Archive for the “Saunas” Category
 Bloomberg announced this morning that Goldman Sachs cheif equity trader in Moscow, Peter Kizenko, quit today. He plans to return to New Jersey and open a traditional Russian sauna, known as a banya.
According to the Bloomberg story, the banya will open next month in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City. No details were given on the name or location of the banya. We’ll keep digging and update this post when we find more details.
He is entering a crowded market. According to our database, there are currently 13 Russian Sauna establishments in and around New York City. Mr. Kizenko told Bloomberg, “There are a few in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but the aesthetics are not up to scratch. We are going for a mixture of the contemporary and the classical of Sanduny in Moscow.” The Bloomberg article says he had considered building his banya in London, but was stunned by the high price of real estate there.
Mr. Kizenko, if you are reading this, we wish you luck and would love to hear why you left the world of high finance behind for high temperature.
Update: The establishment will be called “Bear and Birch.” They have a website with just a landing page at the moment. More details are on their Facebook page, including this comment from Mr. Kizenko:
Whack, whack. Steam. Ice.
Over 1000 years of the Russian banya experience has finally been brought to New Jersey. Assembled and flown in from Moscow, Russia, the Bear and Birch is proud to present the East Coast with its first authentic Russian banya.
Invigorate, detoxify and revitalize yourself in a spacious setting with three types of steam to choose from. Follow up with a plunge into the cool downed pool and then saunter on over to the lounge area to chilllllll.
Enjoy a wide variety of teas while wrapped up in a Bear and Birch robe and decide on a Jacuzzi, shiatsu water massage or another round of steam as your next move. Complimentary recommended treatment cycles are offered by our in-house banya consultant to help you along the way to rejuvenation.
A full banya menu prepared especially by our renowned chef, Dmitry, in our mezzanine level dining area rounds out a superb day. BYOB and plasma screens means you don’t miss the latest sports action and two VIP rooms allow you to host a full range of social functions. Bear and Birch. Get Whacked.
We’ve added Bear and Birch to our database.
 Bloomberg announced this morning that Goldman Sachs cheif equity trader in Moscow, Peter Kizenko, quit today. He plans to return to New Jersey and open a traditional Russian sauna, known as a banya.
According to the Bloomberg story, the banya will open next month in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City. No details were given on the name or location of the banya. We'll keep digging and update this post when we find more details.
He is entering a crowded market. According to our database, there are currently 13 Russian Sauna establishments in and around New York City. Mr. Kizenko told Bloomberg, "There are a few in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but the aesthetics are not up to scratch. We are going for a mixture of the contemporary and the classical of Sanduny in Moscow." The Bloomberg article says he had considered building his banya in London, but was stunned by the high price of real estate there.
Mr. Kizenko, if you are reading this, we wish you luck and would love to hear why you left the world of high finance behind for high temperature.
Update: The establishment will be called "Bear and Birch." They have a website with just a landing page at the moment. More details are on their Facebook page, including this comment from Mr. Kizenko:
Whack, whack. Steam. Ice.
Over 1000 years of the Russian banya experience has finally been brought to New Jersey. Assembled and flown in from Moscow, Russia, the Bear and Birch is proud to present the East Coast with its first authentic Russian banya.
Invigorate, detoxify and revitalize yourself in a spacious setting with three types of steam to choose from. Follow up with a plunge into the cool downed pool and then saunter on over to the lounge area to chilllllll.
Enjoy a wide variety of teas while wrapped up in a Bear and Birch robe and decide on a Jacuzzi, shiatsu water massage or another round of steam as your next move. Complimentary recommended treatment cycles are offered by our in-house banya consultant to help you along the way to rejuvenation.
A full banya menu prepared especially by our renowned chef, Dmitry, in our mezzanine level dining area rounds out a superb day. BYOB and plasma screens means you don't miss the latest sports action and two VIP rooms allow you to host a full range of social functions. Bear and Birch. Get Whacked.
We've added Bear and Birch to our database.
No Comments »
 Image via Wikipedia In Finland, the Christmas sauna has been a tradition for longer than Christianity has existed. Today, millions of saunas are heated throughout the land on Christmas Eve for the population to enjoy. In the book Christmas in Finland , the authors estimate that 70% of the population of Finland will enjoy a joulusauna on Christmas Eve. Many of Finland’s public saunas even have special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hours for their patrons who don’t have their own sauna.
The sauna in Finland is not just a place of refuge and relaxation. It is a bath. So the Christmas sauna has a practical purpose. With Christmas celebrated at the winter solstice, close to the new year and symbolized with the birth of Christ, it is the perfect time to cleanse your body to symbolize that rebirth. In Finland, the sauna is the preferred place to bathe yourself. The temperature in Helsinki rarely gets above freezing this time of year, so having a nice hot place to bathe can help get the chill from your bones.
While the sauna is heating, many capture those kilowatts by cooking in it. Two Finnish-Canadian women published The Sauna Cookbook a few years ago with recipes for both enjoying while you sauna and cooking in the sauna. Another Finnish-Canadian, Sauna Pekka reminisces about a Christmas dinner of his youth:
At Christmas time in Finland we bake a 12 kg (26 lb) ham “kinkku” in the equivalent of 100°C (212°F) sauna heat for eight hours. For the ham we do not pour löyly, as it cooks better without it. When I sit in North American dry heat saunas, the poor ham comes always in my mind.
Christmas is a more recent invention than the sauna. Christmas came to Finland about 700 years ago. When Christmas arrived, it took on some of the existing midwinter celebrations that had existed for thousands of years before. Throughout much of Scandinavia, the old beliefs held that on the night of midwinter, the dead returned to walk the earth. Many still keep the sauna warm and throw another ladle of water on the rocks to make it comfortable for when your ancestors, elves and gnomes visit.
Modern health practitioners caution that you should not take a sauna too close to a large feast like that eaten on Christmas eve. They caution that you should use the sauna in the afternoon. However, people who know Finnish folklore understand that after dark, the sauna is reserved for the dead. Some say the devil himself walks the earth to find a sauna to bathe in at midnight on the winter solstice.
Other old beliefs say that the midwinter celebration is a time to thank the gods for the past season’s bountiful harvest and ask them for a fertile growing season in the spring. Some believe that throwing beer on the sauna stove helped appease these gods.
If you can, heat up your sauna this Christmas (or whichever winter holiday you celebrate). May it bring you peace, luck and a good harvest in the new year.
 [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]
In Finland, the Christmas sauna has been a tradition for longer than Christianity has existed. Today, millions of saunas are heated throughout the land on Christmas Eve for the population to enjoy. In the book Christmas in Finland, the authors estimate that 70% of the population of Finland will enjoy a joulusauna on Christmas Eve. Many of Finland's public saunas even have special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hours for their patrons who don't have their own sauna.
The sauna in Finland is not just a place of refuge and relaxation. It is a bath. So the Christmas sauna has a practical purpose. With Christmas celebrated at the winter solstice, close to the new year and symbolized with the birth of Christ, it is the perfect time to cleanse your body to symbolize that rebirth. In Finland, the sauna is the preferred place to bathe yourself. The temperature in Helsinki rarely gets above freezing this time of year, so having a nice hot place to bathe can help get the chill from your bones.
While the sauna is heating, many capture those kilowatts by cooking in it. Two Finnish-Canadian women published The Sauna Cookbook a few years ago with recipes for both enjoying while you sauna and cooking in the sauna. Another Finnish-Canadian, Sauna Pekka reminisces about a Christmas dinner of his youth:
At Christmas time in Finland we bake a 12 kg (26 lb) ham “kinkku” in the equivalent of 100°C (212°F) sauna heat for eight hours. For the ham we do not pour löyly, as it cooks better without it. When I sit in North American dry heat saunas, the poor ham comes always in my mind.
Christmas is a more recent invention than the sauna. Christmas came to Finland about 700 years ago. When Christmas arrived, it took on some of the existing midwinter celebrations that had existed for thousands of years before. Throughout much of Scandinavia, the old beliefs held that on the night of midwinter, the dead returned to walk the earth. Many still keep the sauna warm and throw another ladle of water on the rocks to make it comfortable for when your ancestors, elves and gnomes visit.
Modern health practitioners caution that you should not take a sauna too close to a large feast like that eaten on Christmas eve. They caution that you should use the sauna in the afternoon. However, people who know Finnish folklore understand that after dark, the sauna is reserved for the dead. Some say the devil himself walks the earth to find a sauna to bathe in at midnight on the winter solstice.
Other old beliefs say that the midwinter celebration is a time to thank the gods for the past season's bountiful harvest and ask them for a fertile growing season in the spring. Some believe that throwing beer on the sauna stove helped appease these gods.
If you can, heat up your sauna this Christmas (or whichever winter holiday you celebrate). May it bring you peace, luck and a good harvest in the new year.
1 Comment »
 A slightly older version of an infrared sauna that uses infrared elements that emit visible light. Image by Alesa Dam via Flickr
When we search the internet for “sauna” (and trust us, we search it a lot), most of the results and nearly all of the ads are for infrared saunas or their many synonyms: IR saunas, FIR saunas, far infrared saunas, or portable saunas. They are featured on TV, many spas have them – in fact, you can now even buy into an infrared sauna spa franchise.
Like any new thing, there are proponents and detractors of this new type of sauna. But what is it, and how does it work?
Some History
Saunas have been around for nearly as long as modern man. Getting a good sweat in the sauna felt good to our early ancestors. Many people still believe it feels good today. It more than feels good, there are proven health benefits for regular sauna users.
An open fire heated the original sauna. As technology improved, saunas became dedicated rooms or buildings that people would use. The fire was contained to keep the smoke out of the sauna: First by using rocks to store the heat, then by enclosing the fire in a stove. With the invention of electricity, fire was eliminated in most stoves and replaced with electric heating elements.
Some of these electric stoves heat rocks like the original saunas of old, while others capitalized on the instant-on properties of electricity and sought to improve on the age-old design.
 Image via Wikipedia
The Corn Flakes Connection
In the late 1890′s, electricity and electric light bulbs had started to become popular. So much so that health researcher and Corn Flakes inventor, John Harvey Kellogg, installed a newly developed technology, the electric light bath, in his Battle Creek Sanarium. Thus, the infrared sauna was born.
Infrared technology did not change much from the 1900′s until the 1990′s when light bulbs could be replaced with lightweight radiant heating panels. Now a person could use the sauna without risking permanent blindness from all the light bulbs. Since these heaters emit nearly pure infrared rays instead of light, a sauna could be built that ran on normal household current.
Some compare an infrared sauna to a microwave oven: It is inexpensive, compact, and can give a similar result to a larger piece of hardware in much less time. It is the perfect mass-market appliance.
What is Infrared?
 An infrared photo of two people. Image via Wikipedia
Infrared rays are the secret to an infrared sauna. Infrared is a type of light, and it is a way of transferring heat.
Let’s go back to high school physics for a minute. If you take sunlight, and pass it through a prism, your eye can see a rainbow of colors. However, there is more light there that your eyes can’t see. Where the red light ends, infrared begins. Infrared created by things that aren’t very hot is called near infrared, because it is close to red light on the rainbow. Infrared created by things that are very hot is called far infrared, because it is further away from visible red light.
If you spend any time studying heat transfer, what you find is that if there are two things close to one another, and they are at two different temperatures, one will radiate infrared energy to the other. So, when you are in an infrared sauna, the heating panels radiate infrared energy to you. If you left the sauna and walked into a freezer, you would radiate infrared energy to the freezer walls.
Finally, since infrared is a type of light, all the rules that affect light affect infrared. Like light, it can travel through space and some solid objects that act as infrared “windows.” Also like light, the further away you get, the less you feel its effects. It also travels pretty much in a straight line, so if there is an obstruction, you’ll get an infrared shadow and you won’t feel the heat there.
Is infrared radiation dangerous?
Radiation! The word radiation brings up images of nuclear power gone awry and the “duck and cover” drills from the cold war. The truth is all light is radiation, and for the most part, infrared radiation is as dangerous as sunlight: If you limit your exposure and listen to your body, nothing bad will happen. If you don’t you will get burned (Infrared is heat, remember?).
How does an infrared sauna work?
The current crop of infrared saunas have heat-emitting panels that surround your body. Since these are essentially a type of light bulb, you can plug your sauna in, and turn it on and by the time you are undressed, it will be ready to use.
A good infrared sauna will have large panels on a bunch of different surfaces so that you can sit, stand or lie as you prefer inside of the sauna cabin. Less expensive models have smaller panels, so you may only use these units in their manufacturer’s preferred position. This may not be your preferred position.
To make the interior of the sauna cabin more comfortable, some manufacturers add an electric heater and fan to heat the air to a more comfortable temperature. Others add a small humidification device to make it easier to breathe the air inside. Still others go back to the old electric light bath design, and have a tent that encloses your body, while your head and hands are kept outside.
When you are inside, the heating panels transfer heat directly to your skin, without heating the air inside of the sauna. Since your skin is partly transparent to infrared, the heating takes place in your skin, giving your body a pleasant warming experience. Since the air is still cool, many people, especially those with respiratory or heat sensitivity issues, find these more comfortable than a traditional sauna.
So that’s the infrared sauna. Many sauna purists disparage these as toaster ovens. Of course, the infrared sauna industry brings some of this on themselves by making truly false claims. We’ll take a look at some of these claims in a future post.
Are infrared saunas the best new thing, or just a marketing gimmick? Let us know in the comments.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="162" caption="A slightly older version of an infrared sauna that uses infrared elements that emit visible light. Image by Alesa Dam via Flickr"][/caption]
When we search the internet for "sauna" (and trust us, we search it a lot), most of the results and nearly all of the ads are for infrared saunas or their many synonyms: IR saunas, FIR saunas, far infrared saunas, or portable saunas. They are featured on TV, many spas have them - in fact, you can now even buy into an infrared sauna spa franchise.
Like any new thing, there are proponents and detractors of this new type of sauna. But what is it, and how does it work?
Some History
Saunas have been around for nearly as long as modern man. Getting a good sweat in the sauna felt good to our early ancestors. Many people still believe it feels good today. It more than feels good, there are proven health benefits for regular sauna users.
An open fire heated the original sauna. As technology improved, saunas became dedicated rooms or buildings that people would use. The fire was contained to keep the smoke out of the sauna: First by using rocks to store the heat, then by enclosing the fire in a stove. With the invention of electricity, fire was eliminated in most stoves and replaced with electric heating elements.
Some of these electric stoves heat rocks like the original saunas of old, while others capitalized on the instant-on properties of electricity and sought to improve on the age-old design.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="126" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]
The Corn Flakes Connection
In the late 1890's, electricity and electric light bulbs had started to become popular. So much so that health researcher and Corn Flakes inventor, John Harvey Kellogg, installed a newly developed technology, the electric light bath, in his Battle Creek Sanarium. Thus, the infrared sauna was born.
Infrared technology did not change much from the 1900's until the 1990's when light bulbs could be replaced with lightweight radiant heating panels. Now a person could use the sauna without risking permanent blindness from all the light bulbs. Since these heaters emit nearly pure infrared rays instead of light, a sauna could be built that ran on normal household current.
Some compare an infrared sauna to a microwave oven: It is inexpensive, compact, and can give a similar result to a larger piece of hardware in much less time. It is the perfect mass-market appliance.
What is Infrared?
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="An infrared photo of two people. Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]
Infrared rays are the secret to an infrared sauna. Infrared is a type of light, and it is a way of transferring heat.
Let's go back to high school physics for a minute. If you take sunlight, and pass it through a prism, your eye can see a rainbow of colors. However, there is more light there that your eyes can't see. Where the red light ends, infrared begins. Infrared created by things that aren't very hot is called near infrared, because it is close to red light on the rainbow. Infrared created by things that are very hot is called far infrared, because it is further away from visible red light.
If you spend any time studying heat transfer, what you find is that if there are two things close to one another, and they are at two different temperatures, one will radiate infrared energy to the other. So, when you are in an infrared sauna, the heating panels radiate infrared energy to you. If you left the sauna and walked into a freezer, you would radiate infrared energy to the freezer walls.
Finally, since infrared is a type of light, all the rules that affect light affect infrared. Like light, it can travel through space and some solid objects that act as infrared "windows." Also like light, the further away you get, the less you feel its effects. It also travels pretty much in a straight line, so if there is an obstruction, you'll get an infrared shadow and you won't feel the heat there.
Is infrared radiation dangerous?
Radiation! The word radiation brings up images of nuclear power gone awry and the "duck and cover" drills from the cold war. The truth is all light is radiation, and for the most part, infrared radiation is as dangerous as sunlight: If you limit your exposure and listen to your body, nothing bad will happen. If you don't you will get burned (Infrared is heat, remember?).
How does an infrared sauna work?
The current crop of infrared saunas have heat-emitting panels that surround your body. Since these are essentially a type of light bulb, you can plug your sauna in, and turn it on and by the time you are undressed, it will be ready to use.
A good infrared sauna will have large panels on a bunch of different surfaces so that you can sit, stand or lie as you prefer inside of the sauna cabin. Less expensive models have smaller panels, so you may only use these units in their manufacturer's preferred position. This may not be your preferred position.
To make the interior of the sauna cabin more comfortable, some manufacturers add an electric heater and fan to heat the air to a more comfortable temperature. Others add a small humidification device to make it easier to breathe the air inside. Still others go back to the old electric light bath design, and have a tent that encloses your body, while your head and hands are kept outside.
When you are inside, the heating panels transfer heat directly to your skin, without heating the air inside of the sauna. Since your skin is partly transparent to infrared, the heating takes place in your skin, giving your body a pleasant warming experience. Since the air is still cool, many people, especially those with respiratory or heat sensitivity issues, find these more comfortable than a traditional sauna.
So that's the infrared sauna. Many sauna purists disparage these as toaster ovens. Of course, the infrared sauna industry brings some of this on themselves by making truly false claims. We'll take a look at some of these claims in a future post.
Are infrared saunas the best new thing, or just a marketing gimmick? Let us know in the comments.
No Comments »
Posted on October 5th, 2011 by Chris in Guides, Saunas, tags: Finnish sauna, heat, Perspiration, russian banya, sauna, sauna room, saunas, Steam room, sweat, sweat bath, sweat lodge
 Image via Wikipedia
A sauna, at its simplest, is a hot air bath. The word sauna has its origins in Finnish, but in English it has become a generalization that describes a number of different ways to take in the heat that were developed by cultures throughout the world, including the Finnish sauna, Russian banya, Japanese mushi-buro, North American sweat lodge, South American temezcal, Korean jjim jil bang, Roman caldarium, and the Arabic hammam.
All of these have a rich history dating back thousands of years. Today, most fitness centers, many hotels, and several public sauna businesses all have saunas available for their patrons to use. What is a sauna and why has it been so popular?
What is a sauna?
A sauna is a hot air bath or sweat bath. You take a sauna in a special, insulated room that keeps the air still and heat in. There is a heat source in the room to transfer heat to your body: The heat in a sauna comes from rocks heated in a fire, stove, or an infrared radiator. The heat source may only heat the air, or it may also produce steam which makes it feel hotter.
In the sauna your skin gets heated well above its normal temperature. In response, your body begins sweating profusely to keep yourself cool. To get the feeling of heat all over your body and to prevent clothes from being soaked with sweat, the sauna is typically used nude, or with as little clothing as practical.
It is a type of bath. Many cultures, notably the Finns and the Russians, will have a tank of heated water inside of their sauna which they will use to wash themselves while in the heat. The Russian platza and Arabic hammam are elaborate cleansing rituals that take place while in the hot room. Other cultures wash outside of the sauna room, but use the sauna’s heat to release dirt and toxins from deep in their skin.
Why sauna?
When you look at all the different people throughout the world who came up with the idea of a sauna, there must be a common thread. There is: We humans have several features which makes us unique from any other creature on Earth.
First of all, we are naked. Unlike other mammals, we have very little hair on our bodies that protects us from the elements. When it gets cold or wet outside, we need to wrap ourselves in clothing of some kind to protect us from the cold, wind and rain. When it gets really cold, we need an external heat source, like a fire to keep us warm.
It does not take much imagination to think about our ancestors, covered in wet clothes from a day of surviving, returning home to their hut, burrow or cave and stoking their fire to create a lot of heat, then shedding those wet clothes to feel warm again. As their clothes dried next to them, the steam released, made the warmth of the fire much more pleasant.
The ancient Greek, Roman, and Arabic cultures also had sauna baths. These were typically enjoyed in the middle of the day, when it was hottest. In the summertime, many of these places are close to the temperature in a sauna. Why would these cultures enjoy bathing in the heat?
Sauna as a sweat bath:
We humans have another unique feature: We sweat to cool our bodies. As you can remember from your teenage years, there are lots of problems that can develop with your sweat glands if they aren’t kept clean.
Without modern soaps, one of the few ways to clean your personal cooling system was to get really sweaty, then rinse off your body. The Romans have a well described history of the process at their baths. Like a modern fitness center of today, they began by exercising in the courtyard of the baths to work up a sweat. Then they covered their bodies with oil and dust, then scraped them off. With the oil and dust came all of the other dirt and grime they had picked up on their bodies since their last bath. After that, they entered the baths proper, where they alternated between hot and cold rooms and pools to finish the cleansing process.
So what is the modern sauna?
The modern sauna that is in your gym locker room, or if you’re really lucky, your backyard is a combination of all these historical baths. The room is typically lined with wood. The open fire is gone, replaced with a sealed stove that is safe to use indoors. Some sauna stoves are still filled with stones. They help keep the temperature even inside the sauna, and allow you to splash water on them to make steam. Others do away with the stones, and use infrared panels to heat your body directly.
Modern medicine is coming to discover that the sauna can help with a number of ailments like heart problems and high blood pressure. Regular sauna baths help improve your endurance and heat tolerance and can help remove metabolic wastes post-workout. It also has psychological benefits: Regular sauna users have more energy, are happier, sleep better, and can maintain a healthy weight. It is also one of the few exercises for your skin — your body’s largest organ.
What is the sauna to you? Is it a sacred space? A place to recover from your last workout? Part of your beauty regimen? Or is it just a place to get away from your clothes and the modern world for a while? Let us know in the comments.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]
A sauna, at its simplest, is a hot air bath. The word sauna has its origins in Finnish, but in English it has become a generalization that describes a number of different ways to take in the heat that were developed by cultures throughout the world, including the Finnish sauna, Russian banya, Japanese mushi-buro, North American sweat lodge, South American temezcal, Korean jjim jil bang, Roman caldarium, and the Arabic hammam.
All of these have a rich history dating back thousands of years. Today, most fitness centers, many hotels, and several public sauna businesses all have saunas available for their patrons to use. What is a sauna and why has it been so popular?
What is a sauna?
A sauna is a hot air bath or sweat bath. You take a sauna in a special, insulated room that keeps the air still and heat in. There is a heat source in the room to transfer heat to your body: The heat in a sauna comes from rocks heated in a fire, stove, or an infrared radiator. The heat source may only heat the air, or it may also produce steam which makes it feel hotter.
In the sauna your skin gets heated well above its normal temperature. In response, your body begins sweating profusely to keep yourself cool. To get the feeling of heat all over your body and to prevent clothes from being soaked with sweat, the sauna is typically used nude, or with as little clothing as practical.
It is a type of bath. Many cultures, notably the Finns and the Russians, will have a tank of heated water inside of their sauna which they will use to wash themselves while in the heat. The Russian platza and Arabic hammam are elaborate cleansing rituals that take place while in the hot room. Other cultures wash outside of the sauna room, but use the sauna's heat to release dirt and toxins from deep in their skin.
Why sauna?
When you look at all the different people throughout the world who came up with the idea of a sauna, there must be a common thread. There is: We humans have several features which makes us unique from any other creature on Earth.
First of all, we are naked. Unlike other mammals, we have very little hair on our bodies that protects us from the elements. When it gets cold or wet outside, we need to wrap ourselves in clothing of some kind to protect us from the cold, wind and rain. When it gets really cold, we need an external heat source, like a fire to keep us warm.
It does not take much imagination to think about our ancestors, covered in wet clothes from a day of surviving, returning home to their hut, burrow or cave and stoking their fire to create a lot of heat, then shedding those wet clothes to feel warm again. As their clothes dried next to them, the steam released, made the warmth of the fire much more pleasant.
The ancient Greek, Roman, and Arabic cultures also had sauna baths. These were typically enjoyed in the middle of the day, when it was hottest. In the summertime, many of these places are close to the temperature in a sauna. Why would these cultures enjoy bathing in the heat?
Sauna as a sweat bath:
We humans have another unique feature: We sweat to cool our bodies. As you can remember from your teenage years, there are lots of problems that can develop with your sweat glands if they aren't kept clean.
Without modern soaps, one of the few ways to clean your personal cooling system was to get really sweaty, then rinse off your body. The Romans have a well described history of the process at their baths. Like a modern fitness center of today, they began by exercising in the courtyard of the baths to work up a sweat. Then they covered their bodies with oil and dust, then scraped them off. With the oil and dust came all of the other dirt and grime they had picked up on their bodies since their last bath. After that, they entered the baths proper, where they alternated between hot and cold rooms and pools to finish the cleansing process.
So what is the modern sauna?
The modern sauna that is in your gym locker room, or if you're really lucky, your backyard is a combination of all these historical baths. The room is typically lined with wood. The open fire is gone, replaced with a sealed stove that is safe to use indoors. Some sauna stoves are still filled with stones. They help keep the temperature even inside the sauna, and allow you to splash water on them to make steam. Others do away with the stones, and use infrared panels to heat your body directly.
Modern medicine is coming to discover that the sauna can help with a number of ailments like heart problems and high blood pressure. Regular sauna baths help improve your endurance and heat tolerance and can help remove metabolic wastes post-workout. It also has psychological benefits: Regular sauna users have more energy, are happier, sleep better, and can maintain a healthy weight. It is also one of the few exercises for your skin — your body's largest organ.
What is the sauna to you? Is it a sacred space? A place to recover from your last workout? Part of your beauty regimen? Or is it just a place to get away from your clothes and the modern world for a while? Let us know in the comments.
No Comments »
Posted on October 3rd, 2011 by Chris in Guides, How to, Saunas, tags: charcoal, George Washington Bridge, Hotel, in the sauna, JimJilBang, King Sauna, New Jersey Turnpike, Public bathing, sauna, travel
 A bowl of Korean noodles similar to the one I had for dinner during my night at King Sauna. Image via Wikipedia
Korean-style public saunas, also known as jjimjjilbangs, have become the mega-stores of public bathing. New construction is taking place the world over, as Koreans emigrate from their homeland and want to take a piece of home with them. Each new jjimjilbang is built larger than the last.
Several companies have established themselves as name brands in the budding Korean bath house industry. One of the leaders is the King Sauna brand. At the moment, they have jjimjjilbang locations outside New York, Dallas and Chicago. All are large facilities. Each one has a gender-segregated bathing area, where clothing is forbidden. When you have washed yourself clean in showers, rested in the hot tubs, and enjoyed the steam room and sauna, you can don a simple, unflattering uniform and enter the co-ed facility. In the co-ed area you can enjoy traditional Korean sauna domes built from rocks, minerals, even gold; each gives a unique benefit. Among the saunas is a Korean restaurant and several different styles of comfortable chairs. All three are open 24 hours.
So, after a marathon business trip a few weeks ago put me at Newark airport at 5pm on a weeknight with a morning appointment in Massachusetts. There was bad weather in New York. 1010 WINS had little time for other news because the traffic was so snarled, I headed the short distance up the New Jersey Turnpike to the Pallisades Park and King Sauna to relax while I waited out the rush hour.
After spending the first hour soaking and steaming away the stresses of the trip so far in the naked area, I grabbed a uniform and headed down to one of the TV rooms to catch a traffic report. The chairs in there are huge overstuffed recliners. I settled in, listening to whatever celebrity gossip was the breathless headline of the day, and leaned back in the chair.
I woke up, and the news wasn’t on anymore. It was now a baseball game — In the bottom of the 7th inning. I found a clock. It was nearly 9. I napped for about 3 hours! It was at that point that I realized just how worn out I was from my trip so far, and I shouldn’t be driving anywhere that night.
I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of Korean noodles with a variety of toppings. After that I cooked myself in the Bulhanjeungmok for a little while. The Bulhanjeungmok is a wood-heated dome sauna in the style of the traditional Korean charcoal kiln. Outside the entrance, they show the overnight preparations of the room, and when the fire goes out around 6am, they use it to bake eggs. Signs caution visitors not to wear anything except for the cotton uniform inside. Right outside the door is a basket of heavy burlap blankets. The norm seemed to be to grab two and duck inside the small door.
I grabbed my two blankets and ducked through the door. It is the hottest sauna I have ever been inside. The sauna was lit by a single bulb, recessed deep in one of the walls. Hanging from another wall was an oven thermometer. I checked it out, and in the dim light and the buckets of sweat already pouring down my face, I could only tell the needle was somewhere between 400-450°F (205-230°C). Wow.
I took one of my blankets, and folded it and laid it down on the floor. I then knelt down on it like many of the others were doing. I laid the second blanket beside me instead of draping it over my head like others were doing. Most of the others in the Bulhanjeungmok were middle-aged Korean women in what appeared to be a meditative trance. I managed to stay in for about 10 minutes. Most of the women who were in there when I came in were still there when I left.
Right across the room from the Bulhanjeungmok is the ice sauna, which is basically a walk-in freezer. I sat in there until I stopped sweating. Tried out a few more of the lower temperature dome saunas, leafed through a paper, and cooked myself one more time in the Bulhanjeungmok. By then it was about 11pm. I went back to the men’s area, discarded my sweaty uniform in the laundry bins, rinsed off in the shower, soaked in the cold tub for a few more minutes, brushed my teeth with a complimentary toothbrush, donned a fresh uniform and found another recliner to spend the night.
I had a reasonably restful night there (but I can have a reasonably restful night on an airplane, in coach). I woke up once around 2am and took a walk to see what was going on. There was a large number of people who also spent the night. There was an equal mix of men and women. Most were of Korean descent and in their 40′s to 60′s. Even the men’s bath was still a hive of activity. And for those of you who hear bath house and think of something seedy, there was absolutely nothing untoward going on there.
At 4:30am my phone alarm went off and I headed up to the men’s bath again, just as the cleaning crew was finishing their nightly scrub of the place. I headed first for the sauna, then drenched myself in the icy shower right outside, then took a round in the steam room. After that I headed for one of the shower stalls, showered off, shaved with a complimentary razor, used their ample supply of complimentary toiletries to freshen up, and headed downstairs to pay my bill: $48.00. Not bad for a pretty restful night’s sleep, several hours of sauna, dinner, overnight parking and toiletries for the morning. To get that price, you need to ask the parking attendant for a coupon when you arrive, but now you know.
I grabbed a cup of coffee at a nearby gas station, and was across the George Washington Bridge by 5:30, heading up I95 into the rising sun.
If I got stuck in the area again, I would definitely spend the night here again. For the money and relaxation, it can’t be beat. If course, if I planned better, I would have found a hotel with a sauna along my route.
Have you ever spent the night in a Korean public sauna? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A bowl of Korean noodles similar to the one I had for dinner during my night at King Sauna. Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]
Korean-style public saunas, also known as jjimjjilbangs, have become the mega-stores of public bathing. New construction is taking place the world over, as Koreans emigrate from their homeland and want to take a piece of home with them. Each new jjimjilbang is built larger than the last.
Several companies have established themselves as name brands in the budding Korean bath house industry. One of the leaders is the King Sauna brand. At the moment, they have jjimjjilbang locations outside New York, Dallas and Chicago. All are large facilities. Each one has a gender-segregated bathing area, where clothing is forbidden. When you have washed yourself clean in showers, rested in the hot tubs, and enjoyed the steam room and sauna, you can don a simple, unflattering uniform and enter the co-ed facility. In the co-ed area you can enjoy traditional Korean sauna domes built from rocks, minerals, even gold; each gives a unique benefit. Among the saunas is a Korean restaurant and several different styles of comfortable chairs. All three are open 24 hours.
So, after a marathon business trip a few weeks ago put me at Newark airport at 5pm on a weeknight with a morning appointment in Massachusetts. There was bad weather in New York. 1010 WINS had little time for other news because the traffic was so snarled, I headed the short distance up the New Jersey Turnpike to the Pallisades Park and King Sauna to relax while I waited out the rush hour.
After spending the first hour soaking and steaming away the stresses of the trip so far in the naked area, I grabbed a uniform and headed down to one of the TV rooms to catch a traffic report. The chairs in there are huge overstuffed recliners. I settled in, listening to whatever celebrity gossip was the breathless headline of the day, and leaned back in the chair.
I woke up, and the news wasn't on anymore. It was now a baseball game — In the bottom of the 7th inning. I found a clock. It was nearly 9. I napped for about 3 hours! It was at that point that I realized just how worn out I was from my trip so far, and I shouldn't be driving anywhere that night.
I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of Korean noodles with a variety of toppings. After that I cooked myself in the Bulhanjeungmok for a little while. The Bulhanjeungmok is a wood-heated dome sauna in the style of the traditional Korean charcoal kiln. Outside the entrance, they show the overnight preparations of the room, and when the fire goes out around 6am, they use it to bake eggs. Signs caution visitors not to wear anything except for the cotton uniform inside. Right outside the door is a basket of heavy burlap blankets. The norm seemed to be to grab two and duck inside the small door.
I grabbed my two blankets and ducked through the door. It is the hottest sauna I have ever been inside. The sauna was lit by a single bulb, recessed deep in one of the walls. Hanging from another wall was an oven thermometer. I checked it out, and in the dim light and the buckets of sweat already pouring down my face, I could only tell the needle was somewhere between 400-450°F (205-230°C). Wow.
I took one of my blankets, and folded it and laid it down on the floor. I then knelt down on it like many of the others were doing. I laid the second blanket beside me instead of draping it over my head like others were doing. Most of the others in the Bulhanjeungmok were middle-aged Korean women in what appeared to be a meditative trance. I managed to stay in for about 10 minutes. Most of the women who were in there when I came in were still there when I left.
Right across the room from the Bulhanjeungmok is the ice sauna, which is basically a walk-in freezer. I sat in there until I stopped sweating. Tried out a few more of the lower temperature dome saunas, leafed through a paper, and cooked myself one more time in the Bulhanjeungmok. By then it was about 11pm. I went back to the men's area, discarded my sweaty uniform in the laundry bins, rinsed off in the shower, soaked in the cold tub for a few more minutes, brushed my teeth with a complimentary toothbrush, donned a fresh uniform and found another recliner to spend the night.
I had a reasonably restful night there (but I can have a reasonably restful night on an airplane, in coach). I woke up once around 2am and took a walk to see what was going on. There was a large number of people who also spent the night. There was an equal mix of men and women. Most were of Korean descent and in their 40's to 60's. Even the men's bath was still a hive of activity. And for those of you who hear bath house and think of something seedy, there was absolutely nothing untoward going on there.
At 4:30am my phone alarm went off and I headed up to the men's bath again, just as the cleaning crew was finishing their nightly scrub of the place. I headed first for the sauna, then drenched myself in the icy shower right outside, then took a round in the steam room. After that I headed for one of the shower stalls, showered off, shaved with a complimentary razor, used their ample supply of complimentary toiletries to freshen up, and headed downstairs to pay my bill: $48.00. Not bad for a pretty restful night's sleep, several hours of sauna, dinner, overnight parking and toiletries for the morning. To get that price, you need to ask the parking attendant for a coupon when you arrive, but now you know.
I grabbed a cup of coffee at a nearby gas station, and was across the George Washington Bridge by 5:30, heading up I95 into the rising sun.
If I got stuck in the area again, I would definitely spend the night here again. For the money and relaxation, it can't be beat. If course, if I planned better, I would have found a hotel with a sauna along my route.
Have you ever spent the night in a Korean public sauna? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.
No Comments »
Steam of Life, the award-winning Finnish documentary of men in the sauna is set to air in the USA next week on the PBS show POV. The film, called Miesten vuoro in Finnish, is a series of beautifully shot interviews with Finnish men who bare themselves and their souls to the camera. It has won several awards for its beautiful cinematography and heartfelt storytelling.
The film is scheduled to air at 10pm on Tuesday August 2, but you should check your local listings. If your local PBS channel chooses not to show it, or you aren’t in an area where you can get PBS, the film will be available to watch on the POV website from August 3 through November 1, 2011.
Apress release on the POV website describes the film:
Among the interesting things we learn from Steam of Life is that portable saunas can appear anywhere in Finland — in trailers, tepees, cars, even phone booths — at a moment’s notice. We also learn that Finnish men of all shapes, sizes and ages are not the least bit self-conscious about being nude, either in front of each other or in front of the filmmakers’ cameras (or behind the cameras — the crew was naked, too). We also learn that Finnish men, despite their reputation for not being communicative, are almost unstoppable once they get talking in their quiet way about their lives. They speak from a deep emotional need to share their experiences, and from a special place, the sauna, where they shed social inhibitions and distinctions along with their clothes.
To film the scenes in the sauna, the crew used 16mm film cameras. They had to slowly acclimate the cameras to the sauna temperatures of up to 200F (93C) to ensure they worked properly.
POV has posted a trailer on YouTube (embedded above) where some of the nudity has been blurred out. As a longtime fan of POV, my guess is they will offer two versions of the film to the individual PBS stations: A censored one and an uncensored one. They will choose which version to air. The film’s runtime has also been cut from 86 to 60 minutes to fit into the hour-long TV slots in the USA.
POV, now in its 24th season on PBS, features the works of today’s best independent documentary filmmakers.
If you want more information about Steam of Life on POV, you can visit the POV website, the Steam of Life Facebook page, or follow #steamoflife or @povdocs on Twitter.
Update: The full video is available to watch on the PBS website.
 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm3WXCaaCxQ[/youtube]Steam of Life, the award-winning Finnish documentary of men in the sauna is set to air in the USA next week on the PBS show POV. The film, called Miesten vuoro in Finnish, is a series of beautifully shot interviews with Finnish men who bare themselves and their souls to the camera. It has won several awards for its beautiful cinematography and heartfelt storytelling.
The film is scheduled to air at 10pm on Tuesday August 2, but you should check your local listings. If your local PBS channel chooses not to show it, or you aren't in an area where you can get PBS, the film will be available to watch on the POV website from August 3 through November 1, 2011.
Apress release on the POV website describes the film:
Among the interesting things we learn from Steam of Life is that portable saunas can appear anywhere in Finland — in trailers, tepees, cars, even phone booths — at a moment’s notice. We also learn that Finnish men of all shapes, sizes and ages are not the least bit self-conscious about being nude, either in front of each other or in front of the filmmakers’ cameras (or behind the cameras — the crew was naked, too). We also learn that Finnish men, despite their reputation for not being communicative, are almost unstoppable once they get talking in their quiet way about their lives. They speak from a deep emotional need to share their experiences, and from a special place, the sauna, where they shed social inhibitions and distinctions along with their clothes.
To film the scenes in the sauna, the crew used 16mm film cameras. They had to slowly acclimate the cameras to the sauna temperatures of up to 200F (93C) to ensure they worked properly.
POV has posted a trailer on YouTube (embedded above) where some of the nudity has been blurred out. As a longtime fan of POV, my guess is they will offer two versions of the film to the individual PBS stations: A censored one and an uncensored one. They will choose which version to air. The film's runtime has also been cut from 86 to 60 minutes to fit into the hour-long TV slots in the USA.
POV, now in its 24th season on PBS, features the works of today's best independent documentary filmmakers.
If you want more information about Steam of Life on POV, you can visit the POV website, the Steam of Life Facebook page, or follow #steamoflife or @povdocs on Twitter.
Update: The full video is available to watch on the PBS website.
No Comments »
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by Chris in Saunas, tags: Am-Finn, Banya, Harvia, Löyly, Mikkel Aaland, physics, rocks, sauna, Scandia Heaters, Water
 Glenn over at Sauna Times posted on this topic yesterday and said there are two ways to throw water on the rocks: Soft and softer. I’m a person who thrives on hard numbers, so this got me thinking.
The photo with this post is of the interior of a pretty typical sauna and heater you will find at most US hotels, clubs and gyms. It shows a Scandia heater made by Am-Finn Sauna and Steam in Eagle, Idaho. According to their website, they are the preferred vendor for the YMCA, Bally, Gold’s Gym and LA Fitness, most universities and the US Government. In my experience, they are right. Most public saunas in the USA use their brand of heater.
This heater has a shallow pan at the top to hold the rocks which prevents water from getting on the elements. Their website validates what Clint says: users can “pour water on the rocks without risk to the heater elements and control wiring.”
These heaters have an internal thermostat that limits their temperature to 190°F (88°C) in the wiring box. Looking at the way these are made, my guess is that the rock pan gets to somewhere around 250-300ºF (120-150°C). (I’ll have to figure out a way to look natural bringing my IR thermometer into the sauna with me the next time I go to the gym).
My guess is there are between 25 and 35 pounds of rock in these heaters. Mikkel Aaland says that hornblende is one of the preferred sauna rocks. A few trips to the engineering toolbox, and we find that we’ve got between 200 and 650 BTU to dissipate. A few more trips there and we find that means we can vaporize between 3 and 9 ounces of water before the rocks get too cold to do their job anymore.
In my experience, 4 ounces or 1/2 cup, seems to be the practical limit. That wood sauna ladle in the photo holds about 7 ounces of water.
So when you are in that hotel sauna, about 1/2 a ladle or 1/2 a small foam coffee cup is all you can put on the rocks at a time. Any more than that, and you’ll just cool off the stove.
With the power in those sauna stoves and their element designs, you can probably splash water on the rocks about once every 5-10 minutes, giving you a reason to use that sauna timer.
Compare that to a similar size heater made by Harvia in Finland. These hold about 130 lb of rocks and do not limit the temperature of the stove. They control only by the temperature of the sauna room, and the rocks touch the heating elements so they can get hotter.
Or look at the stove in a Russian banya. These stoves hold 10 or more tons of rock and heat them to more than 800°F! Russian banya enthusiasts say that this high temperature gives the best steam.
Stay tuned for a future post where we look at what happens when you throw water on those sauna rocks.
 Glenn over at Sauna Times posted on this topic yesterday and said there are two ways to throw water on the rocks: Soft and softer. I'm a person who thrives on hard numbers, so this got me thinking.
The photo with this post is of the interior of a pretty typical sauna and heater you will find at most US hotels, clubs and gyms. It shows a Scandia heater made by Am-Finn Sauna and Steam in Eagle, Idaho. According to their website, they are the preferred vendor for the YMCA, Bally, Gold's Gym and LA Fitness, most universities and the US Government. In my experience, they are right. Most public saunas in the USA use their brand of heater.
This heater has a shallow pan at the top to hold the rocks which prevents water from getting on the elements. Their website validates what Clint says: users can "pour water on the rocks without risk to the heater elements and control wiring."
These heaters have an internal thermostat that limits their temperature to 190°F (88°C) in the wiring box. Looking at the way these are made, my guess is that the rock pan gets to somewhere around 250-300ºF (120-150°C). (I'll have to figure out a way to look natural bringing my IR thermometer into the sauna with me the next time I go to the gym).
My guess is there are between 25 and 35 pounds of rock in these heaters. Mikkel Aaland says that hornblende is one of the preferred sauna rocks. A few trips to the engineering toolbox, and we find that we've got between 200 and 650 BTU to dissipate. A few more trips there and we find that means we can vaporize between 3 and 9 ounces of water before the rocks get too cold to do their job anymore.
In my experience, 4 ounces or 1/2 cup, seems to be the practical limit. That wood sauna ladle in the photo holds about 7 ounces of water.
So when you are in that hotel sauna, about 1/2 a ladle or 1/2 a small foam coffee cup is all you can put on the rocks at a time. Any more than that, and you'll just cool off the stove.
With the power in those sauna stoves and their element designs, you can probably splash water on the rocks about once every 5-10 minutes, giving you a reason to use that sauna timer.
Compare that to a similar size heater made by Harvia in Finland. These hold about 130 lb of rocks and do not limit the temperature of the stove. They control only by the temperature of the sauna room, and the rocks touch the heating elements so they can get hotter.
Or look at the stove in a Russian banya. These stoves hold 10 or more tons of rock and heat them to more than 800°F! Russian banya enthusiasts say that this high temperature gives the best steam.
Stay tuned for a future post where we look at what happens when you throw water on those sauna rocks.
4 Comments »
Posted on April 12th, 2011 by Chris in news, Saunas, tags: architecture, Atlier Forte, Design Royale, Italy, mammoth, Milan, Milan Design Week 2011, Modern Marvels, sauna
No Comments »
 Young European architecture firms like designing saunas, as we have documented here several times before. Now, we have found a new project from the firm Elmo Vermijs from the Netherlands.
They have developed a folding sauna suite that folds into a standard car trailer. The package includes a pop-up sauna that holds 4-6 people made of a flexible waterproof fabric that folds into the car trailer. Their kit also includes a resting bench, changing cabin and a shower.
Unlike many of these projects which end up being temporary public installations, when completed, this will be available for hire through the Rent-A-Project website (in Dutch). Tentatively, the daily rental cost will be €149 for weekdays and €249 for weekends. Additional options for the rental of towels, robes and slippers are to be available. The sauna is scheduled for completion in April 2011.
Folding Sauna via The Pop-Up City
Young European architecture firms like designing saunas, as we have documented here several times before. Now, we have found a new project from the firm Elmo Vermijs from the Netherlands.
They have developed a folding sauna suite that folds into a standard car trailer. The package includes a pop-up sauna that holds 4-6 people made of a flexible waterproof fabric that folds into the car trailer. Their kit also includes a resting bench, changing cabin and a shower.
Unlike many of these projects which end up being temporary public installations, when completed, this will be available for hire through the Rent-A-Project website (in Dutch). Tentatively, the daily rental cost will be €149 for weekdays and €249 for weekends. Additional options for the rental of towels, robes and slippers are to be available. The sauna is scheduled for completion in April 2011.
Folding Sauna via The Pop-Up City
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Posted on March 29th, 2011 by Chris in Saunas, Your Body, tags: bactieria, disinfect, germs, health, Hepatitis, hot tub, Legionellosis, sauna, sterilize, viruses
 Sweat print in the sauna. Photo by Venlala A reader sent us this question:
In a dry sauna, does the 175°F (79°C) or higher temperature kill bacteria and viruses that some one else has brought into the public sauna? Are there other cautions that you would have for the public sauna?
The short answer is no.
The most common disease that can be transmitted by contact with an surface that has been contaminated by someone is the Hepatitis virus. Research shows that Hepatitis can survive for more than 10 hours at temperatures as high as 140°F (60°C), and as long as six months at lower temperatures. To kill hepatitis, you need to bathe it in steam for two minutes at 250°F (121°C) or for four minutes in dry heat at 320°F (160°C). Complete sterilization to kill all pathogens requires 15 minutes in steam or two hours in dry heat.
Inside that sauna, the thermometer may read a high temperature, but that thermometer is usually placed near the ceiling. As you know, heat rises, so the temperature near the ceiling can be much hotter than the temperature at the benches or floor. Human skin will burn after contact with a surface at 130°F (54°C) for 30 seconds, and in less time at higher temperatures. So if you can walk unprotected on the sauna floor or sit on that sauna bench, you know that the temperature can not be hot enough to kill germs.
Steam rooms and hot tubs can be more dangerous, since these operate at lower temperatures. Hot tubs especially, which operate at close to body temperature, can become breeding grounds for dangerous bacteria if not properly maintained. For instance, the ideal conditions for bacteria like the ones that can cause Legionnaires Disease are temperatures from 95-115°F (35-46°C), which is the usual temperature range for most hot tubs and steam rooms.
So how can you protect yourself from germs in a sauna?
 The proper technique for using a towel in the sauna in Germany. The easiest way is to put a barrier between yourself and others by always sitting on a towel. In Germany, proper sauna etiquette says that you should drape a large enough towel to prevent any part of your body from touching the wood of the sauna benches or walls. However, even sitting on a small gym towel will protect the most sensitive areas of your body from what has been left behind by others.
The sauna should be kept clean. Regularly washing the inside of the sauna with water and a disinfecting detergent is essential to keep it safe. The wood must be scrubbed to get any build up out of the cracks and crevices of the wood.
Steam rooms must be cleaned more regularly and vigorously with disinfectants, since there is more danger. Hot tubs need to have their chemistry checked regularly and daily water changes to keep them safe.
The smoke sauna or black banya is the cleanest of the saunas. This hard to find sauna bath that had an open stove had a natural disinfectant in the wood smoke and ash that covered all the surfaces inside of the sauna. Every time the sauna was heated, it got a full cleaning and disinfecting. Modern sealed or electric stoves do not have this same advantage.
Of course, as we have reported if you are sick, you should stay out of the sauna. If you get into the sauna and see someone hacking up a lung, it might be better to give them a few minutes by themselves.
Will I get sick in the sauna?
Even though the sauna does not kill germs, it is not a place that is known for causing illnesses. As we have reported before, people who use the sauna regularly are less likely to catch a cold. Millions of people use saunas every day, and it is very rare to find someone who was infected with a disease from using a sauna.
To be sure, rely on your senses. If the facility does not look clean or well maintained, it probably isn’t. If there are signs of mold or mildew, that should be a warning sign to find a different place. If they aren’t taking the time to clean the place, are they also taking shortcuts on other safety precautions like temperature controls or electrical connections? Those types of problems are more likely to hurt you than a disease.
Of course, if your immune system is compromised for any reason, you should discuss whether using a public sauna is right for you with a doctor.
  [caption id="attachment_901" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sweat print in the sauna. Photo by Venlala"][/caption]
A reader sent us this question:
In a dry sauna, does the 175°F (79°C) or higher temperature kill bacteria and viruses that some one else has brought into the public sauna? Are there other cautions that you would have for the public sauna?
The short answer is no.
The most common disease that can be transmitted by contact with an surface that has been contaminated by someone is the Hepatitis virus. Research shows that Hepatitis can survive for more than 10 hours at temperatures as high as 140°F (60°C), and as long as six months at lower temperatures. To kill hepatitis, you need to bathe it in steam for two minutes at 250°F (121°C) or for four minutes in dry heat at 320°F (160°C). Complete sterilization to kill all pathogens requires 15 minutes in steam or two hours in dry heat.
Inside that sauna, the thermometer may read a high temperature, but that thermometer is usually placed near the ceiling. As you know, heat rises, so the temperature near the ceiling can be much hotter than the temperature at the benches or floor. Human skin will burn after contact with a surface at 130°F (54°C) for 30 seconds, and in less time at higher temperatures. So if you can walk unprotected on the sauna floor or sit on that sauna bench, you know that the temperature can not be hot enough to kill germs.
Steam rooms and hot tubs can be more dangerous, since these operate at lower temperatures. Hot tubs especially, which operate at close to body temperature, can become breeding grounds for dangerous bacteria if not properly maintained. For instance, the ideal conditions for bacteria like the ones that can cause Legionnaires Disease are temperatures from 95-115°F (35-46°C), which is the usual temperature range for most hot tubs and steam rooms.
So how can you protect yourself from germs in a sauna?
[caption id="attachment_902" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The proper technique for using a towel in the sauna in Germany."][/caption]
The easiest way is to put a barrier between yourself and others by always sitting on a towel. In Germany, proper sauna etiquette says that you should drape a large enough towel to prevent any part of your body from touching the wood of the sauna benches or walls. However, even sitting on a small gym towel will protect the most sensitive areas of your body from what has been left behind by others.
The sauna should be kept clean. Regularly washing the inside of the sauna with water and a disinfecting detergent is essential to keep it safe. The wood must be scrubbed to get any build up out of the cracks and crevices of the wood.
Steam rooms must be cleaned more regularly and vigorously with disinfectants, since there is more danger. Hot tubs need to have their chemistry checked regularly and daily water changes to keep them safe.
The smoke sauna or black banya is the cleanest of the saunas. This hard to find sauna bath that had an open stove had a natural disinfectant in the wood smoke and ash that covered all the surfaces inside of the sauna. Every time the sauna was heated, it got a full cleaning and disinfecting. Modern sealed or electric stoves do not have this same advantage.
Of course, as we have reported if you are sick, you should stay out of the sauna. If you get into the sauna and see someone hacking up a lung, it might be better to give them a few minutes by themselves.
Will I get sick in the sauna?
Even though the sauna does not kill germs, it is not a place that is known for causing illnesses. As we have reported before, people who use the sauna regularly are less likely to catch a cold. Millions of people use saunas every day, and it is very rare to find someone who was infected with a disease from using a sauna.
To be sure, rely on your senses. If the facility does not look clean or well maintained, it probably isn't. If there are signs of mold or mildew, that should be a warning sign to find a different place. If they aren't taking the time to clean the place, are they also taking shortcuts on other safety precautions like temperature controls or electrical connections? Those types of problems are more likely to hurt you than a disease.
Of course, if your immune system is compromised for any reason, you should discuss whether using a public sauna is right for you with a doctor.
3 Comments »
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