A trip to the bathhouse is a whole ritual, with its own conversations and traditions. There a person is cleansed not only bodily, he comes out of it internally clean. Real bathers never buy brooms - they only use brooms made with their own hands.
It is customary to go to the bathhouse with a broom, and everyone should have their own. From the branches of which tree to make it - everyone decides for himself. It can be oak, birch, fir, juniper, eucalyptus, linden or even nettle. Experienced vapers are advised to use birch branches. It is easier to get them, the branches of the birch are flexible, and the leaves are strong, in general, they have not been invented better for a long time.
Behind a broom after Trinity
Old people advise to harvest brooms after the holiday of Trinity. They can be harvested from June to September, until the leaf begins to coarse and turn yellow.
Do not cut branches on trees along roads - the leaves absorb exhaust fumes and dust. Better to go a little deeper into the forest. Choose trees that are young with flexible elastic branches and large leaves. Do not break off the whole tree at once, perhaps next year you will come here again for this.
Using a knife or pruning shears, cut all the branches you like to about the same length. What size broom you need - it's better to decide right away. Someone loves large, massive brooms, and some, on the contrary, prefer to steam small.
Having collected the required number of branches - sit down to knit brooms. First, remove all the leaves and branches below with a pruner - this will be the handle of the product. Next, fold each broom in such a way that it is not too wide in girth and at the same time quite lush. Try to fold the branches like a fan so that the area will be large.
Try the product on yourself, imagine that you are in a bath and lightly tap your leg. If necessary, adjust the broom by adding additional branches to it, or removing unnecessary ones.
Broom formation
If everything suits you, tie the brooms with ordinary twine in two places, tie the knot on a bow. This is done because when the broom dries up, its volume will decrease accordingly, so the rope will need to be untied and pulled tight again. Now cut off all the excess in the handle area with a pruning shears so that it is convenient to use the broom. If desired, trim the top of the broom to the desired length.
Hang each broom separately, by hooking a hook on the twine, you can use the ready-made one, or make it yourself from the wire. Brooms are stored in a dry, shaded place, usually suspended from a hook on a stretched string, separately from each other. Do not put them together under any circumstances - they will simply dry out and become unusable.
Before using the broom in the bath, steam it for a few minutes in boiling water so that the leaves are steamed and turned around. After that, the broom is ready for immediate use.
