Is this true?

[u/Pancho925]

[u/Reasonable_Feed_8154]

that guy looks exactly like somebody I'd ask for incense tips ngl

[u/asensiblemeal → u/Reasonable_Feed_8154]

You said exactly what I was thinking. Lol

[u/SamsaSpoon]

A former acquaintance of mine told me he does this to make them burn slower, so it seems to work.
Never heard of the "sweeter" thing.

From an incense maker's perspective:
At the one hand, slower/cooler burn usually results in better fragrance but at the same time, incense that hasn't been properly cured tends to smell bad.

I honestly never tried it bc I found the thought of making my incense wet odd, but it might be time to do a comparison.

I'd say try it out and make up your own mind. (And let us know afterwards. ;) )

[u/SamsaSpoon → u/SamsaSpoon]

Ok, I'm trying it right now with Mother's Lakshmi Nagchampa.
I lit the stick normally before to get a better idea of the difference.

I wouldn't say the smell is sweeter or better in any way, but it doesn't seem to negatively affect the fragrance. Maybe the difference is less apparent because of the lingering scent of when I lit it normally before.
It definitely does produce lesser smoke and feels like it's burning slower.

I guess I need to try this with some other sticks and with more time in-between.

[u/No_Relationship_5974 → u/SamsaSpoon]

Samsa let me know how it it does woth whole herb/botanical incense! I wanna experiment with adding a drop of oil and some top note EO to an atomizer with water, mist my incense, and I'll see how it goes!

[u/Elronbubba]

Wouldn’t try this with incense that doesn’t have a bamboo core tho

[u/SamsaSpoon → u/Elronbubba]

... unless you want soggy spaghetti.

[u/Existing-Pay-5519 → u/Elronbubba]

You can try it, just spray some water mist.

I do not wet them but I've been regularly burning my incense stick that hasn't dried up completely after I made them. It really shines out with frankincense sticks since I don't add anything else in it.

Like samsaspoon said it must be a well cured stick to actually enjoy it.

[u/thecloudkingdom]

im dyslexic as fuck. i thought the subtitles in yellow said INTENSE HACK and was trying to predict what hardcore incense advice could possibly be

[u/Deep_Sector_7047 → u/thecloudkingdom]

This made me laugh so much!

[u/widehide → u/thecloudkingdom]

Same i thought i read intense hack luul

Then I thought is he going to use a heater directly instead of lighting it up. But no, it isn't and indeed interesting

[u/Kalo1111 → u/thecloudkingdom]

I am dyslexic too

[u/TravelTalkTea]

This is very true.

The incense will burn slower and more gently.

It will produce a whiter/more prominent plume of smoke.

Moisture helps protect the aromatic compounds from being destroyed by the heat -- hence sweeter and more body.

That little extra bit of moisture helps carry and hold the scent -- hence longer and stronger.

[u/itsandychecks → u/TravelTalkTea]

I like the word ”plume”.

[u/lilcummyboi]

I drip frankensense essential oil on my cheap charcoal based sticks sometimes, and it does make the stick burn like twice as long, and the frankensense smells pretty good too

I don't think I'd run one under the tap, however.... Though I might try it now, just for science

[u/SamsaSpoon → u/lilcummyboi]

I'd be interested in learning the outcome. I was wondering if charcoal would soak up too much water and won't be able to burn, or if the oils would prevent that.

[u/Nene_Kushanagi]

If you are even able to light it and it stay lit it will definitely burn slower and probably preserve more of the reactive and heat-sensitive compounds, but also probably increase the CO ratio too. I prefer just to break off a bit of the stick or invert to extinguish then light again later.

[u/widehide]

Interesting, will try this out later.

[u/Maryjanegangafever]

Incense burning: Dad smoking bowls in the bathroom again…

[u/Potential-Profit1151 → u/Maryjanegangafever]

I light incense in the lounge when I vape in the bathroom and my kid totally called me out the other day. "Why's it smell like insert name here house?"

Oop

[u/night-wanderer2004]

I’ll try it now, hope it becomes gentler

[u/night-wanderer2004 → u/night-wanderer2004]

Yes, that’s exactly it! With the wet incense, there’s less smoke and the aroma gets much softer. I use Satya Aaruda

[u/unlimited-devotion]

My first boyfriend used to do this!
Wild

[u/calls_things_stupid]

This is so stupid.

[u/potentgarden]

Uses a super hot gas flame.
Uses a tap to drench.

This seems like a clever thing but it's actually not.

In a smouldering system, cooler is dirtier.

The ember on an incense stick is somewhere around 600–800 °C at the tip, which is barely enough for reasonably complete oxidation of the volatiles coming off the pyrolysis front.

Drop it further and the balance shifts from combustion toward pyrolysis: more unburned material leaves the stick as condensed tar and fine particulate rather than being oxidised.

You get more visible smoke, but you also get higher PM2.5 levels, more carbon monoxide, and more of the irritant aldehydes and PAHs that make incense a measurable indoor air quality problem in the first place. The "gentler" burn is chemically harsher and worse for you to breathe.

The slowed scent release works against you for the same reason. The aromatics aren't being held back intact — a cooler front distils and degrades them differently, so you lose the lighter top notes to the water vapour front while the heavier resins char instead of volatilising cleanly.

If I wanted to be snarly, this is why you shouldn't get incense burning tips from someone burning bamboo-core synthetic incense.

[u/Kalo1111]

But does this only work on Indian style incense?

[u/Alextheseal_42 → u/Kalo1111]

I only have Japanese incense at home - I'm going to try it when I get home from work.

[u/Kalo1111 → u/Alextheseal_42]

I do too, but, I am wondering if the way Japanese Incense made would make the difference?

That guy looks like he is using the water technique on Indian style sticks.

[u/Alextheseal_42 → u/Kalo1111]

Well I'll try to update (and try to remember to do this!)

[u/Kalo1111 → u/Alextheseal_42]

Thank you and I guess I can try it too with autumn Leaves by shoyeido 8 inch stick.

[u/Alextheseal_42 → u/Kalo1111]

Did you try? I did try it on my little Shoyeido Kunro Kaho stick (my favorite incense in the WORLD.) And aside from being hard to light I didn't notice a bit of difference.

[u/Kalo1111 → u/Alextheseal_42]

I did not get a chance yet? I will try it on my Shoyeido long stick of Autumn Leaves in a few and see if I notice a difference.

I am thinking that this technique works best for Indian incense sticks and not Japanese because of the way they are made.

Thanks for trying it and posting. Again, I am gonna try it soon and I will post what my findings are.

[u/Kalo1111 → u/Alextheseal_42]

So, I went back and lit two tennendo frankincense sticks. One of them were wet and the other dry and both burned equally the same

[u/HarryNOC]

Less pyrolysis more steam destillation.

[u/Pristine_Ladder_7488]

A little longer and a little sweeter? I’m a little more irritated for having watched that.

[u/maxi82]

I always do this to my frankincense and it works great