How to Make a Broom

Image Gallery With a few simple tools and materials, you can make your own brooms. JOHN HOLZWART

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You can make your own brooms! If you have a green thumb, you can start by growing your own broomcorn. But even if you can't grow broomcorn, you can order it from a supplier (see Resources at the end of this article). Photos for each step of the broom-making process are available in the Image Gallery; see link above.

Broomcorn

One of the most common questions I hear when I am demonstrating my craft is, “What plant material is used for the broom bristles?” The material is called broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor). This plant is closely related to sweet sorghum (Sorghum vulgare), which is the plant used to produce sorghum molasses.  Broomcorn is an annual and, from a distance, looks like sweet corn in the field. Yet, upon close examination, there are no cobs, just a large tassel on the top. That tassel is the part of the plant used for making brooms. Other materials can be used for the sweeper of a broom, but we're focusing on traditional corn brooms.

To make a hearth broom, 28 heads of broomcorn are used for the inside layers of bristles and 17 heads for the outside layer. Each head is measured with a cubit (the distance between your elbow to your longest finger). Put the knuckle of the corn, the place where the head meets the stalk, at your elbow. If the bristles, or brush, are past the tip of your fingers, that stalk is a keeper. If the material is too short, it will be used for a whisk broom later.

The broomcorn is prepared by cutting the stalks differently for each layer. Stalks are trimmed just past the knuckle on the stalk side for inside layers, but left longer for outside layers so they can be plaited. Place the broomcorn in a bucket of hot water with the cut ends submerged. The corn needs to soak for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Assemble the following materials before you sit down to make a broom:

• Broomcorn (about 2-3 pounds per broom)
• #18 nylon cord (for tying)
• Hemp string for sewing (20 lb. test)
• Wooden handle (18 inches)

Tools                                          

• foot held apparatus (for holding cord taut)
• scissors
• knife
• large needle
• sewing clamp
• lighter 
• drill

The Handle

While the broomcorn is soaking, you can prepare the broom handle. I prefer the rustic look and use a stick with the bark still on it. (Commercial dowel handles can be ordered from a supplier.) When I collect handles, I cut them to length (18 inches for a hearth broom), and they dry for at least six months. If any shrinkage, cracking or bark peeling occurs while drying, reject those sticks. Sharpen the tip with a hatchet or knife and drill an eighth-inch hole just above the taper. That hole is for tying the string onto the handle.

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