How to clean an incense holder and look after incense ash
By Mio.KShare
An incense holder gets dirty in two ways, and they need different treatment. Loose ash is easy: it wipes away. The brown, sticky ring around the hole, where the stick stands and burns down, is resin, and it does not come off with a dry cloth however hard you rub.
Let the holder go completely cold. Tip out the loose ash and wipe it with a dry cloth. For the sticky resin ring on a ceramic, glass or metal holder, wipe it with an alcohol wipe; if it is stubborn, soak the holder in warm water with a little mild dish soap, then dry it fully before using it again. If you burn incense in a bowl of ash, pick out the stubs, sift the ash through a tea strainer, and replace it when it starts to clump.
This is how the Japanese incense makers themselves describe it.
Step by step, for a stick holder
- Wait until it is cold. An ember can sit hidden in the ash for a while after the stick looks finished.
- Tip out the loose ash over a bin or a sheet of paper. Do not start with water: wet ash turns to paste and gets into every groove.
- Wipe with a dry cloth. This is all most holders need after each use.
- Deal with the resin ring. On ceramic, glass or metal, an alcohol wipe lifts it. Shoyeido, the Kyoto incense maker, suggests exactly this for everyday cleaning, and a soak in mild dish soap for resin that will not move.
- Dry it completely before the next stick. A damp hole makes the next stick hard to seat and can leave a watermark.
Wooden and lacquered holders are the exception. Do not soak them or use alcohol on the finish; a dry or barely damp cloth is as far as you should go.
For a bowl of incense ash
Many Japanese households burn incense standing in a bowl of fine ash rather than in a holder. The ash needs looking after too, because it is the ash that decides whether a stick burns to the end.
| What to do | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pick out the burnt stubs with chopsticks or tweezers | Every few days | Stubs build up and make the next stick stand crooked |
| Sift the ash through a fine tea strainer | When it looks lumpy | Separates small bits of stick from the ash |
| Dry it in the sun and stir air back into it | When sticks start going out halfway | Old ash absorbs moisture and packs hard |
| Replace it entirely | A few times a year, or when it keeps clumping | Damp, compacted ash puts sticks out where they meet it |
Nippon Kodo, one of Japan's major incense makers, recommends replacing the ash a few times a year, because ash that has taken on moisture makes sticks hard to burn. If yours keep going out partway down, this is the first thing to try: how to burn Japanese incense covers the other causes.
What not to do
- Do not clean it while it is warm. Water on hot ceramic can crack it.
- Do not put a wooden or lacquered holder in water.
- Do not use sand or soil as a substitute for incense ash unless you are prepared to change it often. Incense ash is made to be fine and dry and to let a stick stand without putting it out.
Questions I get asked
How do you get the black residue off an incense holder?
That residue is resin. On ceramic, glass or metal, wipe it with an alcohol wipe. If it will not shift, soak the holder in warm water with a little mild dish soap, then dry it fully.
How often should you change incense ash?
Pick out the stubs every few days and sift the ash when it clumps. Replace it entirely a few times a year, or sooner if sticks start going out halfway.
Why does my incense go out in the ash?
Usually because the ash has absorbed moisture and packed hard. Dry it in the sun and stir it, or replace it.
Can you wash an incense holder with water?
A ceramic, glass or metal one, yes, once it is cold and after the loose ash is tipped out. Dry it completely before using it again. Do not soak wood or lacquer.
Do I need a holder at all?
Not necessarily. A heat-proof plate or a small bowl of ash works: do you need an incense holder.
Where this fits
The incenses I stock are Shoyeido's Horikawa, a sandalwood stick from Kunjudo and a Kyukyodo discovery set. For how long one stick lasts and how to put it out early, see how long incense burns; for what the sticks are made of, what Japanese incense is made of.
Written by Mio.K, who chooses everything in this shop by hand in Japan.