Do you like a real bathing holiday and have decided to try making brooms with your own hands for the next season? Then this article will be very useful to you, because it will talk about how to make this original Russian invention yourself.
Here you will learn what brooms can be knitted from, how to properly prepare, dry, store and steam them.
“In a bathhouse, a broom is more valuable than money!”
Assortment of brooms
Each bath connoisseur chooses a broom for himself, depending on his favorite herbs and the desired medicinal properties. Understanding people say that absolutely every broom has its own unique healing effect. The most common bath brooms include: oak, birch, linden, eucalyptus. The king of all brooms is considered to be birch broom. Brooms made from fir, cedar and nettle, as well as young shoots of cherry, juniper, wormwood, ash, rowan, aspen and bird cherry are used a little less frequently.
The so-called combined brooms are very popular. Several branches of aromatic, specific, or medicinal raw materials are added to them. Such additives include: mint, linden, fireweed, St. John's wort, lemon balm, hyssop, juniper, nettle, fir, chamomile, tansy, raspberry, currant. When such a broom is steamed, the bathhouse is filled with the delightful smells of garden and meadow plants. When a combined broom is made, the burning and thorny branches must be placed inside, but there are exceptions when the most burning poultices are needed as a healing process.
Superstitions about a new broom
Interesting signs regarding financial well-being are associated with a new broom in the house. When using your purchase for the first time, it is recommended to perform a simple ritual. While sweeping, you need to ask him to sweep away evil and poverty from the house, and sweep in goodness and wealth. Then you need to bring a small amount of dirt and dust into your home from the yard or entrance so that the flow of money is constant.
You can do a lot more with a new broom to attract wealth. The following ritual is recommended. You need to scatter small coins on the floor and leave them for a day. When the time is up, the coins are swept with a new broom onto a green dustpan. They are poured into a container and left for 3 days in the left corner of the room. Then the container is tightly closed with a lid, hidden, never opened.
According to legend, children who have been spanked on the bottom with a purchased broom become obedient and non-capricious. And babies are fanned so that they sleep peacefully.
If a broom purchased the day before falls, it should be thrown away.
Procurement period for bath brooms
The best time to start preparing bath brooms is during the flowering period of the grass. At this very time, the leaves are tender, soft and fragrant. You can start preparing on Trinity Sunday - this is a national holiday and is celebrated at different times every year (counted 49 days after Easter). It mainly falls in the first ten days of June. Well, the preparation needs to be completed on August 2 - “Ilya’s Day”. After this holiday, according to popular beliefs, it is impossible to prepare brooms (with the exception of eucalyptus and oak), since they no longer have healing powers. Brooms must be prepared in dry weather.
You need to pay special attention to ensure that the leaf holds well, there are no thorns on the branches, and no resin is released from them. When preparing branches for bath brooms, you need to take into account the main point, do not use raw materials that grow:
• near the roadway;
• near industrial enterprises;
• close to a high-voltage line.
Also treat all plants with care, trim only those branches that you need. You need to choose the youngest plants (2-3 years old), whose branches bend well. Brooms made from birch, which grows near the water, are prized. This kind of birch is popularly called “weeping”. The best branches are those that grow close to the ground. They are thin, flexible, straight, hanging, long.
Some people try the leaf on their tongue: if the leaf is very rough, then it is better not to take it, but if it is velvety and tender, then this is what is needed . You need to cut off the shoots from the sides. Do this using pruning shears. When transporting, it is not recommended to put brooms in any bags or other devices. The most convenient thing is to tie them with a rope and put them in the car in which you came to pick up the brooms. When you arrive home, you need to immediately untie the ropes, otherwise the brooms may cake, and then they will not be elastic and loose. After you have prepared the raw materials, you do not need to immediately start knitting them.
Allow the branches to wither for 2–3 days in a special room where direct sunlight will not fall on them. The next procedure that needs to be done is sorting all the branches by length. Absolutely every branch must be cleared of 1/3 of its leaves. This prevents the broom from disintegrating quickly and is enough for 2-3 sessions. It is best to determine the length of the broom in relation to the height of the steamer and the size of the steam room: that is, you need to take into account the distance from half a mound to the ceiling. The most optimal length is considered to be 400 – 600 mm. The thickness should be such that the accessory is comfortable to hold in the hand of the hairdresser. Start forming the broom from the middle. Take thicker branches and attach thinner ones around them. It is necessary that all branches bend inward. Also, the matte surface of the sheet should be directed inward, and the smooth and shiny surface should look outward.
Where to hang the amulet
The place that can be allocated for a protective amulet will directly affect the functions of this magical object and its energy. Let's consider the most popular options for placing a broom amulet:
- Most often, a broom-amulet is hung in the kitchen: this is a good solution if you need to attract happiness and abundance into your home. At the same time, a talisman located in the kitchen will not perform protective functions and will not save household members from the effects of damage or the evil eye;
- To protect yourself and family members from someone’s dark sorcery, to ward off misfortunes and all sorts of troubles from your home, you should hang a protective broom-amulet outside the apartment - in front of the front door, with the bristly side up;
- The amulet will protect the house if it is hung in the apartment at the front entrance with the bristles down. The whisk can be located near the door or above it.
How to dry bath brooms
The tied brooms need to be dried very well. For this purpose, do not use direct sunlight. The most practical and convenient way to dry is to hang them in the attic of the house, on a thin pole or on thick twine. It is also necessary to pay attention that the brooms do not hang close to each other: this gives them the opportunity to better ventilate and dry.
You can also place the brooms at a short distance from each other in a cool place. After the finished brooms have been distributed for drying, they must be turned over daily. After the brooms have dried, you can put them in a pile and periodically mix (swap) them. Of course, damper brooms should be placed on top. So, well-dried brooms have a delightful appearance and retain their healing and nutritional properties.
The meaning of symbols for a protective broom
On broom amulets sold at souvenir fairs or in magic goods shops, you can almost always notice additional elements. Among them there are houses, bast shoes, and even canvas bags or nuts.
Many people believe that this is just decoration. In fact, amulets are specially decorated with various elements. Each of them has its own meaning. Therefore, whether when purchasing a talisman or when making it, it is important to know the meaning of these components.
Each decorative element of the protective broom has a symbolic meaning.
Traditionally, the amulet should contain exactly twelve elements. But this rule is not always followed, reducing the number of additional elements or replacing them with others.
You can add to the broom:
- A house made of salt dough or clay. It symbolizes a strong family and helps maintain a pleasant environment in the home.
- Canvas bag. Don't fill it with various fillers like cotton wool - pour grains into it. Thanks to this, there will always be food and drink on your table.
- Grains and legumes. They also mean prosperity. Sometimes they are replaced with coins, but in this case the word “prosperity” will take on a narrower meaning and everything will come down to an increase in income. And happiness is not always in money.
- A clove of garlic. There’s no need to even explain here - everyone who has ever listened to old wives’ tales knows that the fruits of this plant protect against ghouls and other representatives of dark forces. There is an opinion that garlic also helps against energy vampires. In addition, it simply clears the space of negativity.
- Pepper. Symbolizes male strength and helps ensure guaranteed prolongation of the family. It can be replaced with corn, which also symbolizes procreation.
- Rosehip berries. Unlike pepper, a woman needs rosehip - it will help her remain beautiful and desirable.
- Seeds - they help children stay active, healthy and cheerful.
- Bay leaves. Their meaning comes down to what the laurel wreath symbolized in Antiquity - success and glory.
- A bast shoe that conceals the coziness and comfort necessary for every home whose owners want to live happily.
- Pretzel. This pastry is considered a symbol of prosperity and hospitality. It was not for nothing that it was customary for us to treat our guests to tea and various delicacies.
It is important not only what additional elements you add to the broom amulet, but also the material of manufacture. Don't even think about plastic and similar modern materials.
Artificial foundations carry empty energy, which prevents the amulet from fulfilling its purpose. Try to make the components of the amulet from natural raw materials. Salt dough, clay, wood and sponge are ideal for such purposes.
How to store bath brooms
After the brooms have dried, you need to create conditions for storage for a long time until they are needed. The best option is to store it in the shade, otherwise some of the healing properties will be lost. If you store the broom in the sun, it will become short-lived.
There are several ways to store, everyone chooses the most acceptable and convenient for themselves:
1. On the roof of a house or barn, a hayloft is also a convenient option; make a flooring of hay. The finished brooms are laid out on it so that they do not touch each other tightly. Cover the top with dry hay. When needed, the broom can be easily removed from such storage.
2. Storage in cardboard boxes with holes (so that the brooms can breathe): carefully fold the broom to the broom, swapping the leaf part of the broom and the butt. There is no need to pack them tightly. If you store brooms this way, they will not dry out and will retain their fan shape well.
3. Storage of brooms - on a specially made rack in the dressing room or any other room. The most important conditions for the room: good ventilation and dryness.
The most popular method of storage in villages at present is in a utility room, or in a dressing room in a hanging position on twine or a thin pole, tied in pairs. Also, between the ready-made brooms, you can place a bouquet of medicinal herbs, which will play a double role: they can be brewed and drunk as tea, or brewed in a bathhouse for aroma. This method is good and useful, but when stored this way, the brooms very often dry out and, accordingly, the leaves begin to crumble. With this storage method it is very difficult to achieve the correct shape of the broom (the broom should be like a fan).
An interesting storage option in a haystack. Steam lovers have adapted to storing bath brooms in urban environments: in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or on the balcony. If all processes are followed well from start to finish, the shelf life of bath brooms is approximately 2 years. At the same time, all beneficial properties are completely preserved. Well, basically, all the secrets of preparing a bath accessory have been revealed. Research by professionals shows that observing all the age-old traditions and technologies of collecting and using medicinal plants, including the process of preparing bath brooms of various types, preserves the maximum amount of nutrients and medicinal substances.
Knitting
Making sorghum brooms with your own hands is quite simple. You need high-quality raw materials and special tools.
Procurement of material
Weaving a broom from millet is not difficult. At the preparatory stage of work, the required number of stems is selected. Each product will use 25–30 thin branches or 20 thick ones. The raw materials are placed in a large container, then poured with boiling water. An important condition for softening sorghum is keeping the shoots in warm water for 2 hours. After this, the stems need to be dried a little.
Brooms are produced in a factory using a special machine, which allows you to produce from 150 to 200 products per shift. We don’t have such equipment at home, so we knit a broom from twine or tie the stems with rope and cut off the end part. It is important to familiarize yourself with the features of the workflow.
Manufacturing technology
Step-by-step process for making a broom:
- The dried and seeded twigs of the crop are placed in small bundles with a diameter of about 10 cm. The panicles are trimmed and tightly tied with wire or twine near the base.
- In tying (with rope, wire or other material - each person has the right to choose independently), the main thing is to tie a tight bunch, the stems of the crop should not crumble.
- Divide the lower part of the broom into three parts and tie the bundle in these places (you should get three bundles).
- On the side bunches, several upper stems are cut obliquely, which will help reduce the diameter of the handle to convenient parameters. The shoots are cut about 5 cm higher from the bottom trim.
- Squeezing the handle of the broom, make sure that the shoots fit tightly one to the other, and tie them in several places, every 8–10 cm.
To give the product a neat appearance, the panicles in the lower part are trimmed with scissors, and the upper protruding rods are cut with a knife. If something is unclear about the technology for making a broom at home, you can watch the video.
What is a house broom made of?
Natural raw materials have always been in price. It is environmentally friendly and does not pose a health hazard. That is why natural brooms made from broom sorghum are still used. It is also sometimes called economic.
Sorghum is an annual plant native to hot Africa. However, now it grows in India, America, Europe, Asian countries and Russia. This plant is drought-resistant, is not afraid of lack of moisture, is generally unpretentious in care, and loves warmth. Sorghum has a strong stem that is excellent for broom production.
Sorghum (lat. Sorghum)
To make brooms, only mature branches of this plant are used - a kind of panicles. In a temperate climate, they still do not have time to grow, so most of the brooms, one might say, come from the south. The highest quality products are obtained from stems that end their life and dry out on the root. Also, the best raw materials have reddish panicles and red or brown grains. Some growers even leave them on the branches to prove the quality of their product.
On a note! Not only brooms are made from sorghum. The plant is excellent for making paper, starch, and silage. In terms of nutritional properties, it is no worse than corn.
Sorghum can be used for more than just making brooms
From a business perspective, sorghum is a profitable investment. It grows well, and from 1 hectare of land you can get up to 4 thousand brooms. However, this plant is very fond of pests, which adversely affects the harvest as a whole. Sorghum can ripen to the desired state already cut, which is used by broom producers in the northern regions.
