Jhoi Broom is completely handmade by our Vietnamese artisans using a revived art of hand-tying the grass with strings made of vines.
The first step is to prepare the materials for our brooms. The grass is shaken carefully to clean the flower dust. The vine is separated into thin strips and washed. The grass stems are sorted and wiped clean. Once the materials are ready, an artisan hand-ties the grass bunches together with vines. The bunches of grass are added one by one, secured and shaped by the thin strips of vine. The broom handle is slowly built up with the grass stems and more vine strips, getting a little bit of extra support with a hand-curved wooden branch. The artisan constantly turns the broom while securing and adding more grass stems. Once the broom handle is made, the artisan adds a loop for hanging on top and braids the vine into the bristles. Then the artisan reshapes the bristles to give Jhoi Broom the clean curve that adds to the effectiveness of the sweeping.
Who are our artisans? Our artisans come from villages that have been making brooms for several generations. The particular method of making Jhoi Broom is an old technique that only a handful of artisans know and work with. Our team works with these artisans to teach the necessary skills to other artisans of the craft to keep the technique alive. This technique is a learnable skill and it requires little physical strength so our learned artisans include young and old women and men from all walks of life.