How to make Sudanese Shaf incense

Sudanese incense

Al-Shaf incense is one of the types of incense known in many Arab Gulf countries, which most women and girls in the state of Sudan master in making at home, as it is the main source of income for many families who prepare it professionally and with great perfection. This incense includes two basic types: Which is made from the wood of the Shaf tree that is found in Sudan, and which is characterized by its good and distinctive aromatic scent, and sandalwood incense, which is made in a manner similar to the method of making al-Shaf incense, but with the presence of some other distinctive additions that give it a different and beautiful smell at the same time.

Methods of making incense Al-Shaf Sudanese

This incense is made of chaff tree wood, sandalwood, and many fragrances that are mixed and chosen according to desire, in the following way:

• the ingredients:
  • One stick of wood.
  • 1/4 kilo of dhafra.
  • A quantity of ground musk.
  • An appropriate amount of sandalwood.
  • Two cups of white sugar
  • Small amount of mohalabiya.
  • Airtight glass container.
  • A group of liquid perfumes packaged in wicks, such as: Revedoor, Rocket perfume, Alwar de Paris perfume, or others.
  • An ounce of sandalwood (available in apothecary stores).
  • 3 cups of water.
  • A little lemon juice.
• How to prepare:
  • Shaf wood is broken into small pieces.
  • Wash the sandalwood pieces and the chaff wood pieces well, then leave them aside to dry completely.
  • All liquid perfumes, which may be in the form of wicks, mix well with each other.
  • Add the musk powder to the liquid perfumes, then stir the mixture well to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
  • The perfume mixture is sprayed on previously dried pieces of sandal and chaff, and left for some time until the perfume is absorbed and saturated with it.
  • The braid is cleaned well, roasted by placing it on the stove over medium heat, and left until the beautiful fragrance smells from it.
  • Remove the braid from the stove and leave it to cool slightly, then grind it well to get a fine powder.
  • Sprinkle half the quantity of the braiding powder on the sandalwood and chaff saturated with perfume.
  • Mix sugar and water together by placing them in a saucepan over medium heat, add a little lemon, and let the ingredients boil until a thick syrup is obtained.
  • The syrup is poured directly on the scented sandalwood sticks and chaff, then the ingredients are stirred well.
  • Add the remaining half of the Dhafra powder to the previous ingredients, and stir the incense ingredients together vigorously.
  • The resulting incense is kept in a tightly closed glass container, as it is ready for use.

Modus operandi of Sudanese sandalwood incense

It is the other type of the well-known Sudanese incense that was previously mentioned, which in turn is made from ingredients close to those of al-Shaf incense, and in a similar way with some minor differences, by following the following steps:

• the ingredients:
  • An appropriate amount of ground sandalwood.
  • amount of sugar.
  • amount of curl.
  • A quantity of crushed sandalwood.
  • A quantity of ground musk.
  • A quantity of crushed incense.
  • amount of orange juice.
  • amount of lemon juice.
  • A mixture of concentrated liquid Sudanese perfumes, such as: Amber perfume, Bint Al-Sudan Al-Aseel perfume, Sandaliyah liquid perfume, Al-Majmoo’ perfume, and others.
  • A glass container with an airtight container.
• How to prepare:
• Sugar is placed in a saucepan on the stove over low heat, and left until it turns yellowish-brown in color.
  • Add the lemon juice, followed by the orange juice, to the mixture and stir well to get a flavor with a pleasant aroma.
  • Sandalwood powder is added to the previous mixture, while continuing to stir it while it is on the stove so that it does not burn.
  • Add the strand and the rest of the liquid perfumes to the sandalwood mixture and stir the ingredients well on the stove until they are combined.
  • Remove the previous mixture from the stove, then add the musk while it is hot until it mixes and dissolves easily in the sandalwood mixture.
  • Any concentrated, heavy, and beautiful-smelling aromatic scent can be added according to desire. Oud oil and amber perfume can be added as a good suggestion, as they are well-known and beautiful-smelling perfumes.
  • Incense is kept in a tightly closed glass container for use when needed.

Benefits of Sudanese Shaf incense

Sudanese al-Shaf incense is widely used due to its therapeutic properties and great benefits, including the following:

• Lightening the body, making it more fresh and pure, which is the reason why girls about to get married in Sudan mainly use it a month before the wedding date, but it must be noted that if the purpose of using al-Shaf incense is to whiten and lighten the body, the girl must refrain from using soap with it; Because this may lead to the opposite result.
• Perfume and soften the body.
• Treating the problem of excessive vaginal secretions, and the negative effects resulting from unpleasant odors, in addition to helping it narrow the vagina, which naturally expands after the birth process.
• Accelerating the healing of birth wounds, and restoring the normal size of the uterus afterwards, and therefore it is recommended to fumigate it during the postpartum period.
• Reducing back pain.
• Treatment of rheumatic diseases and various bone problems.

Tips and advice for fixing the smell of incense at home

There are some instructions and tips that are recommended to be followed when you want to burn incense to preserve its pleasant smell for as long as possible and to fix it in the place, including the following:

• Ventilate the house well for at least 30 minutes and renew its air before starting to light incense; To get rid of lingering odors and purify the air before perfuming with incense.
• Using a diffuser that has an oily fragrance inside, and when it is turned on, it distributes the smell of incense emanating from the incense burner, which sticks to the oily perfume and spreads in the place when it is blown, emitting a beautiful scent and spreading it throughout the house.
• Spraying the furniture of the house during the fumigation process with the scented spray designated for it, so that the fragrance emitted from the fumigator and the other mist emanating from the furniture freshener bottle merges and sticks to it and gives it a nice-smelling mixture and spreads to the furniture and to the rest of the place through spraying and fumigation.