Using incense has a lot of great benefits ranging from pleasant aromas to helping to calm the mind. A lot of people use incense to help ease anxieties, lift their mood, and other forms of aromatherapy – but using incense for the first time can be tricky.
To use incense, you need to light it and a lot of people struggle with putting the incense out once they are done using it. You don’t have to let the whole stick burn (that would be a waste and can take forever!).
So – how do you put out incense?
Here, we are going to go through all the methods you can use to put out your incense. This way, you can save wasting your incense and keep the rest of the stick for later use with ease.
Check out the guide below to find out the proper way to put out incense!
Depending on the kind of incense stick you are using, some will burn up by the time you are ready to put it out. In this case, you can just let the stick burn out as some sticks take between twenty to forty minutes to completely burn out.
While factors such as length and thickness of the incense stick can extend this time, a lot of people will wrap up their aromatherapy or meditation as the stick is just about to finish burning.
As a result, some people don’t even need to put out the incense stick – it will just burn out by the time you are ready to put it out!
However, this is not always the case and it’s a waste to just let the incense burn when you are done with it in a matter of minutes.
So, let’s take a look at some other methods which can help you stop wasting incense sticks.
Method Two: Stick It In Water?
A lot of people’s first instinct when it comes to putting out incense sticks is to simply dip it in water.
Water is the go-to thing for putting out most fires so most people will just pick up their incense stick, carry it to the nearest faucet, and use a little bit of water to put out their incense stick. While this method will work, it’s also not the best one to use.
This is because wetting the incense stick can affect the quality of the incense and make it more difficult to light the next time you try to use your incense.
As a result, it’s important to keep your incense sticks nice and dry. Wetting the end of the incense to try and put it out will only lower the quality of the incense.
So, using water to extinguish the incense is not the best method even though it is effective – so what other methods are there?
Method Three: Cutting Off The Tip
This is one of the best and easiest methods for extinguishing your incense without ruining its quality. As a result, it’s the most highly recommended method to use – so let’s check it out!
This method for extinguishing incense involves removing the lit tip.
To do this, you will need to remove the incense stick from its holder and simply cut off the burnt end using a pair of scissors.
You should do this over a sink so the embers fall into a contained, non-flammable dish. Then you can run the faucet and extinguish the embers.
Alternatively, you can simply press the lit tip of your incense stick against a fire-proof surface. By using a little force, the lit end of the stick will break off.
Eventually, the end will burn out and you can dispose of the end safely.
If you are wondering what counts as a heat resistant, fire-proof surface, then you should use a surface made from materials such as concrete, glass, metal or ceramic.
Alternatively, you should avoid using surfaces made of fabric, wood, plastic, paper or cardboard. If you try to break off the lip tip of the incense using a surface made from these materials, then you are potentially risking a fire and burning the surface.
Some incense holders are made of materials like concrete or glass for this specific purpose. This means that you can use the incense holder itself to break off the lit tip of your incense sticks – just remember to clean up the remnants later (Is there a way to burn incense without a holder? Find out more here)!
Also, it’s important to note that you should not touch the remnants of the incense stick until it has fully cooled down after burning out.
You can burn yourself by touching the remnants too soon after it has burnt out as the remnants will still be hot. So, let the remnants cool down for several minutes after it has burnt out. Then, you can clean them up with ease!
By cutting off the tip or breaking it off, you will be able to leave a clean break on your incense stick that will be super easy to reignite the next time you want to use your incense.
Using water will make this step a lot trickier, so we definitely recommend that you break or cut off the lit tip of your incense once you are done. Then, the end will burn itself out and you will still have a full stick of incense to reuse again!
Final Thoughts
So, as you can see, there are lots of methods you can try to put out your incense – but some are definitely better than others.
Leaving your incense to burn out is not always the best case, especially if you only use your incense for short periods of time, but using water to extinguish the lit tip can ruin the quality of your incense.
As a result, the best method we found was to cut off the lit tip or to break it off – and the remnants will burn out on their own!
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.
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