- A manual grinder or mortar and pestle
- A dish to burn your incense in safely

To make homemade incense place your favorite fragrance and sandalwood in the mortar and grind to a fine powder with your pestle. Get your incense dish and add a little sand at the bottom, then add the briquette. Light the briquette then wait until the flame has extinguished before sprinkling your incense over the briquette. The heat in the briquette will release wonderful aromas throughout your home.



I also make incense sticks, which burn a little differently and sometimes cost a little more, but they're still very easy to make.


To make incense sticks, you will need:

- DyPropylene Glycol or DPG for short
- Unscented incense sticks
- Plastic wrap
- Cooling rack
- Your favorite fragrance oil


Soak the incense sticks for two minutes in the oil of your choice and then place them on the cooling rack for two hours so the sticks soak up the fragrance. I usually make about 8-10 incense sticks at one time.

Take your homemade incense sticks and dip them into the DPG. Using DPG on your incense sticks slows the burn time down so you can enjoy all the lovely, sweet fragrances longer. Place the sticks back on the rack to soak in the DPG for another two hours. Once they have settled roll the incense sticks on a paper towel to make sure they are dry then place the sticks in plastic wrap and keep them covered overnight. In the morning your incense sticks will be ready to use.

No matter which style of incense you choose to make, you can save money and create your own great fragrances to suit your needs easily.