White Ash: What is it and how to use it

White Ash: What is it and how to use it

White Ash is a wonderfully versatile incense medium used to support and burn incense. The name is a bit of a misnomer because it is composed of rice husk ash, but also diatomaceous earth, and select clays. When placed in a fire-safe dish (think: ceramic, concrete or stone), the ash resists heat and allows for air-flow below the incense. If you've ever burned an incense cone and it snuffed out right at the end - well, white ash solves that problem! No more wasted incense. 

Some of the more common uses for white ash are:

• Burning resin on charcoal
• Holding incense trails (pressed shape in white ash)
• Burning incense cones and sticks

We always recommend burning Hard Broom incense on white ash for a few reasons:

• A ceramic cup prepared with white ash is fire safe! No more worrying about level surfaces.
• The white ash supports the cone and allows for a complete burn. No wasted incense.
• Once the cone burns fully, you can mix it in with the ash and re-prepare the surface for more incense burning. Simple!

Tutorial

Here's a photo walkthrough of how to prepare your incense burning surface:

Step 1: Start with a fire-safe dish (ceramic, concrete or stone) and portion out a few spoonfuls of white ash. If you have a cup with higher walls, add more ash.

Step 2: Gently compact the white ash down with the back of a spoon. Don't compress it too much! We just want to smooth out the surface and create a mound for the incense cone. 

This is a fairly small amount of ash but it will work for burning incense cones. Feel free to use more if your incense burner allows for it. 

Step 3: Light the tip of the incense cone and let it burn for 5-10 seconds. Since natural incense doesn't use any flame accelerants, it takes a little longer to catch the flame.

Step 4: Blow out the cone and place on the mound of ash. Let it burn and enjoy the energy-shifting aromas. 

See how the cone is slowly transforming into ash? Once that's fully burned you can just mix it up and keep burning on your prepared ash surface. 

Want to see a video tutorial? Watch this reel!

Where to buy white ash

Hard Broom now carries Miyako Hai White Ash, which is among the most premier incense ash available on the market.