With very minimal maintenance you can keep your sauna room looking great for many years! The following guide will help you along the way.
- Do not paint, varnish or stain the interior portions of your sauna. The wood needs to breathe (absorb and slowly release heat and humidity). Also, artificial finishes make the wood surface much hotter, creating the possibility of fumes from the wood treatment and taking away the softness of heat and steam penetrating the wood. The only exception to this rule is Sauna Wood Treatment paraffin oil. This sauna wood treatment is tested and proven safe to use, as it helps keep sauna wood looking clean by not allowing excess moisture to soak into wood fibers.
- Door handles and floor boards are an exception, as these two points of the sauna can get dirty easily. To make cleaning easier, you can treat the handles and floor boards with a good wood sealant or polyurethane finish.
After Sauna Care:
Step 1: The simplest method of sauna maintenance is to keep a hand brush in the sauna. The last person out dips the brush in the water bucket (plain water), and does a quick scrubbing of the benches, walls, backrests, etc. This 30 to 60-second ritual will keep your sauna looking great for years.
Step 2: After you're finished using the sauna, and your cleaning process is complete, prop the duckboards off the floor. Leave the sauna door open, to air it out completely. The heat remaining in the rocks and in the wood should dry the sauna completely, and even can help dry down the shower area, if it is adjacent to the sauna room. For snap-together Ipe wood floor tiles, clean surface daily to weekly in public facilities or as needed. It is suggested to remove Ipe floor tiles semi-annually to clean the sub floor. Water and cleaning solution runs through Ipe tile grid to drain.
Step 3: If you get dirt, stains or mold developing anywhere in sauna from missed cleaning procedures, you can try the following:
- Cleaning with water and Sauna Clean, an excellent product for maintaining a sauna and keeping it looking new. Sauna Clean is an environmentally friendly disinfectant, bacteria remover and odor eliminator used by commercial saunas and steam baths. Sauna Clean is also authorized by the Norwegian Food Control as a disinfectant and used in the fishing industry.
- To get the benches looking like new, you can lightly sand your benches about once per year. It will lighten them more to their original condition.
Step 4: Depending on how often you use your sauna, occasionally wet-mop with a liquid deodorizing cleaner such as Sauna Clean. Commercial facilities should use Sauna Clean at least once a week and residential saunas at least once a month.
With these simple maintenance tips your sauna will stay inviting, fresh smelling, and enjoyable to be in. The main rule is: ENJOY!
