How to properly steam and steam with a fir broom in a bathhouse

What are the benefits of a fir broom in a bathhouse?

Bath procedures are very beneficial for the body in themselves. But they have an even more pronounced positive effect if you steam wood brooms for use for massage purposes.

Of particular interest are fir branches, the needles of which contain a huge amount of useful substances. If you steam the shoots of a plant, then under the influence of high temperature and humidity, valuable components will be released into the environment. Active massage with fir branches in the bathhouse promotes:

• deep cleansing of the skin;
• improving blood circulation and metabolic processes;
• rejuvenation of the whole body;
• relieving nervous tension;
• normalization of breathing.

Steaming fir is recommended to protect against colds. Bath procedures increase immunity, strengthen blood vessels, help get rid of stress and insomnia.

Beneficial features

Properties of fir brooms for baths:

• strengthening the immune system;
• toning the body;
• normalization of blood circulation;
• relaxation.
• rejuvenation;
• relieving muscle and joint pain;
• reduction of muscle tension.

The beneficial properties of this plant are determined by the large amount of essential oils and phytoncides contained in its branches and bark.

You will learn further how to steam this product. In the meantime, we propose to better understand its unique healing effect. Fir needles are not as prickly as spruce or pine needles. Therefore, it is often used to make bath brooms.

In addition, products made from the branches of this plant are considered an excellent aid in the prevention of colds. A wide and comfortable fir broom helps fight bronchitis and has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system and the entire body as a whole. A massage done with it relaxes the muscles well. And the aroma of this plant perfectly eliminates nervous tension and disinfects the air in the room.

Fir needles contain a large amount of resinous substances. They promote increased sweating and improved blood circulation in muscles and internal organs. Thanks to its disinfecting properties, this broom has a beneficial effect on the skin, cleansing it of pathogens.

How to properly steam a fir broom in a bathhouse

You need to steam the shoots using a special technology. There are two main methods, one of them suggests using boiling water, according to the second, pine paws are simply immersed in hot water. You can brew a fir broom in a bathhouse correctly using both methods; each of them has its own advantages.

How to steam a fir broom in boiling water

Soaking in the hottest water possible is the fastest way to properly prepare a fir broom for a bath. The algorithm looks very simple:

• pour a sufficient amount of boiling water into a spacious container, preferably wooden or ceramic;
• Pre-tied fir branches are immersed in water for ten minutes, and then removed and used in the bathhouse for their intended purpose.

Steaming fir in boiling water is convenient if the bath is already heated and there is no time for long soaking.
Although steaming fir in boiling water is very simple, the quick method has a serious drawback. Extreme thermal exposure destroys essential oils. In other words, coniferous bundle becomes soft, but much less useful for a bath.

How to steam a fir broom in hot water

To properly steam a fir broom without using boiling water, you will have to spend more time. But the branches will retain maximum benefit. You need to steam the shoots like this:

• water with a temperature not exceeding 80 °C is poured into a bucket or any other deep container;
• tied fir shoots are immersed in liquid;
• leave to infuse for 3-4 hours until the branches become as soft as possible.

Important! From time to time you need to check the temperature and, if necessary, add fresh water; there is no point in steaming the shoots in a cooled liquid.

It is recommended to properly soak a fir broom using the “warm” method. Then the essential oils and phytoncides are fully preserved in the coniferous paws. Soft shoots prepared for the bath have pronounced strengthening, tonic and antibacterial properties.

Fir should be steamed so that the green part of the fagot is completely immersed in water

How to properly use and steam with a fir broom in a bathhouse

In order for steaming with fir branches in a bathhouse to bring real benefits, you need to carry out a massage with a broom according to a special scheme. First of all, you should not start active procedures immediately after entering the steam room. First, you need to sit or lie down quietly so that the body gets used to the new conditions and the skin pores open properly.

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After this, you can start steaming. It must be carried out with the help of a partner, since it is quite difficult to treat the body on your own. The video on how to steam with a fir broom suggests the following algorithm:

• a person lies down on a bench in a bathhouse, face down, and an assistant, with light movements, runs brooms over his skin from top to bottom, from the neck to the toes;
• then the same light strokes are carried out on the sides of the body, but in the direction from bottom to top, from the heels to the head;
• Then you can move directly to patting; use a fir broom to tap the feet and calves, as well as the hips and pelvic area several times in a row;
• then the coniferous shoots are lifted to the ceiling, where the hottest air is concentrated, as if they capture the steam and lower it to the lower back, pressing the branches to the skin with your hands for a few seconds;
• The back, shoulders, arms and knees of a lying person are treated in a similar way.

It is better to steam and use two brooms at once in a bath for uniform treatment of the body.

The entire massage complex must be repeated three times in one visit to the steam room. You can also use a simpler quilting technique. Coniferous shoots are lightly struck on the skin from shoulders to heels for several minutes, and then the sides are treated in the same way.

Important! Correct use of a fir broom in a bath requires that all movements remain gentle and neat.

Brief description of fir

This tree is very common in our country. If you believe the statistics, it covers about 18 million hectares, which very often form extensive hunting grounds. Fir is shade-tolerant, and at certain stages of development it is shade-loving, which allows it to successfully survive in conditions of dense taiga growth. Among the characteristics of the plant, it is worth noting the cones that grow from the bottom up and open directly on the mother tree, leaving characteristic vertical rods after seeding.

Fir needles differ significantly from other conifers in the density and shape of individual elements, which in cross section have a shape closer to flat than to round. It is tactilely softer, compared to the needles of European spruce, cedar, pine or juniper. Another feature of this tree is that the main resin channels are concentrated in the bark, which is why resin nodes and sinuses often form there. Fir wood has the lowest hardness among conifers.

By the way! Fir resin is a time-tested, powerful bactericidal agent. It is not for nothing that it is invariably included in the recipes of various “Siberian balms”.

When to prepare fir brooms for a bath

To obtain maximum benefit, preparation of fir brooms for a bath should be done at the right time. Theoretically, this can be done throughout the year, including in winter; the needles do not fall off the branches in the cold.

But the best time to cut spruce branches is in June and July. During this period, fresh needles actively grow on fir branches, and it is in them that essential oils are contained in the largest volumes. In addition, the shoots at the beginning of summer are resilient, elastic and do not crumble.

Fir should be harvested in clear and dry weather, in the first half of the day, before the bright sun appears. You should not collect spruce branches in the rain or immediately after it.

In order for a bath broom to bring more benefits, it needs to be steamed almost immediately after collection. Thus, it is best to cut fir shortly before the planned procedures.

Manufacturing

To make a broom last longer, you need to follow some rules and know the characteristics of the plant. Before making a bundle, you need to study the principles of collecting branches.

Principles for choosing a time and place for collecting branches:

1. It is better to choose trees that are located away from roads, industrial enterprises, and large cities.
2. It is recommended to cut branches in the last month of spring and before the beginning of summer. During this period, the shoots are the most elastic and durable.
3. It is necessary to collect twigs in sunny weather.

If it rained before the scheduled collection day, you need to wait 2 days after it ends.

For several centuries, our ancestors used a fir broom. Unlike other coniferous analogues, it is much gentler and softer, so it is suitable even for people with very sensitive skin. After reading this article, you will learn about the main advantages of such products.

A fir broom is made from pine needles collected in sunny, dry weather. Branches whose length does not exceed seventy centimeters are suitable for these purposes. The thickest of them are placed inside the future product, surrounded by thinner twigs. It is important to ensure that the curved edges of the shoots are facing the broom. There should be no knots or small needles in the place where the handle is supposed to be placed.

During the knitting process, the branches must be placed so that you end up with a flat broom. At the end, the assembled bundle should be tied with twine or any other strong rope. This should be done in the place where the broom handle is located. Then all that remains is to trim the ends of the fir branches and wrap the handle with a bandage or cloth.

Those who do not have the opportunity to make a full-fledged fir broom can be recommended to use oil obtained from the needles of this plant. It is extracted from spruce branches using a special apparatus. At the same time, from a two-hundred-liter barrel tightly packed with fir branches, you can get only one and a half liters of oil.

How to cut branches correctly

To prepare a fir broom for a bathhouse, you need to choose mature trees located away from highways, industrial facilities and large cities. The cleaner the atmosphere in the place where the conifer grows, the more useful the steamed shoots will be:

1. For the bath, choose the straightest, even branches, from which you will get a neat bundle. Their length should be at least 60-70 cm.
2. You need to cut the spruce branches with sharply sharpened pruning shears. Immediately after separating the branches in their lower part, about 20 cm, small shoots and needles are removed, forming the handle of the future broom.
3. The prepared paws are not stacked on top of each other, but side by side, making sure that the tilt is in one direction.

It is convenient to steam fir branches; if they are the same size, the bundle turns out to be more accurate

Advice! You need to collect branches to steam them for a bath from the same fir no more than once a year. It is better not to touch young trees at all; severe pruning can lead to their death.

On a note

If you decide to try fir, you should know some nuances. Fir oil has a negative effect on the skin if it has fresh abrasions or damaged blood vessels. On an open wound, fir oil increases its pain.

An allergic reaction may occur, accompanied by itching. Therefore, you need to monitor your well-being. Pregnant women should avoid fir.

Now you know how to properly steam a fir bath broom. You know how to dry and store it so that it does not lose its medicinal properties. Follow all the recommendations and let the bathhouse become a pleasant procedure for you, aimed at improving the health of the whole body.

How to knit fir brooms correctly

The photo of a fir broom shows that it should be dense, neat and even enough to be convenient for steaming. The correct knitting algorithm looks like this:

• the collected branches are inspected for cracks, breaks and other damage, bad specimens are immediately thrown away;
• Thicker paws are placed in the middle, and thinner and more fragile shoots are placed along the edges;
• the lower ends of the branches, cleared of needles, are aligned so that they are located at the same level;
• the handle is tightly wrapped with twine; this must be done in two places at once so that the broom does not crumble or fall apart, otherwise it will be inconvenient to steam and use.

The finished broom should be quite voluminous, soft and elastic.

The knitted product is weighed in the hand and several test swings are made to evaluate the practical convenience. The tips of the branches can be trimmed a little if necessary. If there is no need to remake the fagot, it is hung with the handle up for storage or immediately lowered into water to steam.

How to store a fir bath broom

When not in use, the bundle should be kept in a well-ventilated area with low humidity. It is necessary to ensure that during storage the fir broom does not become damp and is not exposed to direct sunlight. Ultraviolet radiation negatively affects the beneficial substances in the composition of pine needles; essential oils are destroyed when the temperature rises.

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How to store a fir bath broom in winter

Ideally, fir brooms are recommended to be changed frequently. Over time, the useful substances in the needles become less and less, and steaming in the bath no longer brings a pronounced positive effect. But if you want to keep a fir broom for the whole winter until spring, you can use it immediately with the onset of the warm season. In addition, a good sauna can be lit on site during the cold season. In this case, the fagot left over from the summer will come in very handy, and you won’t have to urgently cut and steam the fresh one.

Fir spruce branches should be stored in winter in a warm room, preferably in a thick wrapper made of several layers of paper. Most often, a bath broom is wrapped on top in a clean cloth and placed in the refrigerator, if the size of the unit allows this.

In a country house, the fir product can be taken to the attic. The knitting is laid on the floor, sprinkled with dried aromatic herbs, or fixed in a vertical position on the wall.

For the winter, fir bundles can be hung in a warm barn with the handle up

The main condition for winter storage is that the fir bath broom should not be exposed to sudden changes in temperature and humidity. It should not be frozen, but the product should not be kept in a hot room either; the conditions should be moderate. As in all cases, spruce branches are not placed in the sun; winter ultraviolet radiation is still harmful to the needles.

How long are fir brooms stored?

The beneficial properties of fir broom do not last long. Over time, the needles begin to fall off, the bundle loses its shape, and the essential oils evaporate. If stored improperly in conditions of high humidity, spruce branches may also darken, which means that they have become damp and a new product needs to be knitted and steamed.

On average, a fir broom is suitable for use for about a year. In order for the product to last as long as possible, all care instructions must be followed.

How to store a fir broom after a bath

Immediately after finishing the massage in the steam room, the broom must be removed for temporary storage. To do this you should:

• rinse the product thoroughly;
• shake the broom several times so that moisture does not drain from it;
• hang the fir legs in a warm and dry place, but shaded from the sun's rays.

Important! It is strictly not recommended to leave the broom in the dressing room for a long time after hygiene procedures. In this case, it may become damp, lose its shape and acquire an unpleasant odor.

After bathing procedures, a fir broom should be rinsed in warm water.

Errors and recommendations

The most popular mistakes:

1. Collecting twigs in the second half of summer, early autumn.
2. Drying leaves in sunlight.
3. Improper storage of finished products in rooms with high humidity levels.

To enjoy the bath procedures, you need to take care of choosing or making your own broom. You can make a bunch of fir. It has elastic, durable branches that can withstand heavy loads and are not destroyed by moisture or constant temperature changes.

Contraindications

In principle, visiting the steam room is not allowed for everyone. In some conditions, a bath will do more harm, even if you steam a fragrant fir broom and follow all the rules of active massage. In particular, procedures should be abandoned if:

• diabetes mellitus;
• heart failure;
• hypertension;
• tuberculosis;
• inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system;
• pregnancy.

You can steam a fir bath broom only if there are no wounds or abrasions on the skin. Massage procedures in the steam room cannot be performed in case of infectious diseases of the epidermis.

Conditional contraindications for the bath also include alcoholic drinks and rich fatty foods. You need to steam a broom and go into a heated room while sober and a certain time after eating.

Is there an allergy from a fir broom?

Steaming fir for a bath is not always useful. For some people, the pine aroma causes severe allergies, and a negative reaction can occur directly during the steaming process. Redness of the skin when treated with a broom in a bath is a completely natural and inevitable phenomenon. But if the redness is accompanied by a characteristic rash, the eyes begin to water, a runny nose and swelling of the mucous membranes occurs, we can conclude that we are talking about an allergy. In this case, the procedure should be stopped and the fir branches should not be steamed in the future.