How to Check Camphor Purity at Home: 6 Tests That Take Two Minutes
Six quick tests — flame, residue, water, smell, touch and label — that separate 100% pure camphor from a wax-cut tablet, using…
Shiv Shakti Quality Desk 8 min
We have supplied shops, temple stalls and district distributors from Gorakhpur since 1987, and the questions at the start are always the same four. This is how we answer them at the counter.
1. What actually sells, and in what ratio
A puja counter is not a catalogue — it is five or six lines that move every week and a handful that move at festivals. For a general retail counter, a sensible opening mix is roughly:
| Line | Share of stock | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Five and ten rupee camphor pouches | ~30% | Highest footfall item, bought weekly, impulse priced |
| Camphor tablet packs | ~20% | The regular household reorder |
| Agarbatti jars and pouches | ~25% | Daily use, widest fragrance preference |
| Dhoop cones and sticks | ~15% | Occasion-led, higher value per sale |
| Slabs and loose pack | ~10% | Temples, halls and bulk buyers |
Add gift boxes six to eight weeks before Diwali and drop them again in January. They are the highest-value line on the counter and the least useful in April.
2. Rotation matters more than margin
Camphor is the one puja line that loses value while it sits, because it sublimates. A carton held for eight months is worth less than the invoice says. Plan for six to eight weeks of cover, not six months, and order more often in smaller lots — the reasoning is in our storage guide, which applies to a godown just as much as a kitchen.
Agarbatti has the same problem in a different form: it does not evaporate, it goes dull. Stock that has sat through a monsoon sells badly because customers can smell the difference.
3. Storing stock properly
- Keep cartons off the floor and away from an outside wall — both draw damp.
- Never store camphor next to foodstuff, detergent or kerosene; it takes on and gives off odour freely.
- Rotate strictly first in, first out, and mark the carton with the month it arrived.
- Keep the display stock sealed until it is needed. An open pouch on the shelf is inventory evaporating in public.
4. What to ask a manufacturer before you commit
Any serious supplier should answer all of these without hesitation:
- Is the camphor 100% camphor, or a compound with wax or filler? Ask for it in writing. The consequences are explained in the clean burn article.
- Is there a batch number on every pack, and can a complaint be traced back to a production sheet?
- What is the MOQ, and does it drop for repeat orders?
- What is the lead time in and out of festival season — and the dispatch and returns policy?
- Is territory protected, and on what terms?
- What sampling is allowed? Any manufacturer confident in the product will let you burn a tablet on the spot.
Run the test in front of them. One tablet, a white tile, two minutes. The six checks in our purity guide work just as well across a trade counter as they do in a kitchen.
5. The paperwork
Keep a GST registration, insist on proper tax invoices, and keep the batch numbers with them. When a customer returns a pack, the batch number is what turns an argument into a replacement. Hold the manufacturer to a written returns process before the first order, not after the first problem.
6. Working with Shiv Shakti
We supply directly from Gorakhpur across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and neighbouring states, with trade pricing, protected territory in most districts, and cartons packed for retail display rather than repacking. Our full range is on the shop page, the story behind it is on the about page, and applications come through the distributor form.
Buying for a shop, a temple or a district? Send us your city and expected monthly volume and we will come back with trade pricing.
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