How to Make a Birch Bath Broom: Step-by-Step

The highlight of the Russian banya, creating a wholesome atmosphere in the steam room, is the birch whisk. It's important to know how to properly gather the ingredients and prepare the bundles so you can truly enjoy the steam and gentle, hot lashings in the steam room on frosty winter days. If you love steam rooms, then you should know how to make a birch whisk.

The preparation of birch branches for the subsequent production of bundles begins on the feast of the Holy Trinity, it must be done before the tree blossoms into catkins - with these, the branches are not suitable for raw material.

Which birch branches should you choose?

The best time to prune branches is early in the day, to ensure there's dew in the morning and to avoid any unexpected summer rain overnight. June is also chosen because it's the time of abundant flowering for various herbs, and all plants have the most powerful healing properties.

For harvesting, it's important to select specific types of birch—white-trunked, drooping, and weeping. These have longer, more flexible stems, which is important for preserving the bundles during steaming. Branches at least half a meter long are cut, but you don't want to harm the tree—many brooms are harvested for the winter, and these white-trunked beauties should delight the eye with their unique appearance and provide young shoots for years to come, ready for use by bath lovers.

Read also:

• How to make a nettle bath broom?
• How to make an oak bath broom?

How to prepare birch branches?

The cutting of branches should be carried out according to the number of bundles required to be prepared for the winter.

The calculation is based on the fact that one birch bundle requires approximately 30 stems, regardless of the method of production—round or flat. The stems are arranged according to the principle: the strongest and thickest ones are in the middle, and the thinnest and most delicate ones are closer to the edge.

Knitters know how to make a birch bath broom so that it can withstand drying, storage, and repeated use in the steam room.

For a birch broom, the most common method is to fold the stems flat, so that they lie in the knitter's hand like a fan, with the leaves facing up.

Important! Birch leaves can stick together and darken during the drying process. The stems are tied tightly with hemp, leaving space between the leaves for air circulation. The leaves also need air during storage to prevent them from drying out and crumbling.

The handle should be at least a third of the total length of the product, and it is recommended to tie the handle with hemp rope, necessarily in several places along the length of the stems.

The length of the knitted item is determined by the artisan based on the collected raw materials and the size of the intended bathers. Naturally, larger men require larger and stronger bundles, while slender women require smaller and more delicate ones. The average length of the branches is 40-55-80 cm. The handle diameter is 4.5-5 cm, ensuring a comfortable grip.

It's important to prune birch branches from young trees, where the leaves are smooth and soft to the touch. Mature or diseased trees will have rough leaves, making them completely unsuitable for bathhouse "bouquets."

At the same time, care should be taken to avoid harming the tree, ensuring it continues to produce strong young shoots suitable for sauna use. Knowing how to properly make a birch sauna whisk can help you both collect the wood and preserve the trees.

Branches should be checked for flexibility before cutting; thin stems with plenty of young leaves are ideal for harvesting. It is recommended to harvest birch in forests, along riverbanks, and away from roads to ensure a perfectly clean, ecologically pure harvest.

Assembling a broom: basic rules

There are certain rules to follow when gathering birch branches. When harvesting, select only branches with fully expanded leaves. It's best if the branch has several lateral branches.

The peculiarity of such brooms is that the branches are tied into “fans” immediately after preparation, and immediately hung in pairs, according to the basic principle, in a room with good air circulation.

Advice! The ideal option is a combined bundle, when branches of different trees and plants are joined together: linden, birch, oak, currant, nettle.

Oak branches are placed at the base of the "fan", they give strength, and give a person a combination of the rejuvenating effect of birch with oak tannins.

To prevent blood stagnation in the veins, nettle stems are added to the base of the product. This way, they act not directly, as in a whole nettle "bouquet," but gently, along with the touch of delicate birch leaves.

You can also tie birch stems in a circle, placing the thick branches inside and the thin, delicate ones on the outside. It's a matter of taste, as to which bundles you prefer in the steam room.

Whatever the method of tying, the branches must be selected to be of the same length, and the stems must be checked for knots and burrs along their entire length. These must be trimmed to prevent injury to the steamed skin during lashing in the steam room.

The handle can be tightly wrapped with hemp rope or fabric tape to protect the bather's hands from possible blisters.

Craftsmen weave birch "fans" by layering the stems one on top of the other. The top branches, although thinner and more delicate, provide excellent protection for the thicker central branches. By following the proper rules for making a birch bathhouse broom, you can arrange the stems correctly.

Some mass harvesting specialists believe that birch dries better and retains the color and density of its leaves in a dark room.

In a city apartment, when preparing the preparations on the balcony, you can cover the bundles hung to dry with a sackcloth-like cloth with mesh and a dark shade to block light. However, preparations for the sauna should be protected from drafts, otherwise they will dry improperly.