So you want to know more about cleaning your sauna.
General and regular cleaning will keep your sauna in smooth running condition, and will lengthen its lifespan. Saunatalo.fi instructions indicate that a home sauna should be cleaned between one to four times a year, so if it’s been a while, now’s the time to give your sauna some attention. We’ve gotten in touch with some experts on sauna cleaning, and we hope you find the information useful. There are also some videos below so keep scrolling !
General advice
Your sauna will stay nice and clean if you shower before you go in and use a towel or bench cover to sit on. Keep the sauna on for a bit after you have finished so that it dries completely. When you vacuum other parts of your home, take a moment to vacuum the floor of the sauna as well.
Instructions for a thorough sauna cleaning
The following information has been translated with permission from the Martha Organization (Martat), a Finnish home economics organisation founded in 1899 to promote well-being and the quality of life in the home. For the original text in Finnish, please go to https://www.martat.fi/marttakoulu/kodinhoito/siivous/saunan-pesu/
Your sauna should be thoroughly cleaned once or twice a year. Use the following instructions to help:
Inspect the rocks on the sauna stove and replace any that are damaged or worn with new ones.
Remove any loose pieces of furniture from the hotroom and / or shower room.
Vacuum or remove dust and debris from the floor and the benches using a long handled brush or squeegee. Brush down the ceiling and the walls as well.
Water down the wood surfaces with warm water so that the wood’s pores open. Clean the surfaces with an all-purpose cleaner diluted in water or a specialty sauna cleaner and a soft bristle brush. Rinse the surfaces well with cold water to close the wood’s pores.
Move the brush in the same direction as the grain of the wood when washing. When washing the walls, wet and wash the walls starting from the bottom and work your way up to the top.
Avoid using any chlorine cleaning products. The chlorine can be absorbed by the wood, and be released into the air when warming the sauna.
If you have a floor drain, clean that as well.
Wash pails, buckets, brushes, and sponges, and place them to dry.
Wash, rinse and dry the floor last.
Air out the sauna after washing to make it nice and fresh.
After that, warm up the sauna for a while to completely dry out the sauna.
You’re ready to enjoy the heat and steam once again!
Safety advice
Do not dry laundry in the sauna when there is a flame in the stove. And as a general rule, keep it as far away from the stove as possible because it is a fire hazard. Drying it in the changeroom if you have one is a better option.
Cleaning the floor drain
If you have a floor drain, it is good to clean out the floor drain a few times a year. It helps to prevent unpleasant smells and water damage.
Helpful video on cleaning
Berner MedLab has a good video on hotroom washing technique.
