Protective Tools

• Latex or rubber gloves are necessary to protect your hands when making incense. Some essential oils are irritants when touched, and molding incense can get quite messy. If you are testing the scent of herbs and incense blends as you go, you need a censer with a self-igniting incense charcoal (not a barbecue charcoal). A drop cloth or old plastic table cloth can preserve your work surface.
  
  

Measuring and Mixing Tools

• Use measuring cups, measuring spoons and kitchen scales to measure herbs. Eye droppers are effective for adding small amounts of essential oil or water at a time. To grind and blend, use a spice grinder, food processor or mortar and pestle. Several small containers or plastic food storage bags can hold pre-ground or pre-measured ingredients until you are ready to mix them. Wooden spoons and mixing bowls come in handy, too. If you are making stick incense, you need long, thin wood or bamboo sticks made specifically for incense making.
  
  

Drying Tools

• If you are making stick or cone incense, they will require drying time. Cover trays with waxed paper to place your molded cones on when you finished shaping them. For stick incense, get a block of polystyrene foam. As you finish making each incense stick, poke the handle end into the polystyrene foam to hold them straight up as they dry so they will dry evenly without getting warped.
  
  

Record Keeping Tools

• Keep a notebook on hand to jot down the ingredients and the measurements as you go. That way, if you ever want to repeat the exact recipe, you will have it on hand. Alternately, make recipe cards for your incense blends and keep them in a small index card box.
  
  

Storage Tools

• Once your incense is complete, you need clean, air-tight containers to store it. Store sticks in wrapped baggies or plastic wrap. Place them inside a long, narrow container to prevent breaking, such as a spaghetti canister. Cones can be stored in plastic baggies inside food storage containers. Put ground raw (natural herbal) incense in spice jars or old baby food jars.