Preventing mold in your sauna is essential to keeping your sauna sessions safe. While sauna bathing in general us a very healthy thing, sauna bathing with mold in the sauna can greatly impact your health. It’s essential to keep this from occurring in the first place by doing some consistent, but necessary things to your sauna.
Down below we discuss what mold is, how it affects our bodies, and how you can prevent it from building in your own sauna. We recommend reading all the below information and putting into action the below steps. This will keep your sauna clean, and your body healthy.
What Is Mold?
Mold is a term that is used to refer fungi that grows in the form of multicellular thread-like structures called hyphae. Mold reproduces by the means of tiny spores. These spores are invisible to the naked eye but act similar to seeds. Mold can grow indoors when these spores get picked up by an air current and land on a moist surface.
There are many types of mold, but they all require moisture and some sort of food source to grow. In nature, this is very beneficial as mold breaks down dead organic matter. Indoors, mold formation can be very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. In addition, some folds can be highly destructive and will damage your sauna unless treated correctly.
How Mold Affects Your Body
The simple truth is that mold is found everywhere and mold spores are common in household and workplace dust. They can grow easily while indoors and thrive in moisture ridden areas like windows and bathrooms. While mold is very common it can be very dangerous in large amounts and can cause mild to severe health effects.
Some people are mildly sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can cause throat irritation, nasal stuffiness, coughing, wheezing, eye irritation, or skin irritation. People with aggressive mold allergies might have more severe reactions. Immune compromised people and people with chronic lung illness may get very serious infections in their lungs when exposed to mold.
In addition, some mold produces mycotoxins that can pose a serious health risk to humans and animals. These toxic molds can easily be absorbed by the lining of the respiratory system, intestines, and skin to lead to DNA damage. If a person is exposed to these toxic molds on a daily basis this can lead to neurological disorders or even death.
How To Prevent Mold In Your Sauna
Since saunas can be moist, they can be a breeding ground for bacteria and mold. This moisture most often comes from your own sweat, but can also come from the water you spill or spray in the sauna. If not properly cleaned this moisture can lead to mold and damage your sauna.
In order to prevent this, you should first make your sauna has proper ventilation. Your sauna should create enough cross-draft in order to get rid of humidity post sauna session. This can be accomplished by installing an exhaust fan or simply opening the door or windows to get enough airflow.
In addition to proper ventilation, it’s also a good idea to install a drain inside your sauna. This drain will get rid of any excess water that is residing on the floor. This takes away a lot of unnecessary moisture and makes it much easier to dry.
If you cannot make these customizations to your sauna then you should simply use a towel to dry your sauna after your sauna sessions. You should take this towel and absorb any moisture on the bench, walls or floor of the sauna. If you don’t want to physically clean the sauna then you can simply place a towel underneath your feet and bum to absorb all sweat from your body.
Other than keeping the sauna dry its essential to regularly clean your sauna with proper sauna detergent every month. This detergent will kill off any unwanted mold or bacteria and will prevent future mold growth if done regularly. If possible its a great idea to remove any sauna parts (like the bench) and lay it in direct sunlight to dry out completely.
How To Remove Existing Mold
If you already spot a few areas of mold in your sauna then there are a few home remedy solutions you can use to solve this problem. One of the most common is to mix 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil with 2 cups of water. This will kill off most mold growth and remove any stains. If you don’t have tea tree oil then white distilled vinegar is another great option.
If you happen to find large areas of mold then it’s a good idea to leave this alone and call the professionals. They will have all the necessary equipment to completely eradicate this mold while keeping maintaining the integrity of your sauna. In addition, you don’t want to risk harming yourself while cleaning large amounts of mold. So call the professionals if your mold growth is out of hand.