Making your incense last longer means you can get the most for your money. This will result in less money spent on stocking up on incense sticks (although, fortunately, incense is decently affordable).
There are roughly six ways you can make incense last longer, including using an upright burner and making your own incense.
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6 Ways to Make Incense Last Longer
Try out these six ways to make incense last longer. You’ll want to work your way through the list and experiment with different incense types and brands to find the solution to your burning length woes.
1. Buy High-Quality Incense
Your incense may be burning through quickly because it’s of poor quality. Using only high-quality incense will not only result in a longer burn time but it’s also made with better ingredients which means it is safer to burn in the home. You may also find that higher-quality incense has a more pleasant scent that doesn’t have chemical undertones.
2. Store Your Incense Properly
If you store your incense haphazardly it is unlikely for that incense to burn at its full potential. If you want to get the most out of your incense sticks, it’s important that you store your incense in a cool and dry space. This will avoid the incense from degrading and getting damp, from which is can develop mold.
3. Dampen the Incense
Full disclosure: this may or may not work. We haven’t tried it ourselves personally – yet. The suggestion is to wet the incense stick slightly with a bit of water. Your mileage may vary, however, as overly wet incense will not burn properly
4. Burn the Incense Using an Upright Burner
Burning an incense stick upright in an incense bowl is said to slow the burn rate in comparison to burning horizontally in a boat burner.
5. Make Your Own Incense Sticks
Making your own incense sticks gives you complete control to pick only ingredients you like. You’ll need to do your research upfront and follow a tutorial closely to safely create your incense sticks.
By making your own incense sticks you can slowly experiment with different ingredients and materials until you find the combination that gives you the longest and best burning experience.
6. Use Different Brands or Incense Types
If you’re storing our incense properly and you’ve tried all the other ways to lengthen the burning time of your incense, it may be time to try out different brands or incense types.
Higher-quality brands will generally burn for longer periods of time. But, you may want to experiment with a wide variety of brands to find the one that gives you a burn time you like paired with a scent you enjoy.
Different incense types may also burn for different periods of time. For example, incense cones are often said to burn for longer than incense sticks. In my personal experience, I haven’t found this to be true. You’ll want to try out different forms of incense (cones, sticks, etc.) to determine which gives you a burn length you like.
How Long Does Incense Last?
Incense sticks last an average of 30 minutes to 90 minutes of burn time. This, however, will vary depending upon the ingredients used in the incense, the quality, and how well the incense has been stored. The form the incense is in will also have an effect on burn time.
