Hi, I’m Johannes Kettelhodt and I’m the founder and CEO of Clearlight Infrared Saunas. I’m often asked about sauna maintenance because they can be expensive and people want to maintain them well.
Therefore I’m often asked how to best clean an (infrared) sauna. In this blog’s post, I’ll give you my 4 tips to help you maintain your sauna – all of of which are extremely easy to apply:
Tip 1: Use Natural Cleaning Products
There are good and bad ways to maintain a sauna. You can use a bottle of all-purpose cleaner from your local supermarket, for instance, and use it to clean the sauna’s wood.
The downside of that approach?
You’ll be breathing the potentially toxic compounds from that all-purpose cleaner. Remember that saunas are enclosed places, and hence, anything you use to clean the place you’ll also breathe in during your session.
In fact, the higher temperatures in a sauna ensure that any cleaning compounds become more volatile.
So, how can you ensure that you’re not breathing in cleaning products that aren’t great for your health? A mix of white vinegar and water will do wonders, for instance – you can even add 10% hydrogen peroxide to the mix. After you’ve finished cleaning ensure you add water to remove the cleaning products to keep the wood looking beautiful.
Breathing in these compounds once the sauna heats up doesn’t negatively affect your health, unlike many conventional cleaning products. This vinegar, water, hydrogen peroxide mix even works for the saunas glass and floors.
Tip 2: Use Towels To Minimise Sweat That Ends Up On The Wood
Two places are most frequently drenched in sweat: the area where you’re seated and backrests, if you use them.
As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you simply use a towel under the area where you’re seated and clear away the sweat from your body once in a while, you’re reducing the amount of sweat ending up on your sauna to almost zero.
After each session, clean your towels, of course, and the bulk of the work is done. Rinse and repeat after every session. Using towels prevents stains from developing in the first place.
Tip 3: Cover Outdoor Saunas When You Don’t Use Them
No matter how well you clean a sauna from the inside, if you’ve got an outdoor sauna model then it’s highly recommended to use a sauna cover to protect it from the elements.
Covers for outdoor saunas are not automatically included by every single company. Without a cover, the elements will massively increase the wear and tear on the outside material over time. Sure, the sauna might look nice after a year without a cover, but the damage will accumulate over time.
Fortunately, you can buy sauna covers at many places and have them tailored to your requirements. Nowadays, with your measurements of your sauna you can even order a custom-sized cover online.
Tip 4: Ending Up With Stains Anyway? Light Sanding Removes Imperfections
What if you end up with sweat stains on seating areas of backrests anyway? Well, in that case very light sanding can remove these stains.
You only need to apply very light pressure to remove these stains. With a commercial sauna, sanding once every year will keep your sauna looking pristine for decades to come.
Simple yet effective…
And with that being said, let’s conclude:
Conclusion: Sauna Maintenance Can Be Child’s Play
Sauna maintenance can be very simple. Hopefully you’re also convinced that not “anything goes” – there are good ways to clean a sauna and worse ways.
And, if you’re interested in learning more about cleaning an infrared sauna specifically, then check out the 3 Principles On How To Clean Infrared Saunas Best blog post I wrote. That blog ventures deeper into the topic of cleaning.
