Just like with your car or fancy road bike, a sauna is a luxury item that requires a bit of special maintenance to make sure things go smoothly when you actually use the thing. With the proper home sauna maintenance, you can extend its lifespan, ensure safe usage, and preserve its beauty.
From checking your heater to treating the wood, we’ll show exactly how to maintain your sauna (and don’t worry, it’s all very easy!)
Why is sauna maintenance essential?
So we already know that regular maintenance is key to keeping your sauna in top condition for years to come. But, why?
Well…..
- Consistent care protects the wood from drying and cracking, and makes sure your heater can run well
- A well-maintained sauna heats up more quickly and efficiently
- No one wants a sauna fire! Proper maintenance helps avoid fire hazards and ensures electrical components are A-OK
- Your energy consumption and operating costs will be less when your sauna is running efficiently
Home sauna maintenance schedule
Let’s keep this simple – having a sauna at home is supposed to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience after all!
The crux of it is just remembering to do the following:
- Monthly mini checks: Take literally just a few minutes to inspect for mould, quickly wipe the heater, and make sure the heating elements are working properly once a month
- Seasonal deep clean: Every few months, deep clean the sauna (we have a deep cleaning checklist freely available here), and inspect all key components for wear
- Annual jobs: Gently sand down benches once per year. Re-seat and replace sauna stones. For safety and peace of mind, you can get a professional to check your electrical and heating systems once a year (important for wood-burning chimneys)
Easiest way to remember the annual jobs? Pick a date, pencil it into your calendar, and this is now your designated sauna care day each year (it’s like a little holiday!)
We’ll jump into these things in a bit more detail now, but that is the general gist of sauna maintenance in a nutshell!
How to maintain a sauna heater
Ok so let’s break those individual tasks down just a little bit more.
1. Clean the sauna heater
- Dust and debris can collect on electric and wood-burning heaters – this reduces efficiency
- Wipe down surfaces regularly to avoid buildup
- If you’re unsure about cleaning your sauna, we created a cleaning checklist here
2. Check heating elements
- Inspect the heating elements regularly for signs of wear or corrosion
- This is easy to spot – if it looks damaged, replace it
3. Re-seat & replace sauna stones
This only needs to be performed about once per year (depending on your home sauna use). You can do it more frequently if you are noticing issues with heat distribution or crumbling rocks.
- After many heating/cooling cycles and having water poured over them, the sauna the stones shift and become compacted closer together
- Degraded sauna stones means uneven heating and an impacted user experience! If they are too compacted, the moisture can also build up next to the heating elements and corrode those too (double whammy)
Here’s what to do:
- Turn off electrical breaker
- Make sure everything is cold & remove top rock guard
- Take out all rocks – discard any that are crumbling or broken
- Rinse off sediment
- Re-seat your rocks back into the heater – stack them loosely and evenly
- Add in extra rocks to replace the discarded ones (if required)
- Reinstall the rock guard
- If you have a heater with rocks only in the top tray, simply remove the rocks, wash them as above, and replace rocks as needed
You’ll also notice if your stones are getting worn out if you start finding a lot of debris/rubble on the floor underneath.
4. Wood-burning stove care
- Clean the ash regularly
- Check your sauna chimney for blockages to ensure safe ventilation
- Definitely ensure that you calling out a chimney sweep once annually to inspect the flue and chimney for cracking
5. Test your heater for optimal performance
We can test our sauna heater to ensure it’s heating safely and evenly.
Follow these steps for a check-up:
- Turn off the electricity before performing any maintenance to prevent accidents.
- Inspect connections to ensure there are no loose wires or damaged components.
- Test for even heat distribution by observing how the sauna heats up. If some areas are cooler, it may indicate faulty elements that need replacing.
Wood care and preservation
Sauna wood is soft and beautiful! So it is essential to care for it properly. But remember, saunas are very different to other wooden home items due to the extreme high heat and humidity they’re exposed to.
That being said – do not paint or varnish the interior of your sauna! The wood needs to be able to breathe.
Artificial finishes are also potentially dangerous for you, as when they heat up, they can produce toxic fumes. We don’t want that now do we.
Caring for the wood is really simple. Here are some essential steps:
6. Wood oil treatment
If you want to provide additional treatment to your wood to prevent drying and cracking, opt for natural oils (steer clear of pine oil as it leaves a sticky residue).
Paraffin oil and linseed oil are great options. We go over linseed oil a little more in this eco-friendly sauna maintenance guide.
7. Annual sanding
You can choose to sand down the benches once per year (very gently!) to remove sweat stains and keep the wood nice and smooth.
8. Avoid moisture damage
Like many things in life, prevention is key, and that rings true here as well with caring for the sauna’s wood.
Wiping down excess pools of water and sweat after each sauna use will stop the infestation!
Avoid wearing wet swimsuits – this is bad news bears for sauna benches. Nude, towelled or at least in dry clothes is best.
Proper ventilation for sauna longevity
We’ve harped on and on about ventilation in our articles, but for good reason.
Ventilation is such an easy but crucial way to ensure that your precious sauna won’t end up like the mouldy insides of a forgotten lunchbox.
Number one is of course ensuring that you have installed your sauna correctly, in a place where it can actually get ventilation. But, we will assume you’re already past that point if you are reading this.
9. Post-session ventilation
Always always always leave the door and vents open after use to air it out.
You don’t want to trap all that steam inside your sauna to start festering mould inside the corners, within the benches …. do you?
You can take your quest for good ventilation a step further by using a hygrometer. This nifty little gadget monitors the humidity levels inside, and will ensure you can keep them balanced. This is purely optional, of course.
Basically, we don’t want improper ventilation to lead to serious mildew, damp and rot. So don’t skip this step!
Wrap up
Phew, that wasn’t hard was it? Taking care of your sauna doesn’t have to be time-consuming, but regular home sauna maintenance is crucial to preserving your investment.
Staying on top of your routine cleaning will keep most of this under wraps anyhow (remember, we have a cleaning checklist available here).
By regularly doing your heater checks and ventilation, and making sure the wood is properly looked after, you ensure that your sauna continues to provide you with a safe, relaxing environment for years to come!
Further Reading on Spa From Home:
We’ve put together an absolute beast of a post covering absolutely everything you need to know about a home sauna, from the pros and cons of a barrel sauna, to operating costs and where to install one. If you’re looking for more information, you can find that post right here.
We also have dedicated guides specifically created for infrared sauna maintenance, barrel sauna maintenance and outdoor sauna maintenance if you’re still hungry for moreeee sauna info!
