How to Make a Straw Broom
Each of our brooms is handcrafted in our workshop here in Rainfreville. Every piece is designed not only to look good, but also to be a durable and functional piece of equipment.
What Our Brooms Are Made Of
All of our brooms are made from sorghum straw, grown locally to our workshop.
Sorghum is a long, flexible plant that can grow as high as 3 meters! At a glance, it can look a little similar to a corn plant, but what sets it apart is its long and hardy panicle.
This panicle is what we use to make our brooms! Its hardiness makes the perfect broom straw, as it is long-wearing and can adapt to whatever surface you run it across.
Once a year, when our straw plants are fully grown, we harvest it and dry it out. Then we can start building.
Step 1: The Broom Core
Once our straw is dried out and ready to go, we can start building our brooms.
We start with the core (also known as 'the soul of the broom'). We use a special machine called a 'Monteuse', putting a little straw around the broom handle before adding in the sorghum stalk to give it volume and shape.
Once we're done, we'll cover what we have over with more straw, press down the compress and nail it in with wire.
To add the final touches to the broom, we use a knife to hand finish the shoulders.
Step 2: The Broom Cover
We take a machine called 'la Couvreuse' - a piece of equipment first manufactured by Mr Arnouz de Courtezon.
We select the most beautiful pieces of straw, based on their colour and length.
We fix our carefully chosen strands to handles made from landes pine, topping it with an apple or pear made in wire.
Step 3: The Broom Press
Most of our brooms are sewn by hand.
Traditionally, brooms were round in shape, but over time they have become flatter and wider to make for better sweeping.
We place our pieces in a cast iron brush press, squeeze them firmly and then sew them with the help of special leather reinforcements.
Voila, a beautiful broom has just been built!
