It is difficult to imagine a Russian steam room without a broom. A light body massage with its help has a healing effect on the whole body, allows you to relax and relieve fatigue. A good broom for a bath can be made by hand. You will learn everything related to this process from our article. Content:
- What are
- When to procure
- Knitting brooms
- Storage and preparation
From the time of Kievan Rus to the present day, bath brooms have been a potent remedy for almost all diseases. In addition to a useful massage, steamed leaves and branches exude phytoncides, which leave no chance for bacilli and viruses. Therefore, for a sick person, a bath with a broom is a panacea for all ills.
What are the brooms for a bath
The use of brooms in a Russian bath presupposes the transportation of nutrients into the human body, which is advantageous in comparison with medicines. When preparing brooms, they are carefully "canned", and in the process of massage they are sent straight to the address. The only thing left is to choose the right herbal "cocktail" for the treatment of the disease or its prevention.
Before making a broom for a bath, let's get acquainted with their variety and healing properties:
- Birch broom … Very flexible, with porous leaves that absorb sweat well. It has a beneficial effect on the respiratory system, muscles and joints, relieves skin inflammation.
- Oak broom … Its large leaves are good for catching up heat and steaming the body until deep cleansing. The aroma of a steamed broom lowers blood pressure and soothes the nervous system.
- Linden broom … Has a calming effect, normalizes the respiratory system, gently cleanses the kidneys and heals wounds.
- Eucalyptus broom … Its essential oils are absorbed by the skin and help fight inflammation of the muscle tissues.
- Nettle broom … Its "biting" properties will serve the thrill-seekers well. The presence of formic acid in nettle helps fight sciatica and rheumatism, has an analgesic and tonic effect, relieves skin inflammation and makes it elastic.
- Coniferous broom … Made from juniper and fir. When steamed, it purifies the air and fills the steam room with freshness with a characteristic scent. Broom massage boosts immunity, gives strength, heals the musculoskeletal system and prevents the development of colds.
- Rowan broom … Suitable more for morning bath procedures, increases the tone of the body. It stimulates the nervous system, gives vigor and strength.
- Bamboo broom … For a Russian bath, this is exotic, gradually gaining "clients" for itself. The broom is made up of young bamboo shoots or narrow and long SASA bamboo leaves. Its value is a huge amount of silicic acid, which has a beneficial effect on the skin and hair.
Depending on the desired healing effect, you can decide for yourself which brooms to prepare for the bath.
When to prepare brooms for the bath
Broom branches should be cut from trees growing away from highways and industrial facilities. Only then will their foliage, clean of the waste of "civilization", benefit you, not harm.
Now about the timing of harvesting brooms:
- Birch brooms are traditionally harvested in late June - early July, on Trinity Day. Choose a sunny day for work. It is better to cut the twigs from the weeping birch that grows near water bodies. They should be thin, have many buds and soft velvety foliage.
- Oak brooms are harvested from June to September. A suitable tree is chosen according to popular belief - burdock densely growing at the roots. Ideal option: to find a "winter" oak, the foliage of which in winter is partially preserved on the branches of the tree and has a special strength.
- Linden brooms are harvested during early spring flowering. The collection of twigs cannot be carried out in the city, since the foliage of this tree is especially strongly saturated with its "incense".
- Eucalyptus brooms should be harvested between late summer and early autumn. For collection, choose a tree variety that looks like a weeping willow.
- Nettle for a bath broom is harvested during its flowering period, when a tart smell emanates from the thickets. Plants are cut from the middle of the bushes.
- The bamboo broom is a foreign guest. In the countries of Asia in their homeland, it is collected in the winter.
- Juniper and fir brooms are the only ones that can be harvested at any time of the year. The day after collection and mating, they can already be used.
- Collecting rowan branches for a bath broom begins at the beginning of summer. The most "delicious" of them are located in the depths of the crown of the tree.
Cutting the branches of the tree should be done in the morning when the dew subsides and they dry out. How and when to collect brooms for a bath - we found out. Let's move on to the next step.
Knitting of brooms for a bath
Having crossed the threshold of the house with an armful of freshly cut branches, you can start knitting brooms for a bath:
- First, let's iterate over and prepare all the branches. We put aside the lignified specimens with "liquid" foliage - they are not suitable for a broom. We leave only branches with dense foliage and approximately equal in length - from forty to seventy centimeters. On them from below, you need to cut off all the leaves by two widths of your palm, this is needed to make the handle of the broom.
- We put the branches in a bouquet. The correct placement of the branches in the bath broom is of great importance. Its form and usability depend on it. Therefore, large branches should be in the center of the broom, and thinner ones around it, creating a kind of fan. Choose the number of branches in a broom to your taste, considering that its comfortable handle should be 3-5 cm in diameter.
- After laying the branches, we tie them into a bunch on the handle. When knitting a broom, synthetic and metallic materials must not be used. Synthetics in a hot steam room will be potentially dangerous, and a handle tied with metal wire will burn your hand. Therefore, the use of hemp rope, dense twine or medical bandage for knitting a broom will be more correct. A bunch of branches is tied up twice: the first knot is performed closer to the top of the butt, and the second - at a distance of 3-4 cm from the bottom edge. At the end of knitting, the ends of the branches protruding from the handle of the broom must be carefully chopped off with an ax on a stump or block of wood.
The broom can be used fresh, or you can dry it. Now, knowing how to knit brooms for a bath, full-fledged pair procedures are provided for you.
Storage and preparation of brooms for the bath
Finished products are hung on a rope in the shade or in a dark room, which must be ventilated. But often, this way of storing brooms gives them, due to gradual deformation, the shape of an ordinary broom. To avoid this effect, the harvested branches are stored in hay, and the broom is mated before going to the bathhouse.
A new bath broom needs preparation for its use. It is done like this. On the eve, before going to the bathhouse, the broom should be soaked overnight in cool water, and before visiting the steam room - in hot water. This procedure is performed in a wooden gang. Excessive wetting of the broom should be avoided - its leaves can become sticky.
The preparation of the broom can be done in an accelerated way. To do this, keep it in water for several minutes, and then, slowly rotating it, heat it over the hot stones of the oven.
A broom that has dried up during storage is poured with boiling water a couple of times in the bath, and then kept under a lid in a basin with hot water for 10-15 minutes.
How to knit brooms for a bath - watch the video:
However, every experienced steam lover has his own secrets of the correct use of brooms for a bath and their preparation. After all, a good broom is always the focus of bath procedures.
