Why freeze brooms
Fresh brooms are not always available to bathers. To provide themselves with materials, the Finns have come up with a simple way - to freeze brooms. For Russians, this method of preparing bath accessories will seem strange. But if freezing is carried out correctly, the branches retain their original properties. A standard fridge-freezer is suitable for storing brooms.
How to freeze brooms
Brooms made of all materials are suitable for freezing - birch, linden, oak or grass. Proper preparation of the material is essential. The procedure includes the following steps:
1. Leaves and branches are stored before freezing. no longer than 24 hours since their assembly.
2. The collected materials are washed in cool water. It is advisable to soak the branches in a basin of cold water for several hours.
3. After soaking, the branches are laid out on a towel and dried thoroughly.
4. Dry branches are collected in a finished broom and transferred to a clean bag. For wrapping a broom, the use of cling film is allowed.
5. In the refrigerator, brooms are placed on top of other products, otherwise they can break under the weight - frozen branches are very fragile.
How to defrost brooms
Defrosting the broom properly is just as important as freezing it. If you neglect this point, the broom can easily deteriorate and fall apart. Defrosting takes place subject to several rules:
- brooms are defrosted no earlier than 2-3 hours before going to the bathhouse. It is impractical to get material out of the freezer in a week;
- so that defrosting takes place gradually, the broom is first transferred from the freezer to the refrigerator for an hour and only after that it is removed outside. Instead of a refrigerator, a balcony (in winter) or another cool place is also suitable;
- the frozen broom does not undergo sudden temperature changes. If you transfer it from the freezer to the steam room immediately, it will lose its beneficial properties (first of all, its hardness).
Which brooms are suitable for freezing
Despite the fact that the mechanisms of freezing are the same for all brooms, different materials react to freezing temperatures in their own way. Among the types of wood that are used for freezing are:
- fir: after the refrigerator, the fir needles remain sharp. When heated, the original aroma returns to the broom;
- oak: dense oak leaves recover quickly after prolonged freezing. This plant is resistant to any temperature conditions.
The most capricious brooms are juniper - they quickly crumble after being stored in the refrigerator. Hardwood brooms tend to darken after the freezer and turn into a "hoe".