Archive for April, 2009
 The single-gender bathing area at Spa Castle. Soaking pools are in the foreground. Showers, sauna, steam room, and cold pools are in the background (left-right) For those looking to experience an authentic Korean JimJilBang experience without the jet lag, if you live in the New York City area, the New York Spa Castle awaits, just over the Whitestone bridge in the College Point neighborhood of Queens.
The New York Spa Castle, formerly known as InSpaWorld, from the outside its 5-story structure looks like just another big-box store. Once you enter, you find 100,000 square feet / 9,200 m² of relaxation.
There are plenty of public transportation options to get to the Spa Castle. If you’ve driven your own car, they offer complimentary valet parking. This is a good thing, since the surrounding streets are crowded and very narrow.
Entering on the lowest level is the reception area. Here you pay your entry fee and in exchange you are given a numbered plastic bracelet that is your key and charge card: Hold up to one of the 3 lockers in the facility with a matching number and the door will pop open. Allow a cashier to swipe it and it will add the charge to your bill when you exit. There are terminals throughout the facility where you can check the balance on your card.
The front desk staff (at least on the day I visited) didn’t admit to speaking much more English than “Your money please” and “Thank you.” After I was handed my bracelet, I was pointed to the appropriate locker room: To the left for men and to the right for women.
Single-gender areas:
Just inside of the locker room is a shoe storage area. One of these small lockers is the first one your key opens. True to any Korean business, the floor changes from standard industrial tile to a wood-grained vinyl. Before stepping on the vinyl floor, you are to remove your shoes. Helpful attendants were there to chastise me and the three people behind me as we went to step on the pristine vinyl floor.
Inside of the locker room, there is a service desk selling things like scrub cloths and fresh underwear, grooming areas with all types of toiletries, lounge areas with couches, and entries to the single-gender sleeping area and bath area and stairs to the coed areas. A helpful thing to note if you are planning to enjoy the coed areas first: You must do so in a uniform. These are stored by the entrance to the bath area.
I visited the bath area first. It is to be enjoyed exclusively in the nude. Watching the other patrons, the appropriate ettiquitte, at least on the men’s side, was to strip down at you locker, and walk naked across the room. Towels, etc. are provided only at the entrance to the bath area.
Inside the baths are steam room, a dry sauna, a whole bunch of pools and banks of showers. You are expected to shower upon entering, and rinse yourself after using the sweat baths and before entering any pools. The pools range from cold to exceedingly hot. The large pools in the back have a battery of massage jets inside.
The single-gender areas of Spa Castle also have a relaxation lounge with couches for socializing, a sleeping lounge, and an area to get the famous korean body scrub.
The Coed Areas:
Once you have bathed your fill, don one of the uniforms, and head upstairs. There is a rack of them just
 Rooftop pools at Spa Castle. Pools are open year 'round. outside of the bath area. If you’re modest, grab your uniform before you undress.
The first floor is an expansive open area. At one end are the coed dry saunas. All must be used in your uniform, and they are hot. Save these until just before you are ready to head back down to the single-gender areas, as your uniform will be drenched with sweat after visiting these. A visit to the ice room helps, but not enough.
Also on this level is the food court, salon and massage area. There are tables and chairs throughout for dining, relaxing or just socializing.
 Lounge area on the mezzanine level of the Spa Castle On your way to the second floor is the mezzanine. In it are rooms full of recliners, some with personal TVs in the armrest. While lounging here you can get a foot massage, or have an attendant bring you a cold drink at your chair. This is the life.
The second floor is the pool floor: The variety of pools here rivals most water parks, and includes massaging pools, kiddie pools, and even an aqua bar for enjoying (non-alcoholic) beverages while sitting in the worm water. Some of the pools are outside, some inside. If you plan to use these pools, bathing suits and pool towels are not provided, but are available for rent. This floor also has the third locker that your key will open for storing your personal effects while in the pool. These lockers are in single-gender locker rooms, so if you don’t want to return downstairs with your wet bathing suit under your uniform, you can change out of it here.
The top floor has a full-service Korean restaurant, and a fitness center. A day pass to the fitness center can be purchased for an additional fee. This is new since our visit, so we’re not sure how you get your shoes up here. We assume you carry them.
When you have had your fill of the spa castle, you return to the lower level, and change back into your street clothes. A counter in the locker room has every imaginable toiletry, combsm brushes, and hair dryers available for use. Heck, if you want to clip your toenails, there are trays with nail clippers attached for just this purpose (eww). When dressed, claim your shoes, and proceed to the front desk to return your bracelet. If you’ve made any charges in the Spa Castle, they’ll be due here.
The trip to Queens is a little long for us. We’re anxiously awaiting the opening of the Pocono resort they show on their website.
Here are some other New York metro saunas from our database:
32 East 31 Street New York, NY
49 West 33rd Street New York, NY
6 Paragon Way West Freehold, NJ
275 Park Avenue Brooklyn, NY
24-20 Broadway Fair Lawn, NJ
602 Coney Island Ave. Brooklyn, NY
3815 Northern Blvd. Astoria, NY
5921 Calloway Street Queens, NY
3202 Linden Place Flushing, NY
29 Great Jones Street New York, NY
163 Hope Avenue Passaic, NJ
25 West 32nd Street
5th Floor New York, NY
321 Commercial Ave Palisades Park, NJ
22 E. 38th St. 3rd Floor New York, NY
3701-3709 Mermaid Ave Brooklyn, NY
[caption id="attachment_240" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The single-gender bathing area at Spa Castle. Soaking pools are in the foreground. Showers, sauna, steam room, and cold pools are in the background (left-right)"][/caption]
For those looking to experience an authentic Korean JimJilBang experience without the jet lag, if you live in the New York City area, the New York Spa Castle awaits, just over the Whitestone bridge in the College Point neighborhood of Queens.
The New York Spa Castle, formerly known as InSpaWorld, from the outside its 5-story structure looks like just another big-box store. Once you enter, you find 100,000 square feet / 9,200 m² of relaxation.
There are plenty of public transportation options to get to the Spa Castle. If you've driven your own car, they offer complimentary valet parking. This is a good thing, since the surrounding streets are crowded and very narrow.
Entering on the lowest level is the reception area. Here you pay your entry fee and in exchange you are given a numbered plastic bracelet that is your key and charge card: Hold up to one of the 3 lockers in the facility with a matching number and the door will pop open. Allow a cashier to swipe it and it will add the charge to your bill when you exit. There are terminals throughout the facility where you can check the balance on your card.
The front desk staff (at least on the day I visited) didn't admit to speaking much more English than "Your money please" and "Thank you." After I was handed my bracelet, I was pointed to the appropriate locker room: To the left for men and to the right for women.
Single-gender areas:
Just inside of the locker room is a shoe storage area. One of these small lockers is the first one your key opens. True to any Korean business, the floor changes from standard industrial tile to a wood-grained vinyl. Before stepping on the vinyl floor, you are to remove your shoes. Helpful attendants were there to chastise me and the three people behind me as we went to step on the pristine vinyl floor.
Inside of the locker room, there is a service desk selling things like scrub cloths and fresh underwear, grooming areas with all types of toiletries, lounge areas with couches, and entries to the single-gender sleeping area and bath area and stairs to the coed areas. A helpful thing to note if you are planning to enjoy the coed areas first: You must do so in a uniform. These are stored by the entrance to the bath area.
I visited the bath area first. It is to be enjoyed exclusively in the nude. Watching the other patrons, the appropriate ettiquitte, at least on the men's side, was to strip down at you locker, and walk naked across the room. Towels, etc. are provided only at the entrance to the bath area.
Inside the baths are steam room, a dry sauna, a whole bunch of pools and banks of showers. You are expected to shower upon entering, and rinse yourself after using the sweat baths and before entering any pools. The pools range from cold to exceedingly hot. The large pools in the back have a battery of massage jets inside.
The single-gender areas of Spa Castle also have a relaxation lounge with couches for socializing, a sleeping lounge, and an area to get the famous korean body scrub.
The Coed Areas:
Once you have bathed your fill, don one of the uniforms, and head upstairs. There is a rack of them just
[caption id="attachment_242" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Rooftop pools at Spa Castle. Pools are open year 'round."][/caption]
outside of the bath area. If you're modest, grab your uniform before you undress.
The first floor is an expansive open area. At one end are the coed dry saunas. All must be used in your uniform, and they are hot. Save these until just before you are ready to head back down to the single-gender areas, as your uniform will be drenched with sweat after visiting these. A visit to the ice room helps, but not enough.
Also on this level is the food court, salon and massage area. There are tables and chairs throughout for dining, relaxing or just socializing.
[caption id="attachment_241" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Lounge area on the mezzanine level of the Spa Castle"][/caption]
On your way to the second floor is the mezzanine. In it are rooms full of recliners, some with personal TVs in the armrest. While lounging here you can get a foot massage, or have an attendant bring you a cold drink at your chair. This is the life.
The second floor is the pool floor: The variety of pools here rivals most water parks, and includes massaging pools, kiddie pools, and even an aqua bar for enjoying (non-alcoholic) beverages while sitting in the worm water. Some of the pools are outside, some inside. If you plan to use these pools, bathing suits and pool towels are not provided, but are available for rent. This floor also has the third locker that your key will open for storing your personal effects while in the pool. These lockers are in single-gender locker rooms, so if you don't want to return downstairs with your wet bathing suit under your uniform, you can change out of it here.
The top floor has a full-service Korean restaurant, and a fitness center. A day pass to the fitness center can be purchased for an additional fee. This is new since our visit, so we're not sure how you get your shoes up here. We assume you carry them.
When you have had your fill of the spa castle, you return to the lower level, and change back into your street clothes. A counter in the locker room has every imaginable toiletry, combsm brushes, and hair dryers available for use. Heck, if you want to clip your toenails, there are trays with nail clippers attached for just this purpose (eww). When dressed, claim your shoes, and proceed to the front desk to return your bracelet. If you've made any charges in the Spa Castle, they'll be due here.
The trip to Queens is a little long for us. We're anxiously awaiting the opening of the Pocono resort they show on their website.
Here are some other New York metro saunas from our database:
[pods name="sauna_baths" order="t.name ASC" limit="15" where="metro_area.id=1" template="sauna_list_div"]
3 Comments »
 Andrew Zimmern enjoying the charcoal sauna at Chamsutgama The Travel Channel this past week aired the South Korea episode of Bizarre Foods where they found my ultimate idea of bliss: A combination sauna / barbeque. Host Andrew Zimmern as part of his travels in Korea visited the Chamsutgama, a JimJilBang and restaurant in the suburbs of Seoul.
A short clip of the scene is available here, in “South Korea Highlights 2″ around the 2:00 minute mark. The full episode can be purchased on  .
From the looks of it, the sauna is heated with the same stove used to cook the facility’s barbecue meats.
I tracked down the facility’s website, which is all in Korean. The text on the pages is there as images, so web translating programs can’t do much with it. If you’ve been there or know more about it, please leave information in the comments.
(I’ve done my fair share of traveling in Korea, and have eaten many of the foods highlighted here, including the octopus sashimi. And you thought peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.)
[Chamsugama] on Bizarre Foods via Jaunted
[starratingmulti id=1] [cft format=1]
[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andrew Zimmern enjoying the charcoal sauna at Chamsutgama"][/caption]
The Travel Channel this past week aired the South Korea episode of Bizarre Foods where they found my ultimate idea of bliss: A combination sauna / barbeque. Host Andrew Zimmern as part of his travels in Korea visited the Chamsutgama, a JimJilBang and restaurant in the suburbs of Seoul.
A short clip of the scene is available here, in "South Korea Highlights 2" around the 2:00 minute mark. The full episode can be purchased on .
From the looks of it, the sauna is heated with the same stove used to cook the facility's barbecue meats.
I tracked down the facility's website, which is all in Korean. The text on the pages is there as images, so web translating programs can't do much with it. If you've been there or know more about it, please leave information in the comments.
(I've done my fair share of traveling in Korea, and have eaten many of the foods highlighted here, including the octopus sashimi. And you thought peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.)
[Chamsugama] on Bizarre Foods via Jaunted
[starratingmulti id=1] [cft format=1]
1 Comment »
Posted on April 15th, 2009 by Chris in Guides, How to, tags: JimJilBang, Korea, Korean, sauna
 Scene in the showers of a Korean sauna. Photo from Urijamjari on Flickr. The Basics: Bathing areas are single-gender, and nudity is mandatory. Leave any shyness and modesty at home, because provided towels are small and privacy is not a consideration in the design. Larger saunas (called Jim Jil Bang (???) have coed areas where clothing is required. Uniforms are provided for these. Entry fees usually are not timed. Remember to take off your shoes as soon as you enter the locker room.
What to Bring: Korean saunas are known for being all inclusive: Towels, soap, toiletries (including toothbrushes!), robes and even uniforms for the coed areas are all provided in the entry fee, as is a locker with a key on a bracelet. The toiletries are usually basic, discount brand items, so if you prefer something specific, you should bring your own. Sandals are not allowed, so don’t bother bringing them. If you are going to a large sauna with pools in the coed area, or a small sauna that is having a coed night, you need to bring a bathing suit.
About the Korean Sauna:
The Koreans have a special place in their hearts for their saunas. Fortunately for us in North America, their émigrés also have an entrepreneurial spirit. Most major metropolitan areas already have at least one Korean sauna, and it seems that more are opening regularly. The Koreans aren’t marketing these services to us round eyes.
Of course, if you are in Korea, the sauna is ubiquitous, with saunas in every hotel and bathhouses of every kind, seemingly on every corner. In the large cities, the Jimjilbangs are huge, and open 24-hours per day. If you’re a traveler on a budget, they can be an economical alternative to a hotel for a night or two.
Most Koreans treat the sauna as part of their regular routine. It is a planned outing for cleansing, as well as socializing and general wellness. Nearly every sauna or steam room is equipped with some special material or herbs, and the largest ones have saunas made from jade or lined with gold, and some have tubs made from the wood of thousand year-old trees. Unique special treatments, especially for women, are offered, as well as deep tissue massages and exfoliating scrubs where the scrubbers pride themselves of ridding your body of every dead skin cell.
Arrival:
Upon entering a Korean sauna, the first thing to greet you is the reception desk. Here, you pay your entry fee, and be given a key to your locker. You may also be given towels, toiletries or uniforms here, if this establishment rations them, but most give you all you want. If you are looking to get a treatment of any kind done, you should inquire here about how to book this, and how to pay for it. Leaving the reception desk, the desk attendant points you in the direction of the appropriate locker room.
Most Korean saunas use your key as a house charge card. For low-tech places, when you order something, they call the front desk and read them your locker number and the amount so they can add this to your bill when you leave. Higher tech places give you an RFID key where charges are directly loaded onto it as they are made. When you check out, you pay for any balance due.
 Storing shoes in a locker, from the Korea Tourism site. It includes a list of Jimjilbang in Seoul As you enter the locker room, pay attention to the flooring. It will change from a basic industrial floor treatment to (usually) a wood-grained vinyl floor. Take off your shoes before you step on the different floor! There will be a shelf or locker here for you to store your shoes. If your shoes are expensive, you may carry them to your clothes locker for safekeeping, but don’t let them touch the locker room floor until you reach the shoe area. Slippers / sandals are for the toilet, and are not allowed here either. Socks may be worn on the locker floor.
When you find your locker, make sure the lock works, then strip. Towels, robes, and uniforms will usually not be anywhere nearby, and shyness or modesty, especially in the single-gender areas, is not appropriate.
The Bathing Area:
Once you are naked, you can enter the bathing area. This is usually separated from the locker room by a glass door. If you have a robe or any other clothing on, take it off before you pass through this door as it is not allowed in here. Reading material is also not allowed in the bathing area, but can be used in the rest area.
Once you enter, you should find a shower and wash yourself thoroughly before entering any of the pools or saunas. You will have a choice between (western) stand-up showers, and traditional Asian showers, where you sit on a low plastic stool. This first washing is important, because when you enter your body is dirty, and putting a dirty body into one of the baths will taint it for everyone.
At this point, you may first become acquainted with the complimentary towels. They are usually hand-towel sized, but freely available. (At times, they may be stored just outside the bathing area.) They offer no coverage for those looking for modesty. However, they can be folded into really nifty hats.
After this, you will be free to explore the baths. At a minimum, all Korean saunas have:
- A hot dry sauna,
- A steam room,
- A hot tub (> 105°F / 40°C),
- A warm tub, and
- A cool tub.
Larger facilities seem to add more pools before they add more sauna or steam rooms to the facility.
Unlike other cultures, there is no proscribed routine in the Korean bath: You alternate between the features in the bathing area according to your personal preference, spending as much or as little time in each as you wish. The only hard rule is after leaving a sauna or steam room, you must rinse yourself in a shower before entering a pool.
The saunas are always hot and dry in a Korean bath. Most will have a tray or bag of mugwort herbs near the heater. Most are wood, but a few are made from more exotic materials. Most have signs prohibiting throwing water on the rocks – It’s supposed to be dry in here. Oddly, all seem to have a TV inside of them. Bring a dry towel in to sit on both to protect your derriere from the very hot benches, and for hygiene. Because of the heat, you may want to bring a second damp towel in to cover your head to keep it from overheating.
The steam rooms are more typical. Again, they will usually have a tray of dried mugwort herbs somewhere near the steam generator, but otherwise, you can expect a typical steam room experience. I have seen a few with an area of the floor covered with river rocks that are used for massaging your feet by sitting or standing and walking in place on the rocks. Again, bringing a towel to sit on is prudent, as is having another one to cover your head… especially if there are Russians who frequent the place.
After a quick rinse in the showers, you can explore the pools. The hottest pools have no jets and are very hot. No, very, very hot. The warm pools are closer to the temperature of a typical hot tub, and will usually have jets of some kind, but may have more elaborate water massage features. The cold pool will again usually be without jets, but will usually have some sort of deluge shower in it to allow you to cool your head without submerging it.
After a circuit of the saunas and tubs when their skin is soft and pliant, most Koreans will return to the showers for a more thorough scrub, or hire one of the attendants to give them a full body scrub. Both are done with an abrasive plastic washcloth that can be found / purchased in the sauna. With lots of soap, the washcloth is scrubbed over the entire surface of your skin, taking off all the dead skin cells as you go. If you hire one of the attendants, expect them to be thorough. (Yes, they will scrub there.)
At this point, many will also shave, brush their teeth, and do other ablutions in the showers. This is a cleansing ritual. Most saunas provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors and shaving cream. Soap and shampoo is provided at the showers. It’s usually all discount brands, so if you like a specific product, bring your own.
After this, the bath is done, and it’s time to take a rest.
The Rest Area:
The rest area varies on the size of the sauna. In a small sauna, it can be a room with recliners, couches, or beds of some kind. In a large Jim Jil Bang, it may be a coed, multi-floor facility with restaurants, salons, and a variety of other activities.
Clothing is usually worn in the rest area, unless it is coed, where it must be worn. For single-gender rest areas, robes are provided. For coed rest areas, a uniform of a t-shirt and knee-length shorts are provided. These are usually color coded by the sexes.
A Jim jil bang can have many different features in the coed area, including workout rooms, restaurants, salons, pools, internet cafes, and especially more saunas. The most unique saunas in the facility are here, with walls made of gold, semi-precious stones or special clays, and unique heating systems like cars loaded with hot stones that exit an oven at specified times. All seem to have a story about what specific healing benefits each has.
In the rest area, you can usually find a collection of recent papers and periodicals (usually all in Korean), and are free to bring in your own. There will also be at least one TV, most times tuned to a Korean station with news or sports on the men’s side, and Korean soap operas on the women’s side. A few have chairs with individual TVs allowing you to watch what you want, and these will also have separate quiet rooms if you don’t want to watch anything.
The biggest Jim jil bangs have restaurants, multiple rest areas, salons, and other dry saunas in the coed areas. Some even have additional, swimsuit required, pools.
If you’re looking to find a Korean style sauna, here are a few. Use our Find a Sauna feature to find more.
4637 Convoy Street Suite 105 San Diego, CA
32 East 31 Street New York, NY
49 West 33rd Street New York, NY
17420 Highway 99 Lynnwood, WA
4120 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
809 Civic Center Drive Niles, IL
41 East Cheltenham Avenue Cheltenham, PA
2154 Royal Lane Dallas, TX
Yongsan-gu Hangangno3-ga 40-713 Seoul 
3202 Linden Place Flushing, NY
51 Hobson Street CBD, Auckland 
3121 W. Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA
2020 S. Havana Street Aurora, CO
1070 E. Sahara Ave Las Vegas, NV
1875 Geary Blvd. San Francisco, CA
[caption id="attachment_204" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Scene in the showers of a Korean sauna. Photo from Urijamjari on Flickr."][/caption]
The Basics: Bathing areas are single-gender, and nudity is mandatory. Leave any shyness and modesty at home, because provided towels are small and privacy is not a consideration in the design. Larger saunas (called Jim Jil Bang (???) have coed areas where clothing is required. Uniforms are provided for these. Entry fees usually are not timed. Remember to take off your shoes as soon as you enter the locker room.
What to Bring: Korean saunas are known for being all inclusive: Towels, soap, toiletries (including toothbrushes!), robes and even uniforms for the coed areas are all provided in the entry fee, as is a locker with a key on a bracelet. The toiletries are usually basic, discount brand items, so if you prefer something specific, you should bring your own. Sandals are not allowed, so don't bother bringing them. If you are going to a large sauna with pools in the coed area, or a small sauna that is having a coed night, you need to bring a bathing suit.
About the Korean Sauna:
The Koreans have a special place in their hearts for their saunas. Fortunately for us in North America, their émigrés also have an entrepreneurial spirit. Most major metropolitan areas already have at least one Korean sauna, and it seems that more are opening regularly. The Koreans aren't marketing these services to us round eyes.
Of course, if you are in Korea, the sauna is ubiquitous, with saunas in every hotel and bathhouses of every kind, seemingly on every corner. In the large cities, the Jimjilbangs are huge, and open 24-hours per day. If you're a traveler on a budget, they can be an economical alternative to a hotel for a night or two.
Most Koreans treat the sauna as part of their regular routine. It is a planned outing for cleansing, as well as socializing and general wellness. Nearly every sauna or steam room is equipped with some special material or herbs, and the largest ones have saunas made from jade or lined with gold, and some have tubs made from the wood of thousand year-old trees. Unique special treatments, especially for women, are offered, as well as deep tissue massages and exfoliating scrubs where the scrubbers pride themselves of ridding your body of every dead skin cell.
Arrival:
Upon entering a Korean sauna, the first thing to greet you is the reception desk. Here, you pay your entry fee, and be given a key to your locker. You may also be given towels, toiletries or uniforms here, if this establishment rations them, but most give you all you want. If you are looking to get a treatment of any kind done, you should inquire here about how to book this, and how to pay for it. Leaving the reception desk, the desk attendant points you in the direction of the appropriate locker room.
Most Korean saunas use your key as a house charge card. For low-tech places, when you order something, they call the front desk and read them your locker number and the amount so they can add this to your bill when you leave. Higher tech places give you an RFID key where charges are directly loaded onto it as they are made. When you check out, you pay for any balance due.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="187" caption="Storing shoes in a locker, from the Korea Tourism site. It includes a list of Jimjilbang in Seoul"][/caption]
As you enter the locker room, pay attention to the flooring. It will change from a basic industrial floor treatment to (usually) a wood-grained vinyl floor. Take off your shoes before you step on the different floor! There will be a shelf or locker here for you to store your shoes. If your shoes are expensive, you may carry them to your clothes locker for safekeeping, but don't let them touch the locker room floor until you reach the shoe area. Slippers / sandals are for the toilet, and are not allowed here either. Socks may be worn on the locker floor.
When you find your locker, make sure the lock works, then strip. Towels, robes, and uniforms will usually not be anywhere nearby, and shyness or modesty, especially in the single-gender areas, is not appropriate.
The Bathing Area:
Once you are naked, you can enter the bathing area. This is usually separated from the locker room by a glass door. If you have a robe or any other clothing on, take it off before you pass through this door as it is not allowed in here. Reading material is also not allowed in the bathing area, but can be used in the rest area.
Once you enter, you should find a shower and wash yourself thoroughly before entering any of the pools or saunas. You will have a choice between (western) stand-up showers, and traditional Asian showers, where you sit on a low plastic stool. This first washing is important, because when you enter your body is dirty, and putting a dirty body into one of the baths will taint it for everyone.
At this point, you may first become acquainted with the complimentary towels. They are usually hand-towel sized, but freely available. (At times, they may be stored just outside the bathing area.) They offer no coverage for those looking for modesty. However, they can be folded into really nifty hats.
After this, you will be free to explore the baths. At a minimum, all Korean saunas have:
A hot dry sauna,
A steam room,
A hot tub (> 105°F / 40°C),
A warm tub, and
A cool tub.
Larger facilities seem to add more pools before they add more sauna or steam rooms to the facility.
Unlike other cultures, there is no proscribed routine in the Korean bath: You alternate between the features in the bathing area according to your personal preference, spending as much or as little time in each as you wish. The only hard rule is after leaving a sauna or steam room, you must rinse yourself in a shower before entering a pool.
The saunas are always hot and dry in a Korean bath. Most will have a tray or bag of mugwort herbs near the heater. Most are wood, but a few are made from more exotic materials. Most have signs prohibiting throwing water on the rocks - It's supposed to be dry in here. Oddly, all seem to have a TV inside of them. Bring a dry towel in to sit on both to protect your derriere from the very hot benches, and for hygiene. Because of the heat, you may want to bring a second damp towel in to cover your head to keep it from overheating.
The steam rooms are more typical. Again, they will usually have a tray of dried mugwort herbs somewhere near the steam generator, but otherwise, you can expect a typical steam room experience. I have seen a few with an area of the floor covered with river rocks that are used for massaging your feet by sitting or standing and walking in place on the rocks. Again, bringing a towel to sit on is prudent, as is having another one to cover your head... especially if there are Russians who frequent the place.
After a quick rinse in the showers, you can explore the pools. The hottest pools have no jets and are very hot. No, very, very hot. The warm pools are closer to the temperature of a typical hot tub, and will usually have jets of some kind, but may have more elaborate water massage features. The cold pool will again usually be without jets, but will usually have some sort of deluge shower in it to allow you to cool your head without submerging it.
After a circuit of the saunas and tubs when their skin is soft and pliant, most Koreans will return to the showers for a more thorough scrub, or hire one of the attendants to give them a full body scrub. Both are done with an abrasive plastic washcloth that can be found / purchased in the sauna. With lots of soap, the washcloth is scrubbed over the entire surface of your skin, taking off all the dead skin cells as you go. If you hire one of the attendants, expect them to be thorough. (Yes, they will scrub there.)
At this point, many will also shave, brush their teeth, and do other ablutions in the showers. This is a cleansing ritual. Most saunas provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors and shaving cream. Soap and shampoo is provided at the showers. It's usually all discount brands, so if you like a specific product, bring your own.
After this, the bath is done, and it's time to take a rest.
The Rest Area:
The rest area varies on the size of the sauna. In a small sauna, it can be a room with recliners, couches, or beds of some kind. In a large Jim Jil Bang, it may be a coed, multi-floor facility with restaurants, salons, and a variety of other activities.
Clothing is usually worn in the rest area, unless it is coed, where it must be worn. For single-gender rest areas, robes are provided. For coed rest areas, a uniform of a t-shirt and knee-length shorts are provided. These are usually color coded by the sexes.
A Jim jil bang can have many different features in the coed area, including workout rooms, restaurants, salons, pools, internet cafes, and especially more saunas. The most unique saunas in the facility are here, with walls made of gold, semi-precious stones or special clays, and unique heating systems like cars loaded with hot stones that exit an oven at specified times. All seem to have a story about what specific healing benefits each has.
In the rest area, you can usually find a collection of recent papers and periodicals (usually all in Korean), and are free to bring in your own. There will also be at least one TV, most times tuned to a Korean station with news or sports on the men's side, and Korean soap operas on the women's side. A few have chairs with individual TVs allowing you to watch what you want, and these will also have separate quiet rooms if you don't want to watch anything.
The biggest Jim jil bangs have restaurants, multiple rest areas, salons, and other dry saunas in the coed areas. Some even have additional, swimsuit required, pools.
If you're looking to find a Korean style sauna, here are a few. Use our Find a Sauna feature to find more.
[pods name="sauna_baths" order="t.name ASC" where="style.id=2" template="sauna_list_div"]
5 Comments »
Posted on April 14th, 2009 by Chris in Your Body, tags: alchohol, cocaine, death, fainting, hangover, health, heart disease, news, pregnancy, research, sperm, YMCA
 Photo posted by Dru! on Flickr Our news ticker has been lit up recently with the news of the recent settlement of a lawsuit where an Indiana man passed away after collapsing in the sauna of his YMCA. We feel deep sympathy for the man’s friends and relatives, as losing a loved one suddenly is always difficult, especially when you’re not dealing with individuals, but through the American legal / insurance system, as was the case for this man’s poor wife. But that’s a topic for another blog.
This brings the topic to light that heat bathing can be dangerous. According to Wikipedia, raising your core body temperature just 6°F / 2°C can be life threatening. Any additional temperature rise can begin to cause brain damage. For pregnant women, the dangers to their unborn child begin sooner, with a core temperature rise to 102.0°F /38.9°C. Normal body temperature is 98.6°F / 37.0°C.
In 1991, The American Journal of Public Health published a review of “The Health Hazards of Saunas and Spas and How to Minimize Them.” Most of this article is a review of the literature published to date, much of it in the 1998 Annals of Clinical Research special edition on saunas. (We have not been able to find this publication. If you have a copy, we would be grateful if you would share this with us.)
In the study, the author recommends:
Persons with heart disease, hypertension, seizure disorders, diabetes, or significant obesity; persons who have ingested alcohol, narcotic drugs, or medications that can result in drowsiness or interfere with the body’s temperature-regulating mechanism; or persons who are over 65 years of age must limit their stays in saunas or spas to 5 or at the most 10 minutes at a time. Similar precautions should be observed by women in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Even healthy adults would be well advised not to stay in for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
Fainting is the greatest hazard for heat bathers. In a test of 60 otherwise healthy adults, 5% of them fainted after a 20-minute sauna session. The test was repeated with 61 children under 12, and 3% of them fainted after a 10-minute sauna session. The author notes that if you have heart disease, or have used alcohol or drugs your risk of fainting increases.
Falling from fainting while in or exiting the bath can cause injuries by itself, or compounded by the hot stove components. Fainting with loss of consciousness, especially in an unsupervised area, can cause more severe problems if you are not promptly removed from the heat or water.
Heart arrhythmia can be caused by sauna bathing. This is especially true if you have heart disease, or arteriosclerosis. What many people don’t realize is that alcohol, cocaine and other drugs that affect the heart, temperature regulating mechanisms, or cause drowsiness, can also increase your risk for cardiac arrhythmia. This carries over into the hangover phase as well.
Sweating out a hangover in a sauna is a bad idea. Evidence presented in the paper shows that if you are hung over, you are more likely to experience cardiac arrhythmia in the sauna. Even the wild children at Partiers.com admit it is as bad as “Hair of the Dog.”
As part of this study, the author polled US medical examiners about heat bathing related deaths from 1983-1988. Of the 7 sauna-related deaths in that period, 6 were in people who had used alcohol or had heart disease. All were over 12 years old, and 5 of the 7 were over 65 years old.
In that same time period, 47 spa / hot tub deaths were reported. 45% of the fatalities had used either alchohol and/or cocaine. Another 17% of these were people with heart disease.
Other hazards found in the study were:
- Diabetics taking insulin via injection can absorb it more quickly due to dilation of the blood vessels near the body surface.
- Men whose partners are trying to conceive should avoid the sauna: A single 20-minute exposure to a sauna at 176°F / 80°C can decrease sperm count for up to 5 weeks!
- Women who are or may be pregnant should be careful around the sauna: A small temperature rise in your body can damage your unborn baby, especially in the first trimester. In the last trimester, elevated body temperatures can induce labor.
I did a quick study of sauna-related injuries from 2006 and 2007, reported by hospitals to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission. There were a total of 23 injuries in those two years. All injuries were minor enough to allow the patients to be released without admission to the hospital. Most were burns, falls or fainting episodes. However, their data does not tell the whole story, as a family in Indiana will tell you.
[caption id="attachment_200" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Photo posted by Dru! on Flickr"][/caption]
Our news ticker has been lit up recently with the news of the recent settlement of a lawsuit where an Indiana man passed away after collapsing in the sauna of his YMCA. We feel deep sympathy for the man's friends and relatives, as losing a loved one suddenly is always difficult, especially when you're not dealing with individuals, but through the American legal / insurance system, as was the case for this man's poor wife. But that's a topic for another blog.
This brings the topic to light that heat bathing can be dangerous. According to Wikipedia, raising your core body temperature just 6°F / 2°C can be life threatening. Any additional temperature rise can begin to cause brain damage. For pregnant women, the dangers to their unborn child begin sooner, with a core temperature rise to 102.0°F /38.9°C. Normal body temperature is 98.6°F / 37.0°C.
In 1991, The American Journal of Public Health published a review of "The Health Hazards of Saunas and Spas and How to Minimize Them." Most of this article is a review of the literature published to date, much of it in the 1998 Annals of Clinical Research special edition on saunas. (We have not been able to find this publication. If you have a copy, we would be grateful if you would share this with us.)
In the study, the author recommends:
Persons with heart disease, hypertension, seizure disorders, diabetes, or significant obesity; persons who have ingested alcohol, narcotic drugs, or medications that can result in drowsiness or interfere with the body's temperature-regulating mechanism; or persons who are over 65 years of age must limit their stays in saunas or spas to 5 or at the most 10 minutes at a time. Similar precautions should be observed by women in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Even healthy adults would be well advised not to stay in for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
Fainting is the greatest hazard for heat bathers. In a test of 60 otherwise healthy adults, 5% of them fainted after a 20-minute sauna session. The test was repeated with 61 children under 12, and 3% of them fainted after a 10-minute sauna session. The author notes that if you have heart disease, or have used alcohol or drugs your risk of fainting increases.
Falling from fainting while in or exiting the bath can cause injuries by itself, or compounded by the hot stove components. Fainting with loss of consciousness, especially in an unsupervised area, can cause more severe problems if you are not promptly removed from the heat or water.
Heart arrhythmia can be caused by sauna bathing. This is especially true if you have heart disease, or arteriosclerosis. What many people don't realize is that alcohol, cocaine and other drugs that affect the heart, temperature regulating mechanisms, or cause drowsiness, can also increase your risk for cardiac arrhythmia. This carries over into the hangover phase as well.
Sweating out a hangover in a sauna is a bad idea. Evidence presented in the paper shows that if you are hung over, you are more likely to experience cardiac arrhythmia in the sauna. Even the wild children at Partiers.com admit it is as bad as "Hair of the Dog."
As part of this study, the author polled US medical examiners about heat bathing related deaths from 1983-1988. Of the 7 sauna-related deaths in that period, 6 were in people who had used alcohol or had heart disease. All were over 12 years old, and 5 of the 7 were over 65 years old.
In that same time period, 47 spa / hot tub deaths were reported. 45% of the fatalities had used either alchohol and/or cocaine. Another 17% of these were people with heart disease.
Other hazards found in the study were:
Diabetics taking insulin via injection can absorb it more quickly due to dilation of the blood vessels near the body surface.
Men whose partners are trying to conceive should avoid the sauna: A single 20-minute exposure to a sauna at 176°F / 80°C can decrease sperm count for up to 5 weeks!
Women who are or may be pregnant should be careful around the sauna: A small temperature rise in your body can damage your unborn baby, especially in the first trimester. In the last trimester, elevated body temperatures can induce labor.
I did a quick study of sauna-related injuries from 2006 and 2007, reported by hospitals to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission. There were a total of 23 injuries in those two years. All injuries were minor enough to allow the patients to be released without admission to the hospital. Most were burns, falls or fainting episodes. However, their data does not tell the whole story, as a family in Indiana will tell you.
No Comments »
Posted on April 8th, 2009 by Chris in How to, Websites, tags: build, clean, guide, Hotel, How to, Löyly, Sauna Times, travel
 Photo by Paint Monkey on Flickr In our quest to find new and interesting sauna tidbits to share with you, we spend a lot of time combing the web looking for information.
This weekend, we stumbled upon Sauna Times, a blog run by Glenn, a “Joe American” living in Minnesota. We find the similarities between his site and ours uncanny, right down to the choice of the background images. He seems to be quite a personable fellow. So much so that with this post, Sauna times now has a place in our links page.
What really caught our attention on his site though, was his post “Hotel Sauna: How to Take One.” A laminated copy now resides in our briefcase for our next stay at a hotel with a sauna.
We have noticed that most hotel (and health club) saunas, especially here in the USA, tend to be overly dry from disuse. This becomes part of the problem: If the sauna is dry and hot, it irritates your respiratory system. Most forbid you from throwing water on the rocks, so the only solution is to turn the temperature down. You end up sitting in a warm room, which really doesn’t do much for you.
Sauna Times has a simple solution for all of this: As soon as you check in, turn on the sauna full blast. Give it 20 minutes or so to heat, then:
Flush the hotel sauna. Generously douse with fresh water:
- the bench area where you’ll be sitting.
- the hotel sauna rocks with water (they should bark back, if not, the sauna is lame, call housekeeping if you’re especially irritated).
- anywhere else you feel the urge.
Why? underused hotel saunas can build up dust and stagnation, this ‘cleansing’ will get your hotel sauna fresh and ready to rock.
After this, reset the timer again, and give the sauna another 30 minutes to recover from this washing, and you’re ready to begin the sauna process, which Glenn distills succinctly: “It’s like the instructions on a box of laundry detergent: sauna, rinse, chill, repeat.”
If you are looking for a lodging with a sauna, don’t forget to check out our hotel sauna search engine.
[Hotel Sauna: How to Take One] Sauna Times
[caption id="attachment_183" align="alignright" width="296" caption="Photo by Paint Monkey on Flickr"][/caption]
In our quest to find new and interesting sauna tidbits to share with you, we spend a lot of time combing the web looking for information.
This weekend, we stumbled upon Sauna Times, a blog run by Glenn, a "Joe American" living in Minnesota. We find the similarities between his site and ours uncanny, right down to the choice of the background images. He seems to be quite a personable fellow. So much so that with this post, Sauna times now has a place in our links page.
What really caught our attention on his site though, was his post "Hotel Sauna: How to Take One." A laminated copy now resides in our briefcase for our next stay at a hotel with a sauna.
We have noticed that most hotel (and health club) saunas, especially here in the USA, tend to be overly dry from disuse. This becomes part of the problem: If the sauna is dry and hot, it irritates your respiratory system. Most forbid you from throwing water on the rocks, so the only solution is to turn the temperature down. You end up sitting in a warm room, which really doesn't do much for you.
Sauna Times has a simple solution for all of this: As soon as you check in, turn on the sauna full blast. Give it 20 minutes or so to heat, then:
Flush the hotel sauna. Generously douse with fresh water:
the bench area where you’ll be sitting.
the hotel sauna rocks with water (they should bark back, if not, the sauna is lame, call housekeeping if you’re especially irritated).
anywhere else you feel the urge.
Why? underused hotel saunas can build up dust and stagnation, this ‘cleansing’ will get your hotel sauna fresh and ready to rock.
After this, reset the timer again, and give the sauna another 30 minutes to recover from this washing, and you're ready to begin the sauna process, which Glenn distills succinctly: "It’s like the instructions on a box of laundry detergent: sauna, rinse, chill, repeat."
If you are looking for a lodging with a sauna, don't forget to check out our hotel sauna search engine.
[Hotel Sauna: How to Take One] Sauna Times
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 Utah cops sweating out their toxins from Methamphetamine exposure in a sauna. (Fox News) The Salt Lake City Tribune this morning reported that the Utah legislature just allocated $100,000 for 20 Utah police officers to undergo the detox program from L. Ron Hubbard’s 1977 book, Clear Body Clear Mind . The program is for officers who have served raiding or dimantling meth labs. The Tribune reports that 39 officers have undergone the treatment already, and there is a waiting list of more than 80 officers.
In the story, they quote several current and former narcotics officers who have undergone the treatment. The officers quoted found that the treatment has been effective: “Lt. Richard Ferguson of the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force estimates he was exposed to 100 meth labs in an eight-year span. He suffered from headaches and acid reflux until he underwent the treatment. ’Scientifically, I guess there’s something to it because I don’t have to take a prescription anymore,’ Ferguson said.”
In November 20007, Fox News reported on the beginning of the program: “Lt. Al Acosta of the Utah Department of Public Safety blames his muscle tremors, headaches, chest pains and difficulty breathing on the more than 300 labs he’s raided in his nearly 20-year career. He said one whiff of his sweat [while in the sauna]- with bouquets of ammonia or cat urine, depending on the day – is enough to tell him he’s expelling those chemicals. ‘Whoever the skeptical people are [should] come here and just take a whiff of the odors that we’re putting off,’ Acosta said. ‘I don’t think we normally smell this way.’”
One interesting note in the story is their quote of a state-funded study looking for a link between the detox program and meth contamination. They note that “science has yet to determine whether the saunas, exercise and improved diet are simply making cops generally healthier, or are actually tackling illnesses caused by meth exposure.
The Utah program, administered by the American Detoxification Foundation, uses a 36-day regimen for their detox program.
The Scientology Connection. The Tribune reports that there is involvement between practitioners of Scientology and the use of this detox program. Private donations have raised funds for the 5 officers currently undergoing the program, and “plans are underway for two ‘Hollywood stars’ to hold fundraisers to treat more Utah cops.” They also reported “actor Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, raised money for New York City firefighters to undergo detoxification after the Sept. 11 attacks. ”
The Utah legislature, despite the criticism, sees its benefits. “[This detox program] was portrayed as a medical cleansing of contaminants that they picked up doing their public service,” said Utah Senate President Mike Waddoups. “If somebody had pointed it out as the Hubbard program and it’s some sort of a spiritual cleansing, I think it would have died on the spot.”
[More state funds quietly budgeted to help cops sweat to health] The Salt Lake City Tribune
[caption id="attachment_176" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Utah cops sweating out their toxins from Methamphetamine exposure in a sauna. (Fox News)"][/caption]
The Salt Lake City Tribune this morning reported that the Utah legislature just allocated $100,000 for 20 Utah police officers to undergo the detox program from L. Ron Hubbard's 1977 book, Clear Body Clear Mind. The program is for officers who have served raiding or dimantling meth labs. The Tribune reports that 39 officers have undergone the treatment already, and there is a waiting list of more than 80 officers.
In the story, they quote several current and former narcotics officers who have undergone the treatment. The officers quoted found that the treatment has been effective: "Lt. Richard Ferguson of the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force estimates he was exposed to 100 meth labs in an eight-year span. He suffered from headaches and acid reflux until he underwent the treatment. 'Scientifically, I guess there's something to it because I don't have to take a prescription anymore,' Ferguson said."
In November 20007, Fox News reported on the beginning of the program: "Lt. Al Acosta of the Utah Department of Public Safety blames his muscle tremors, headaches, chest pains and difficulty breathing on the more than 300 labs he's raided in his nearly 20-year career. He said one whiff of his sweat [while in the sauna]- with bouquets of ammonia or cat urine, depending on the day - is enough to tell him he's expelling those chemicals. 'Whoever the skeptical people are [should] come here and just take a whiff of the odors that we're putting off,' Acosta said. 'I don't think we normally smell this way.'"
One interesting note in the story is their quote of a state-funded study looking for a link between the detox program and meth contamination. They note that "science has yet to determine whether the saunas, exercise and improved diet are simply making cops generally healthier, or are actually tackling illnesses caused by meth exposure.
The Utah program, administered by the American Detoxification Foundation, uses a 36-day regimen for their detox program.
The Scientology Connection. The Tribune reports that there is involvement between practitioners of Scientology and the use of this detox program. Private donations have raised funds for the 5 officers currently undergoing the program, and "plans are underway for two 'Hollywood stars' to hold fundraisers to treat more Utah cops." They also reported "actor Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, raised money for New York City firefighters to undergo detoxification after the Sept. 11 attacks. "
The Utah legislature, despite the criticism, sees its benefits. "[This detox program] was portrayed as a medical cleansing of contaminants that they picked up doing their public service," said Utah Senate President Mike Waddoups. "If somebody had pointed it out as the Hubbard program and it's some sort of a spiritual cleansing, I think it would have died on the spot."
[More state funds quietly budgeted to help cops sweat to health] The Salt Lake City Tribune
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 Omron Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor Hypertension, or high blood pressure (HBP) is a condition that affects about 30% of the US population. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 90% of middle aged adults face the risk of developing high blood pressure in their lifetimes.
Klafs, the German manufacturer of high-style sauna installations, recently reported on research done by Dr. Hans-Joachim Winterfeld at the Charité University clinic in Berlin, where he proved that regular use of a sauna can have a positive effect on the health of high blood pressure patients. High blood pressure affects about 16% of all Germans.
From 1996-1998, Dr. Winterfield tested 40 patients diagnosed with High Blood Pressure who were not otherwise treated with medication. These patients visited the sauna at least twice per week. During each visit, they would have two 8-10 minute sessions in the sauna, sitting on the middle bench, cooling down as needed between sessions. He found that:
- 60% of the patients had their symptoms improve. These people further reported that their sleep quality and alertness levels improved during their treatment period.
- 38% of the patients had their blood pressure return to normal without any additional treatment!
The sauna that Dr. Winterfield used in his study was a Sanarium, or steam sauna. This sauna operates at a temperature between 46-60°C or 115-140°F, much lower than the typical dry sauna temperature. The relative humidity is much higher, between 40% and 55%, but not as high as the humidity in the steam room. For post-sauna cooling he recommended a gentle method to his patients, for example a rain shower at about 13°C or 55°F.
Before adding sauna to your regimen you should discuss it with your doctor, especially if you are taking any type of blood-pressure reducing medicine: Many of these medicines directly influence the dilation of your blood vessels and your body’s water content. Furthermore, elevated temperatures may impact how these medicines work.
[SANARIUM helps patients with high blood pressure]
[caption id="attachment_158" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Omron Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor"][/caption]
Hypertension, or high blood pressure (HBP) is a condition that affects about 30% of the US population. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 90% of middle aged adults face the risk of developing high blood pressure in their lifetimes.
Klafs, the German manufacturer of high-style sauna installations, recently reported on research done by Dr. Hans-Joachim Winterfeld at the Charité University clinic in Berlin, where he proved that regular use of a sauna can have a positive effect on the health of high blood pressure patients. High blood pressure affects about 16% of all Germans.
From 1996-1998, Dr. Winterfield tested 40 patients diagnosed with High Blood Pressure who were not otherwise treated with medication. These patients visited the sauna at least twice per week. During each visit, they would have two 8-10 minute sessions in the sauna, sitting on the middle bench, cooling down as needed between sessions. He found that:
60% of the patients had their symptoms improve. These people further reported that their sleep quality and alertness levels improved during their treatment period.
38% of the patients had their blood pressure return to normal without any additional treatment!
The sauna that Dr. Winterfield used in his study was a Sanarium, or steam sauna. This sauna operates at a temperature between 46-60°C or 115-140°F, much lower than the typical dry sauna temperature. The relative humidity is much higher, between 40% and 55%, but not as high as the humidity in the steam room. For post-sauna cooling he recommended a gentle method to his patients, for example a rain shower at about 13°C or 55°F.
Before adding sauna to your regimen you should discuss it with your doctor, especially if you are taking any type of blood-pressure reducing medicine: Many of these medicines directly influence the dilation of your blood vessels and your body's water content. Furthermore, elevated temperatures may impact how these medicines work.
[SANARIUM helps patients with high blood pressure]
1 Comment »
 Nokia Löyly showing the conditions the new Nokia 5800 Sauna Edition is enduring from AllAboutSybian.com For those of us addicted both to our sauna and our smartphone, Nokia today announced the release of their 5800 Sauna Edition today. AllAboutSybian.com broke the story earlier today. They interviewed Dr. Huhtikuun Ensimmäinen of Nokia’s Consumer Innovations Unit who said:
So, here we have the 5800 Sauna Edition, heat resistant up to 120 degrees celsius and able to work without problems in a typical sauna humidity. We have included a thermometer/hygrometer application so you can follow the progress of your sauna, but the real innovation here is our work on the casing. The Sauna Edition’s casing is coated with a special organically-derived plastic which allows radio signals to move unimpeded but blocks 99.99% of all humidity from entering.
Dr. Ensimmäinen expects the device to be popular in the Nordic regions, central Europe, and Russia. They believe a niche product like this would have a market to sauna enthusiasts worldwide, including us in North America.
AllAboutSybian.com found that the specialized thermo-hygrometer application bundled with the phone, Nokia Löyly reported accurate temperatures, and since most saunas are dimly lit, “a backlit phone-based meter app clearly offer a potential advantage over traditional sauna meters.” They also report that “there are tentative proposals to make a Bluetooth-compatible sauna stove which will adjust its temperature automatically according to your personalised settings on the 5800 SE”
They recorded their full interview with Dr. Ensimmäinen, including a [NSFW] demo of the phone being used in a sauna by young women. It is available here. Enjoy.
 [caption id="attachment_156" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Nokia Löyly showing the conditions the new Nokia 5800 Sauna Edition is enduring from AllAboutSybian.com"][/caption]
For those of us addicted both to our sauna and our smartphone, Nokia today announced the release of their 5800 Sauna Edition today. AllAboutSybian.com broke the story earlier today. They interviewed Dr. Huhtikuun Ensimmäinen of Nokia's Consumer Innovations Unit who said:
So, here we have the 5800 Sauna Edition, heat resistant up to 120 degrees celsius and able to work without problems in a typical sauna humidity. We have included a thermometer/hygrometer application so you can follow the progress of your sauna, but the real innovation here is our work on the casing. The Sauna Edition's casing is coated with a special organically-derived plastic which allows radio signals to move unimpeded but blocks 99.99% of all humidity from entering.
Dr. Ensimmäinen expects the device to be popular in the Nordic regions, central Europe, and Russia. They believe a niche product like this would have a market to sauna enthusiasts worldwide, including us in North America.
AllAboutSybian.com found that the specialized thermo-hygrometer application bundled with the phone, Nokia Löyly reported accurate temperatures, and since most saunas are dimly lit, "a backlit phone-based meter app clearly offer a potential advantage over traditional sauna meters." They also report that "there are tentative proposals to make a Bluetooth-compatible sauna stove which will adjust its temperature automatically according to your personalised settings on the 5800 SE"
They recorded their full interview with Dr. Ensimmäinen, including a [NSFW] demo of the phone being used in a sauna by young women. It is available here. Enjoy.
1 Comment »
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