THE SAUNA AND SPRING CLEANING
Springtime inspires a lot of people to get outside and get busy, which means right now is a great time to channel that productive energy into cleaning up your Almost Heaven Barrel Sauna. Whether you’ve had your sauna for 6 months or 6 years, pressure washing the interior and exterior is a wonderful way to bring back some of its original red cedar coloring.
Use the low-pressure, wide-patterned wash setting on the inside and outside of the sauna to remove stains and restore the look of the red cedar.
And here are some other areas of the sauna you may wish to give some attention:
- Check the tension of the bands and the tightness of the seal, especially if you’ve only had your sauna up and running for a few months. If the wood has contracted over time, you may wish to loosen the bands and slip another full-sized stave or filler stave underneath and then tighten things up again.
- If you opted to apply a stain with UV inhibitor to the exterior of your sauna, take a moment to compare the degree of fading and arrange to apply another layer of stain if need be. Please remember to never treat the interior of the sauna, and never apply paint or varnish to the exterior of the sauna. (If you don’t stain the exterior of the sauna, it will turn a silvery gray over time without influencing the superior performance of the unit as a whole, which is why applying a stain is optional.)
- Due to the fluctuation in temperature (hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, etc.), the stones in your heater will crack and split over time, so take a moment to check on how they’re doing and replace any that are crumbly. (Note: Split stones will compress, preventing adequate airflow through the heater.)
- Reward your efforts with a brand new sauna accessory, a little something to make your sauna even more inviting and relaxing.