For those that make incense

[theresa t]

I've been making this for a while now but am looking for a better way to dry the sticks. I currently use an old trellis I have to hang the sticks from for drying. The problem comes in when some of the sticks will drop off of the trellis and I am drying a couple of scents at a time. I twist tie 10 - 15 sticks together and put a label next to the area each scent is as it dries but when I get more than one of the sticks that drops off while they are drying if I don't actually see where it dropped from at times I have a hard time figuring out which scent it is. My room will be scented with a mix of the fragrances I have used which is where my problem comes in when trying to figure out where the stick goes. I could dry one scent at a time but with doing that it would be way too time consuming especially when I usually will make a few batches at a time.

I was just wondering what methods any of you use for drying your incense sticks. I've done a search on here but not came up with any information as far as drying goes. A lot of great information on how to soak the sticks now I just need a better way to dry if anyone has any suggestions that would be great! TIA

[NancyT]

I just started making incense and I use a block of the green florist styrofoam and stick them in it. Works great. HTH

[LuminousBoutique]

I've dried them just laying flat on parchment paper.. worked fine I dont make alot though, just a few times to try it out.

[nycleo]

I've tried a couple of methods. What works best for me is using an old oven rack with wax paper lined underneath. If I'm doing more than one scent, I'll write the scent names down on masking tape and tape one end to the edge of the oven rack and the other end taped to the tabletop.

I can spread out quite a lot of sticks so that they don't touch each other and any drips fall on the wax paper. Newspaper will leak onto whatever surface you're using. The oven rack is big enough where I can have 2 bundles of 11" sticks going across and 3 or 4 bundles going down. As the sticks are drying I turn them over because the bottom of the sticks that are touching the rack will still be a bit wet. If I'm lucky and it's a sunny day, the sticks will dry quicker.

[carol k]

I stand mine up in pint canning jars, works great for me.

[pcbrook]

I use large open weave wire mesh stapled to a wood frame. About 2' x 2'. Put newspaper underneath to catch the drippings. I can fit a lot of sticks on there at one time. Takes up a little room but it works great for me.

[elfcat]

I use the large mason jars and put them in with the scented side up to dry. It looks like large reed diffusers only without the oil. That does pretty good. Then I just have to label the jar.

[Toni S.]

I also use the pint canning jars and it works like a gem!

[theresa t]

Thanks for the ideas! I soak mine in the aluminum baking pans which works great for me! I like to try to save as much of the oil as I can while they are drying, this way I can just add a little more to it if needed the next time I make the same scent. Right now I am trying some screen wire we had out of some old windows, laying the screen wire over the pan I used to soak them in hoping to catch as much of the oils as I can. I really like the idea of the canning jars! I've got a ton of those and other jars that I won't be using so will be trying this method also! Again, thanks for all the suggestions! One of the reason I love this board so much!

Edited August 30, 2010 by theresa t