Incense sticks are a great addition to any home or meditation room. The burning scent heightens our senses, enhances our concentration, and generally makes us feel more relaxed and at peace with the world.
It is these benefits that allow us to practice meditation and spiritual healing with a positive frame of mind. However, incense sticks vary a lot in terms of width and length, which impacts burning time. Therefore, we don’t always have the time to burn a full incense stick.
This leads many people to wonder whether or not we can put out and reuse an incense stick. You must be searching for the answer to this question too!
If so, you’re in the right place! In this post, we tell you everything you need to know about reusing an incense stick. Stick around if you want to learn more!
Is It Possible To Reuse An Incense Stick?
Let’s get straight to it by telling you whether or not it’s possible to reuse an incense stick. You’ll probably be very happy to hear that we can indeed reuse an incense stick. In fact, there are a variety of ways we can reuse one.
We can simply relight them again or reuse them for another purpose. How you choose to reuse an incense stick depends on your preferences and what you want to do with it.
However, if you want to be successful when it comes to reusing an incense stick, you have to put it out correctly. Let’s look at that next!
Why Putting Out The Incense Stick Correctly Is Crucial?
It might not sound that important but how you put out an incense stick will impact the way you can reuse it. If you accidentally cut the end of the incense stick too short or damage it, you’ll find it incredibly hard to relight the stick again.
Bearing this in mind, there are a handful of different ways you can put out an incense stick if you want to reuse it. We’d actually go as far as saying that putting out an incense stick is the most important part of the whole process.
How To Put Out An Incense Stick Correctly?
Seeing as though it’s so important, we’ll now show you the best methods you can use to put out an incense stick. If you want to reuse your incense stick in a way that suits your preferences, make sure you use one of the following methods.
The methods we’ve got for you are designed to put out the incense stick carefully and more importantly safely.
Press It Out
One of the quickest ways to put out an incense stick is to press it out. To put out your incense stick like this, you’re going to press the ember at the end of the stick against a non-flammable surface like you would a cigarette.
Simply pressing the ember against a heat-resistant surface made from concrete, metal, or other non-flammable flat surface is all it takes. You can also gently press the tip of the stick against a container of sand.
Cut The End
You could put out your incense stick by carefully clipping it off at the end. To do this safely, you should use angled scissors. This will reduce the risk of the embers dropping on the floor.
To avoid a spillage of embers, you might also want to cut the tip of your incense stick above a heat-resistant surface. When cutting the tip, try to cut it as close to the end as possible. This will leave you with more incense sticks to use next time.
Aluminum Foil
Another popular method used to put out an incense stick without damaging it is to use a small piece of aluminum foil to cover the end of the stick.
Folding the foil around the incense stick a couple of times will starve the embers of oxygen and cut off its heat. Eventually, the stick will die out without you having to cut anything or press it out.
Metal Coil
Some people prefer to use a small metal coil to put out their incense sticks. This clever method gets you to wrap the coil around the stick where you want it to stop burning.
Once the coil is wrapped around the stick, you’ll quickly notice the glow start to fade. This is because the wire has interrupted the oxygen. Eventually, the stick will go out.
Use Water
Using water to put out an incense stick is one of the most reliable methods you can use when it comes to being sure the stick has been extinguished. Aside from seeing the glow go out, you can actually hear the flame extinguish too.
For this method, you can use a jar full of water to dip the stick in or simply put the very end of the stick under a faucet. You don’t need too much water so don’t drown the stick!
How To Reuse An Incense Stick?
Now you know how to put an incense stick out, we can show you how you would go about reusing one. The best thing you can do with an already used incense stick that you’ve put out is to use it again.
If you use water to put out the incense stick, you will need to let it dry, but if not, you can use it again straight away. Once your incense stick has dried, you can relight it ahead of your next meditation session.
The beauty of reusing an incense stick is that you can simply relight it the same way you lit it the first time. All you need is a live flame. Your most obvious option would be to use a match or lighter.
Use Your Incense Sticks To Scent Clothes
If you don’t want to relight an incense stick, you could always use any leftover sticks to scent your clothes. Simply placing your incense sticks in a drawer with your clothes will make your clothes smell great.
The best way to do this is to leave the sticks in their original packaging. That way, no oils will transfer onto your clothes, just the delightful smells.
You’ll probably find that the smell from the sticks will last a couple of months. You can make the smell last longer by breaking the sticks up after a month or so.
Use Your Incense Sticks As Fire Wood
Finally, you could always just throw your leftover incense sticks on a fire. If you have a small fire in your house, this could be a good way to get rid of your sticks without throwing them in the bin.
They won’t provide much warmth but you may as well use them with the other wood you burn. Besides, they will probably make the house smell amazing.
Summary
In this post, we’ve looked at whether or not it’s possible to reuse incense. If you’ve read through all the information we provided, you’ll now know it is possible to reuse them. In fact, reusing incense sticks is very easy.
All you have to do is put the sticks out correctly. After that, you can relight them or use them for another purpose. Now you know the possibilities and how to put out an incense stick, why don’t you decide what you’re going to do with your leftover incense sticks?
Hi, my name is Andrea Daehma and I have been collecting and using crystals in my everyday life for just over six years now.
I have my own collection of crystals gracing my house, several for every scenario I could think of.
Learning about crystals has truly changed my life, and I want to help others turn their life around too. Please enjoy my website and find your own small stone to begin your crystal journey with!
