Why would I need to make this sauna cleaner? You don't, but in case you ever do...you might want to refer back to this recipe. I'm posting it so I have a place to come back to because I always forget how to refill my spray bottle when it's empty.
Wait you have a sauna? Yes, we have a sauna.
Is it one of those where you gotta pour water on the coals? No, it's an infrared one.
What's that? Well....
More than you wanted to know about far-infrared saunas
Traditional saunas (the ones with the coals or the steam) heat up the air to a very high temp in order to heat up your body. That's why you get the feeling that you're breathing in hot air. 'Cause you are. Infrared saunas work a different way. Instead of heating the air around you, they heat your body directly. It raises your core temperature and fast. You get deeper tissue penetration.
All types of saunas are awesome and very very healthy, but with infrared it's more comfortable so you tend to want to do it more and for longer sessions. You don't have the extremely hot air of a traditional sauna. The temp when I use it is like 125°F to 130 °F and I'm dripping like I just stepped out of a shower almost the whole time. The lower temperatures let you sweat faster and stay in longer. I'll go in for like 30 min a day.
Why is it good to sweat?
The sweat glands offer one of only a few mechanisms that the body has to eliminate toxins. Skin is the largest organ in the human body it is apparently a very good means for elimination. I love my poke bowls and really any kind of seafood, but I know that with that comes heavy metals like mercury. I haven't gotten tested for heavy metals, but I guarantee you my levels were up there before I started using the sauna.
We got it, though, because my husband read this incredible research study that found a 40% drop in all cause mortality among men who used the sauna for 30 min. 4-7 times/week. This was a study of 2,315 middle-aged men (42 to 60 years old) in Finland. "For all-cause mortality, sauna bathing 2 to 3 times per week was associated with a 24 percent lower risk and 4 to 7 times per week with a 40 percent reduction in risk compared to only one sauna session per week." [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150223122602.htm]
So, we cleared out my garden area, and put in a sauna!
The Recipe: Sauna cleaner
1/4 Tbsp baking soda in an empty spray bottle
Few drops of tea tree oil
Fill up the rest of the spray bottle with water
You forgot why we started talking about saunas, didn't you? But now don't you want one? If you really do, I can refer you to where we got ours for a suuuper good deal. Just comment on this blog post and I'll hook you up!
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*UPDATE 2/3/21:
I've since started using hypochlorous acid for cleaning the sauna. But if you don't have one of those hypochlorous acid making machines, the recipe in this the next best thing.