Cleaning and maintaining your sauna is important in ensuring that each session continues providing the health benefits and relaxation that you originally purchased it for. On top of that, regular maintenance ensures your investment is protected and enjoyed for years to come.

Maintenance/Cleaning Frequency

How often you need to clean your sauna is going to be influenced by how often you are using it. But for general guidelines, there are some simple things you should do after every sauna session, as well as weekly, monthly, and yearly.

Cleaning After Every Use

Once you finish your sauna session, its important to remove anything from the sauna that can hold moisture and allow mold and mildew to grow. Wet towels and wash clothes especially should be removed and hung to dry, or thrown in with the laundry to prevent them from sitting too long.

It's also best practice to use a dap cloth to wipe down the benches to make sure any oils and sweat from the session are cleaned off.

Lastly, ventilate your sauna for 30-60 minutes after each use to help dry it out.

As a little tip for wood fired sauna users, if you have an abundance of firewood, you can fire the stove an extra time at the end of the session to help dry things out more. Electric stove users can do this too, but it can get expensive.

Weekly Cleaning

Its good to sweep or vacuum out your sauna each week, especially with high use. As a note, wood fired saunas will see more debris moving in and out of them with the additional firings, and will need to be swept out more frequently than electric heated saunas.

Sauna Safe Cleaners

This is also a good time to wipe down benches and walls with a mild cleaner. Anything wood safe and natural will work for this. Popular options are pine soap or diluted vinegar 1:3 (one part vinegar to three parts water).

Baking soda is another option but you need to be a little more careful with it. You can make a paste with it or heavily dilute it in water to serve as a natural deodorizer for the sauna. But baking soda is abrasive and you do not want to let it sit on surfaces for long, otherwise it can discolor the wood. 

Tips to Make Cleaning Easier: Sweat smells because of bacteria on your skin that breaks it down into smelly compounds. Rinsing off before your sauna session can help prevent this during your sweaty sauna sessions. You can also place towels on benches to cut reduce the amount of sweat and body oils that get onto the benches, to make cleaning easier.

DO NOT USE: Never use bleach, ammonia, or other harsh chemicals that can soak in and damage the woods. If you ever have questions regarding keeping your sauna clean, please reach out to us and we will be happy to offer guidance.

Monthly/Yearly Inspections

Throughout the year you will want to inspect your heater and sauna stones for any signs of damage or issues. This includes inspecting the sauna stones to see if they are showing signs of deterioration. If they are starting to crack or crumble apart, then replace those stones. You can also take this time to rinse the stones and clean them over any soaps or oils that got on them throughout the year.

Check bench screws, door hinges, and any other hardware in the sauna to make sure everything is still fastened and secured. Tighten if needed and replace if showing extensive signs of wear. If the benches are showing cosmetic damage on the surface, you can lightly sand them with 120-150 grit sandpaper, but don't take off more material than you need.

This would also be a good time to apply a sauna safe oil. Food safe oils work best for this and a popular option is paraffin oil. Apply a thin layer to benches and walls and let it absorb in.

For saunas with wood stoves, you will want to inspect your flue and chimney after heavy use. We recommend having a professional due this to cut down on the mess and ensure it is properly cleaned.

Things to Avoid

While we mentioned avoiding harsh chemicals, its also important to never paint, varinish, or stain the interior wood of the sauna. You will also want to check before applying any stains or paints to the exterior of the sauna. Many paints and stains can soak into the wood during sauna sessions and bleed into the interior of the sauna, which can cause a variety of problems.

Do not use high pressure water to wash your sauna as it can damage the wood.

Contact Us with Any Questions

If you are interested in learning more about sauna or have questions regarding maintaining your sauna, we are happy to help. Reach out to us via our contact page with any questions you have.