Brooms have existed since ancient times. It’s an essential household item that is used for cleaning and sweeping the floor. But how have modern-day brooms changed compared to ones from the older days? Let’s find out.
Antiquity brooms before modern-day industrialization
One thing to note is how durable brooms used to be before industrialization. While the process of making an old-fashioned broom is a bit more complicated and takes a bit longer, there is no denying that brooms of antiquity were more eco-friendly and lasted almost a lifetime.
Depending on an individual’s social and financial status, brooms came in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and materials.
If you were from a poor lower class, it was quite common to have only the bristle/brush made out of corn straws or even small pieces of dried branches bundled together. Some of them had wooden handles, whereas some did not. The bristle would be bundled together with strings or other cheap materials that could hold it in place.
However, more affluent households could afford a comfortable wooden handle, even metal, and had some form of decoration and coloring. If one really wanted to show off, they used the fine hair of animals for the brush.
Common materials for modern-day brooms
Nowadays, you can find a pretty cheap broom for sweeping the floor in almost every store.
Most cheaply made brooms are made out of plastic, which is not the most eco-friendly, but it is light-weight, relatively durable against water and the environment, attract dust and are quite efficient when it comes to sweeping the floor.
The brush and the bristle is usually made out of plastic as well, but depending on the manufacturer, other eco-friendly materials may be used.
Because of the cheap build and materials used to make modern-day brooms, it’s quite easy to break the handle, the neck, and the frame if you accidentally hit the broom.
If you are willing to spend a little more money, you can get brooms that have a metal handle, mainly aluminum but sometimes a thin sheet of steel. Compared to plastic, steel or iron are not as durable against water, so they are mainly better suited for indoor sweeping.
When it comes to heavy-duty outdoor brooms, they can come in a variety of materials. The bristle is commonly made out of thick plastic strands, but sometimes other materials can be used.
The handle and the frame, can either be made from wood, heavy-duty plastic, or aluminum.