
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994                   TAG: 9401220068
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MARA LEE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WANT TO MAKE INCENSE? THIS IS THE PROCESS

Stick incense has three parts: a thin stick that acts as a wick, a finely ground powder that becomes ash, and flammable scented oils that soak into the powder.

Chris Saunders imports 10,000 sticks at a time from India. Sometimes the sticks already have the unscented powder attached; sometimes they are bare.

If the sticks are bare, he rolls them in "sticky stuff" and then adds the finely ground dust.

If already dusted, he taps them gently to dislodge the loose dust, but not so hard as to knock the crust off in chunks.

Next he mixes the flammable scented oils, dipping the sticks in one scent and then the next.

There are base notes common to all scents, and most sticks get dipped two times, some three.

The sticks dry in large cans salvaged from school lunchrooms and Maxwell's restaurant in Blacksburg, where Saunders plays guitar several nights a week.

Or he will place them to dry on newspapers, which he then burns in the wood stove in the bus.

After a few days of drying, he drops 12 sticks into narrow plastic bags and staples the label at the top.

The labels, drawn by his girlfriend, Debbie Littledeer, have a sun peeping through the mountains against the backdrop of bright construction paper.

An average batch is eight bags, 96 sticks.

by CNB